GIF God Told Me To

“Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead.”
(Philippians 3:13)

God Told Me To
by Larry Burkett

Have you ever witnessed a Christian who was obviously doing something rather questionable but rationalizing it to all dissenters by saying, “God told me to do it”?

That’s a hard argument to overcome, because by merely challenging it you feel like you’re doubting God.

No one has a perfect insight into God’s will. The soundest, most mature believers can and do make mistakes about God’s will. Usually, when confronted by either a loving, but firm, challenge from another Christian, or the resulting problems, they will change direction.

Some believers refuse to believe they could be wrong and cloak themselves in spiritual pride by saying, “I know God wants me to do this.”

Many Christians make decisions on major issues based on what is called the “open door” philosophy. In other words, God would never let them do something wrong; therefore, if the “doors” are open, they should go through them. I often think of this as the “open mine shaft” philosophy, because a lot of Christians stumble down open shafts, thinking God wouldn’t let them fail.

God has given us the opportunity to fail. A brief review of Adam’s life will attest to that. Our attitude should be to thank God for showing us what doesn’t work and then get back to the task of discovering what does.

There is ample direction in God’s Word to avert most of these errors. A sure way to step out of God’s will is to compromise His Word and justify it by the obvious “success” it brings.

“The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God abidesforever” (1 John 2:17).

Daily Scripture Reading:
Genesis 29 – 30