God Told Me (part 3)

Last time I tried to clarify some central issues in the question of whether God still speaks. I argued that the Bible is sufficient, the canon is closed, and Christ is the pinnacle and consummation of God’s revelation. But I also argued that God is intimately involved in our lives, that since He’s God He can do whatever He wants, and that there is biblical precedent for the idea of using speech as a metaphor when God is working but hasn’t actually given us new words.

So with all that in mind, let’s return to the question: does God still speak to us?

Well, first of all, I don’t believe God gives us new messages. I believe the gift of prophecy has ceased (except perhaps where the Gospel has not yet been preached). I don’t believe He inspires new works the way He wrote with and through the authors of Scripture. He can of course say more if He wishes, but I would be very skeptical of someone making this claim. If God has given someone a message, I believe it is for that person and not for someone else.

But when it comes to God drawing things to our attention, or confirming things with signs, or giving us insights—I don’t see anything unbiblical with that. While my professor was right in saying that there is, strictly speaking, no reason to assume the untold stories are like those told in the Bible, and no reason to assume you and I are more like the people we see in the Bible than anyone else in redemptive history, the fact remains that it is possible. There is, strictly speaking, no reason to assume the contrary, either. And given my own experiences and the testimonies of others, I am inclined to believe God still communicates in this way, metaphorically.

Of course, this does not mean that every “God told me” story is true, or even that every “God told me” experience is really from God. But all things being equal it seems right to approach with humility and faith. Unless there’s some reason to doubt, the default position should be cautious belief. I say cautious because I am a man of unclean lips and I live among a people of unclean lips. We are all prone to going astray. It should cause us to be humble and cautious, but not faithless.

Now, I don’t know about you, but when I take seriously the idea that God still speaks, I am immediately confronted with a few temptations.

First, I’m tempted to bypass God’s other messages. I want a shortcut. I don’t want to wait to find something out, and I don’t want to do the hard work of figuring it out for myself. I want to put in my money and have Zoltar speak so I can move on.

But surely this is wrong. God has already spoken in the Bible. You can this very moment hear the very words of God spoken to you by reading this book. It doesn’t require earnest prayer or fasting. Just crack the cover! God has spoken, and the wisdom of His words is priceless.

A word of caution here: I often see people say that God speaks through the Bible, especially in the context of God telling them something new. This involves taking a message out of context, as though you have received divine permission to misinterpret it for the greater good. I think this is wrong. It does violence to God’s Word. If you want to claim that God reminded you of something when you were reading the Bible, that’s one thing. But to say God spoke through the Bible by nullifying the actual meaning of the text just seems unthinkable. God speaks in the Bible, not just through it.

Beyond the Bible, we also know that God has already spoken in creation, and with that I include the wisdom and reason which is embedded in the universe. While all of creation has been tainted by sin, it still bears the mark of its Creator. When we reason, when we think, when we seek wise counsel, when we consult sages from of old, we are exploring a facet of God’s general revelation. It is a lot of work, but I believe it is worth it. I think it is a mark of stewardship.

A word of caution on this front as well: we should not approach the world as though we reason independently. Our minds, our ability to think, the information we have access to, the connections we make—all of these and more are gifts from God. They only work any given day by His grace and mercy.

Some would charge that to rely on human wisdom rather than seeking a new message from God is proud and ungodly, but I completely disagree. I think that comes from a faulty understanding of the relationship between faith and reason, and between Creator and creation. The human wisdom condemned by Scripture is proud wisdom, wisdom that operates apart from faith and apart from what God has revealed. The Bible is not opposed to thinking! Rather the best thinking in the world should be done by Christians, who begin from the fear of the Lord and consider the works of His hands.

So the first temptation is to either ignore or abuse what God has already said, both in Scripture and in creation.

The second is to ask dumb questions.

When I consider that God is listening to me right now, that He cares about me, and that under the right conditions He would reveal something to me, I find myself wanting to ask Him everything. “God, if you want me to write so-and-so an email about thus-and-such, let me see 10 red cars in a row.” I’m sorry, but I think that’s idiotic. Not only should I be taking God’s prior revelation seriously, I should use it to filter what I would actually ask Him.

One of the examples in Samra’s book that I really struggled with was his commitment to wait on God to tell him which car to buy. How he runs his life is up to him, but I would not think that’s a question that needs a divine answer. Just do your research, pray throughout the process, and pull the trigger! If it turns out to be a lemon, I guarantee God can use that circumstance for His glory and your edification.

Some questions have already been answered. Some questions are not important enough to need God’s direct input. In fact, I would go so far as to say that you should do everything you can to find direction in every other way possible, bathing the search and the work in prayer for wisdom. Only when all else has failed would I advise asking God for a sign.

Finally, I’ve faced a third temptation: to count all the space in between signs as the silence of God. When you are asking God to reveal Himself to you or to provide special guidance, every minute He doesn’t can feel like He won’t. It’s easy to start believing He doesn’t care. You might think that you’re not good enough or you haven’t prayed hard enough. I think that’s a dangerous place to be. And again, it’s related to what I’ve said above: God’s Word is always ready at hand; God is never silent when you have a Bible in your grasp. But when we place too much emphasis on something new and discount everything else He has given us to help us along the way, we can be filled with fear and doubt.

Instead, we should rest in God’s finished revelation, rest in our salvation, rest in the love of God. If you can’t do that while asking God to speak to you, then I suggest you stop asking and go back to the basics.

For nearly 10 years now I have lived with the conviction that I shouldn’t expect God to speak to me, that everything I need to know is in the Bible, and I should work diligently to apply it wisely in my life. I have believed that the Spirit-filled community of faith across time and space provides wisdom for understanding and applying God’s Word.

None of that has changed.

But after this study I’m ready to say I also believe that God does still “speak” today. I don’t like the phrase “God told me” because I think it’s misleading. I think it’s better to proceed with caution and say “I believe God wants me to do this.” In fact, I have a few more limitations and cautions that I want to add to the conversation, which is where I will go next time.

Nevertheless, if the Bible maintains first place, and if you are diligently pursuing wisdom by any means necessary, if you are proceeding with prayer and faith and humility, and if you are chasing down the answer to a question worth asking—then know that God will guide you. And maybe, by His grace, God will “tell” you what you need to “hear.”

Next time I want to address some of the issues around how to tell if direction is coming from God or not. This is all deeply subjective territory, which is why many Christians are rightly cautious. But I also want to explain why I think it’s worth taking seriously.