One of the last things I was left with to point to after The God Delusion were two moments in my life of 35 years at the time... While the book mocks the notion that God speaks to people, I understand why...
- How many TV evangelists, pastors, and wanna-be prophets do we need to hear from that have been 100%, dead-wrong in what "God has told them". Look at what people see in the media? Pat Robertson has not always been right. Why is that?
- How may times have you heard a Christian say, "God told me to do this or told me to tell you...."- enough already. To many people in this world.... WE LOOK FOOLISH.
- Why would God tell one person to vote for the Republican and another to vote for the Democrat? I don't get it. And....right now there are people quickly rushing to explain why God would do that... STOP IT.
I've been burned thinking I knew when God was talking to me. I made decisions on those thoughts and they were dead wrong. The truth is, either my "tuner" (and most others) are out of whack, or I need to have some humility and admit, "I don't know if that was God or if it was just my own distorted thought".
The irony is, there were two times that seemed different... 2 times in 35 years. One was...
When my business was crashing, creditors were calling, and stress was pumping through my forearms, I vividly remember driving through the Angela and US31 intersection in South Bend and yelling out loud at God... "God, what is the deal!!!".... and instantaneously, this thought pops in my head, "Are you willing to let go of the business for Me".... I yelled back, "Am I willing to let go of the business for You? I don't even know if that's you talking!" Later the next day, it struck me, wouldn't I have said "Am I willing to let go of the business for God"- it was a third person statement stuck in my head... Since that moment, I've taken gradual steps to let go and I continue to see it's been the right shift in my life.
Oddly enough, that moment was one of the core things I was left with after reading The God Delusion.... a personal glimpse, a brief interaction, a course-changing blip that reminded me... that was something, a real experience that came from.... Someone.
2 comments:
You know my story and everything that has happened. Though he hasn't actually talked to me. But he's showing himself from time to time....
I want to believe that God is nudging me constantly. I believe that He is speaking to me through scripture, through blogs (like this one), through friends and mentors... But there has only been one time that I KNOW He spoke to me, and like you, I often cling to it almost desperately.
Good post!
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