Are you sure?

When our oldest son Kevin was in grade school we used to help him study for his spelling tests just like most parents. We would give him the word and he would spell it and we would either tell him "correct" or "try again." What I learned in this process was that at times Kevin would spell the words correctly but then would not be confident that he had done so. What I started doing was asking him if he was sure that he had spelled the word correctly? I would ask him, "Are you sure?" Then he would think about it and most often come to the conclusion that he had in fact made the right decision. He became confident that he had spelled the word correctly, that he had made the right decision.

The Lord does the same with his people. Let me explain. In the second half of Acts 20 we find the Apostle Paul giving departing instructions to the Ephesian elders. He recounts some of the details of his ministry and then later gives them prophetic warning about ravenous wolves that would come against the flock. But sandwiched in there in verse 22 he tells them....

"And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there." Acts 20:22

Simple enough. He's going to Jerusalem. He's been told to do so by the Lord. The Spirit of God is compelling him to. However, if we keep reading into the next chapter we find something interesting happening. Paul and his companions eventually find themselves in Tyre in Acts 21:3,4. There we see this happen:

"Finding the disciples there, we stayed with them seven days. Through the Spirit they urged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem." Acts 21:4

Interesting isn't it?  In Acts 20:22 Paul says the Spirit is compelling him to go to Jerusalem. In Acts 21:4 we see Christians, through the Spirit, urging Paul not to go to Jerusalem. At this point we have a divine contradiction. Why? Why is this happening? I think it is very simple really. I think the Lord is trying to solidify Paul's resolve to endure all things. The Lord knew that when Paul arrived at his destination he was going to be severely tested by the plots of the Jews. And, I believe that in his own way the Lord is asking Paul, "Paul, are you sure this is what I have told you to do? Are you sure?"

Upon arriving in the city Paul is detained and beaten by the Jews in the temple, arrested by the Romans, brought back before the Sanhedrin, held in prison for further questioning at a future date, threatened with assassination and transferred under armed guard to Caesarea for a trial before the governor Felix, detained in prison for another two years, brought to trial again before governor Festus who succeeds Felix, brought to trial again before King Agrippa and then later transferred by ship under armed guard to Rome to eventually stand trial before Caesar.

That's alot of suffering for one trip. And the Lord knew that before Paul started enduring through this succession of events he would have to solidify Paul's resolve to endure all things in the Lord. Paul had to get to the place where he knew that he knew that he knew that he absolutely knew that he was in the right place with the Lord in Jerusalem, even before he got there. Paul absolutely had to be clear in his own heart and mind, even before he arrived, that he had made the right decision, that the peace of God that surpasses all understanding was guarding his heart and his mind about the decision he had made according to the wisdom that was in his heart. He needed to dwell in the supremacy of God's wisdom, his peaceful wisdom.

"Wisdom is supreme, therefore get wisdom. Though it cost all you have get understanding." Proverbs 4:7

"But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure, then peace-loving,...." James 1:17

"And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:7

"Let everything be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses." 2 Cor 13:1

The Lord wants us to dwell in the supremacy of his wisdom. He wants us to know the peace that accompanies his wisdom, the peace that guards the heart and mind against doubt and unbelief once we have made a decision to go with him in a certain direction in our lives. I have often found that when making critical decisions in my life the only real confirmation I and my family received was the peace of God itself. If we are going to walk with the Lord there are going to be times when everyone around us, even trustworthy Christians, may not see the fullness of what God is showing us specifically.

I am not preaching against accountability. We need the Body to help us along. I am not saying go "rogue." But I have to tell you there are going to be times when you are going to have to stand alone with Jesus in the Spirit. Going rogue is when you don't have peace. It's not "rogue" when you are the only one who sees it after you have prayed about something more than once and subsequently have the peace of God abiding in your heart. At that point you are not alone. At that point there is confirmation and we go for it, even when other well-intending believers around us don't see or hear what God is showing us. This happened to Paul in Acts 20 &21.

In my last post I spoke of times in my life when others counseled me against doing what God had shown me to do. At times it was obvious the counsel was "Bad Counsel." But I have to also say that among those moments of "Bad Counsel" there have been many times where God was raising up others to test me like he did for Paul in Tyre in Acts 21. I look back and wonder if, when others where counseling me against making a decision I prayerfully felt led to make, they were not in fact speaking by the Spirit. I wonder if it was God asking me if I was sure that I had in fact heard him, that like my son Kevin, that was how you spell the word.

"It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. The latter do so in love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this, I rejoice." Philippians 1:15-18

We may not know in this lifetime whether, at times, the counsel and/or opposition we get from others springs from false motives or pure motives. Sometimes the Lord does not allow us to discern the hearts and motives of others. Like Elisha, sometimes it is hidden from us for various reasons (2 Kings 4:27).

When I moved to Midland, TX in February, 1997 the Lord spoke to me the first day I was there and told me to not get to comfortable as I would not be there long. Six months later the Lord moved me to Albuquerque, NM where I met Christine. But before I made the move out of Midland I was offered a free place to live and an opportunity to stay. The Lord tested me on my resolve to do what I had been told to do.

After marrying Christine and subsequently getting into management with the Olive Garden in 2000, the Lord opened a door for us to move back to Texas. The Lord had shown me 9 months prior that we would be making this move. When the time came to finalize the details of my transfer with my company they called an offered me the opportunity to stay in Albuquerque and to work in a restaurant where the quarterly bonuses that the managers were receiving were some of the best in the company. I prayed with my wife about it and turned it down. When they transferred me back to Texas the Lord saw to it that I was placed in a similar restaurant where the managers where earning similar bonus money to the ones in the aforementioned restaurant in Albuquerque.

A few years later the Lord began to speak to me that it was time to leave the restaurant business and get into real estate. He spoke to me at various times and in various ways over a period of about six months. When the time came for me to finalize my decision and turn in my resignation the area director, my bosses boss, tried to talk me out of my decision to leave even though he and I had always clashed because I was a Christian walking by faith.

"Did God really say......?" Genesis 3:1

When God speaks to us, more likely than not, we are going to be tested on it at some point in time. The question that remains is, "Are we certain that we have heard the Lord?" The opposition that you get to your decisions may be demonic and carnal like in Genesis 3. Or, it may be Spirit-led questioning as we see in Acts 21. Sometimes we can gauge the fruit of the individual and know which "voice" it is. Sometimes, we can't. But, as Paul said in Philippians 1, "But what does it matter? Whether from false motives or true......And because of this I rejoice."

We just need to know what God is saying to us. And when we know, we have peace. This is what it means to "know the Lord."

Be Blessed,
JEB
www.miraclesinmerida.blogspot.com.