NCD Discipleship Resources
The Enthusiastic Style -- discerning God's power vs. our imagination
My native style is Rational, with Enthusiastic at the opposite pole. I've been working through the 28 Days of Discipline process in the Enthusiastic style. Having re-read the appropriate 3 Colors material, here's my main question: When we have what appears to be a trans-rational experience, how can we tell if it's really God's power, rather than something in our imagination or of our own subconscious making? I know rational people are supposed to have the highest level of discernment and be best able to make such judgments. However, the fact is the most rational people are often the ones with the most active imaginations, so it's not always so obvious if we're experiencing the real thing or a flight of fancy. Can anyone advise me here? Thanks very much.
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Comments
Making it clear
Submitted by gschlegel2 on Fri, 06/18/2010 - 3:03pm.
Brooke,
Yes indeed, that makes a lot of sense. Experiences are objective, though there may be subjectivity in the interpretation. On the other hand, the "still, small voice of God" is far more likely to be subjective, or even one's own self-talk. So as long as the experiences are looked at through the lens of Scripture, one should be on relatively safe ground. However, a lot of our experiences are as you described -- everyday happenings the Bible doesn't talk about. Here, it sounds like you'd be looking for a pattern, like your house-hunting story.
I see that like anything else, discerning God's direction through experiences is a skill that develops over time.
This has been a very helpful exchange for me. I'm looking more and more forward to integrating appropriate enthusiastic elements into my rational/doctrinal base, as I seek to have a more centered faith that is more useful to the world.
Let God continue His blessings on you and your family.
Gordon
This has been a great
Submitted by beautybybrooke on Fri, 06/18/2010 - 11:58pm.
This has been a great exchange for me as well. Although my two primary styles fall in blue, all of my scores were within 6 points of each other, expect ascetic which was way down my list. It is always a great day indeed when people can come together to share. Blessings My Friend, Brooke
discerning Gods voice vs imagination
Submitted by beautybybrooke on Thu, 06/17/2010 - 3:54am.
My native style of Enthusiastic, I am going to try to share with you how I discren. I always keep in mind that the Holy Spirit never, ever creates confusion. That is something that is sometimes hard to keep in mind when one may be having doubts, because they can appear as one of the same. The second thing I always do is see what scripture has to say about it and ask if it is biblical. I tend to use the Bible itself as my biggest measuring stick. It has never failed me. I also ask God, Himself, to make it clear to me. I ask for clarity, ask for doors to be completely closed or opened. For it to be crystal clear. God is amazing, ask and one shall recieve. For me, these are the things that work best. Hope that helps you out some. Blessings, Brooke
Discerning God's voice vs. imagination
Submitted by gschlegel2 on Thu, 06/17/2010 - 3:27pm.
Brooke,
Thanks for your comments. I find them quite sound and logical:
When the Holy Spirit (or one of the other members of the Trinity) is truly stepping in, it would have to be completely unambiguous as to what's going on. If there were any confusion, we could be led astray, and that would be totally against God's nature. Also, it must be totally consistent with God's Word, otherwise, it cannot be from Him. Those are very useful measuring rods.
Asking God Himself for clarity is a little harder for me to grasp in a practical sense. His voice is normally still and small, and I have a lot of trouble picking it out. The idea of discerning by observing what doors open or close completely is interesting, but that process may last a long time. An example would be if you're considering moving to a new city, and you can do it anytime, due to the nature of your work. That door is open indefinitely in a consistent state. Is your suggestion, then, to just keep on asking until you receive? That would be Biblically sound as well. Jesus gave several such examples in the Gospels.
Thanks again, and best wishes to you.
Gordon
Gordon,
About asking God to make it clear. I have found that God's directions come in more ways than a voice. Let me preface this with that I am a very analytical person. I have struggled in my journey of faith of what si God and what isn't. I was long chanllenged by the very fact that it would seem that one could argue that many things come from God. I struggled to muddle my way through things. That being said, God often speaks by experiences around us, and God is great at being clear and understandable by a variety of people.
I think of when we were looking to buy our first home. I was praying thet God make it VERY clear, if this was his will. I asked that he open doors that were his will, and close others that were not. I asked that it be made so clear that even I couldn't argue it as a misunderstanding.
It was such a painful process, we would look at houses, put in an offer and there was always something that did not pan out. We found what we thought was "it" a house that was in the location we wanted, with many of the features we wanted and was a 3 minute drive to my husbands work. We put in our offer and it was accepted. But that is where the easy stopped. We were soon wrapped in a sea or red tape, which led to us ultimately letting the house go. It was pretty clear by the red tape that this was not Gods will. This story did end well, the very next house we saw( 45 minutes from the last), we put an offer in on and within 24 hours, everything was done and we moved in 3 weeks late, and are happily home to this day.
This is not to say that one might expect that God will preform for them, or that God always makes things painless. But God does have a plan, and in my experience God is a loving father who wants to teach, instruct and guide just like an earthly father. God may open doors, but we must be willing to walk through, or God may close doors and we must be willing to leave them closed. Fear or force can hold us back or send us into places we dont want to be.
Hearing God in my experience is something that grows as it is exercised. It does get easier and clearer.
Does this make any sense?