Zach’s Theological Musings

  Romans 12:2:

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

  The phrase “I feel God leading me to…” can occasionally get people into trouble — when the feeling in question goes against the clear revealed word of God in Scripture. For example, I have heard someone talk about feeling that God released them from a previous marriage, when in fact there were no Biblical grounds for a divorce in their case. The feeling was simply wrong.

  But such cases are the exception. Generally when I hear a Christian brother or sister say, “I feel God leading me to…”, it is followed by something that genuinely is God glorifying and God pleasing. And indeed whenever we desire to something pure, righteous, and honoring to God it certainly is the Holy Spirit in us who is creating those desires. Go for it, brother!

  But the phrase that really sends chills down my spine is this, “I don’t feel God is leading me to… .” Uh oh! That is where you very, very frequently get into BIG, BIG, trouble. You see, there is something called the quenching of the Spirit which we drastically, drastically underestimate.

 Do not quench the Spirit; do not despise prophetic utterances. But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil. I Thess 5:19-22

  Even as a born-again follower of Jesus Christ, it is simply incredible how dull, deaf, and dead our hearts can be from sensitivity to what is right and good. Oh how very often we “don’t feel led” to do something, not because it is not God’s will, not because the Holy Spirit doesn’t care if we do it or not, but because we have completely gagged and silenced His influence by listening to the clamor of the world.

  Examine everything carefully. Whether it be prophetic utterances, “promptings” on your heart, or indeed, the lack of “promptings” on your heart. I would venture to say that it is in the silence of a quenched spirit and a quenched conscience that God’s will is most frequently violated. If God commanded it of you in the Bible, then He is leading you to do it, regardless of whether you feel led or not.

  A born again Christian knows that his attempts to do good works will never earn him right standing with God or a place in heaven. We also know that we never will and never can “pay God back” for what He has done for us, and that He doesn’t expect us to. So what is a Christian motivation for doing good works? An overflow of our thankfulness to God for what He has done for us? To demonstrate the reality of our faith? As a form of witness to unbelievers? To gain rewards in heaven? Yes OK, but I think there is a more basic answer. Brace yourself. Our motivation for doing good works is… because they’re GOOD!