My idea or His? How do I know? Ask Nehemiah

ATP: Have you ever run across a kook who tried to tell you that God had "told" them something? Something to do, for example? Even as a believer in God who believes that God does "communicate" with us, I've always been uncomfortable when I have heard people say, "God told me to...." whatever. Did God really speak to that person? Did they hear his voice? The phrase they used normally means that some one spoke audibly to a person. And when people use such phrase as "God told me to...." they seem to have very specific information as to what God was telling them to do. How do you argue with a person about to do something stupid, who says "God told me to...." If God spoke, who are we to intervene? Well, I'm not so sure that God speaks so audibly as some would have us think. And we need to be cautious both in how we speak, but particularly in how we respond to people who say God told them to do such and such a thing. However, it is clear from the Scriptures that God does communicate with us. And certainly in the Bible we find God actually speaking to people audibly. So it is not impossible. But it seems to me that more often, God speaks to our hearts. What in the world does that mean? Sounds pretty vague doesn't it. What I mean by "speaks to our hearts" is what I think Nehemiah experienced. For months he had prayed about the broken down condition of Jerusalem. This was God's city and at the time it was in ruins. People living there were living in shame because of its condition. So Nehemiah prayed and prayed about this. In the end we read an interesting sentence in Nehemiah 2:12: I told not one what my God had put into my heart do do for Jerusalem. There is a similar thought expressed in chapter 7 verse 5, when Nehemiah says: The God put it into my mind to assemble the nobles and the officials and the people to be enrolled by geneology. Nehemiah was keenly aware that it was God who had put this thought in his mind. Does God communicate to us in this way still? Yes, I believe he does. And certainly I believe that God can speak audibly to us. He is after all, God. He is free to do anything he wants within the make up of his perfect character. But notice how God's communication came to Nehemiah. In one case something had been "put on his heart to do," in another, he said that God had "put it into his mind" to assemble a certain group of people. What is that first thing, this "putting on the heart?" Simply put, Nehemiah developed an inner desire to do something for Jerusalem, an inner desire to accomplish a task. The second thing, "put it into his mind" was an idea of what to do, to assemble the nobles and others. But notice that in neither case did Nehemiah say, "God told me to do....." or, "God spoke to me...." Nehemiah recognized that his inner desire to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem had been planted there by God. He recognized that God gave him an idea regarding assembling a certain group of people. Is there a difference between that kind of communication from God, and a claim of verbal communication? Yes, there is. When a person says, "God told me...." they are making an unequivocal statement that this came directly from the mouth of God. When, on the other hand, they say, "God put it on my heart to...." or "God put it in my mind to...." notice that their "heart" and "mind" are the recipients, one in the area of desire, the other in the area of ideas, but neither in the arear of "I heard a voice and here is the command and instructions I received." Miles apart these are, from the "God told me to..." approach. So how do we know the difference in our own lives? Check out Nehehiah chapter 1. Nehemiah had been praying for months and months. No nightime vision popped in on him to give him direction. He had spent significant alone time with God, seeking God's direction. While doing so does not guarantee that all our "desires" or "ideas" are from God, such an approach is part of being led of the Lord. Our focus on God's will, God's direction, God's wisdom, guides our prayers and guides God's response to us. As we pray and earnestly seek His direction, we can be assured that he will answer us. So in the end, for us to say "God put it on my heart" or, "God put it in my mind to..." are both perfectly Biblical comments and ones that we should be comfortable with. God is at work in and through the lives of his children. And when we call on him, he will answer us. There are other factors that we must take into account to determine God's leading. The Scriptures tell us about them....things like seeking wise counsel from others and so on. But when we have done all the Scriptures tell us to do, we can be comfortable in knowing that God does lay godly desires on our hearts and put ideas in our minds to do for him.