Trust your instincts

Image by ashley rose, via Flickr

"Trust your instincts" By Diane Webb

Psalms 25: 4—"Show me thy ways, O Lord; teach me thy paths."

Here, David asks God for guidance and direction. He wants to do God's will and is willing to follow God's word. How many times do we ask others for their opinion? We call people on the phone, we e-mail or text them questions, and we schedule appointments with our pastor or counselor. We want to know what we are supposed to do. We want to talk, talk, talk about it and figure everything out in our heads. Sometimes we don't realize the importance of our decision until we've already made it. Then we have to back-track and fix the mistakes. David made a point of praying for guidance in advance. Being open to instruction is vital to learning. We cannot grow in knowledge, understanding, or wisdom if we are unwilling to learn. Getting your mind in an open stance to receive guidance takes a willful decision to do so. Otherwise, we are left learning by trial and error—mostly error. We can learn the hard way—through our bad experiences or mistakes; or we can learn the easy way—by asking for God's guidance in advance. Trusting people until they prove they cannot be trusted is an example of learning the hard way—finding out someone is dishonest after they have stolen from you. Trusting people after they have proven themselves trustworthy is an example of learning the easy way—by discerning the truth as God reveals it to you. The Holy Spirit is wonderful at giving us warnings when we are making bad decisions or trusting the wrong person. The problem with most of us is we do not pay attention to the warnings or do not see them at all. Think of a time when you got a feeling about something—an instinct or gut feeling—and you paid attention. Now look back on some of the times you did not pay attention to the warnings or red flags. Which one came out the best? Most major mistakes we make have only occurred after getting several warnings or red flags. The red flags can be obvious (a look in the person's eyes, the way they are acting) or not-so-obvious (like a sick feeling in your stomach around someone or the hair on the back of your neck rising). In either case, the Lord is providing guidance and direction for you to follow through the nudging of the Holy Spirit. The best place to look for God's guidance is through reading his word—the Bible. Getting the word in your mind allows God to guide you as you are making choices in your daily life. Your mind is where knowledge resides. How often have you suddenly recalled a scripture that applied to the situation you were dealing with? You put the word in your mind and the Lord reminded you of it when you needed it. Another way to seek God's direction is by listening to the Holy Spirit. This can be understood by thinking of the Holy Spirit as being in the same place as instinct. This is where "knowing" resides. The Holy Spirit speaks to us through our body. Pay attention to your feelings from the neck down. The word, on the other hand, is in our heads—through the study, reading, and memorizing scripture. Get in the habit of seeking God's guidance throughout the day by both learning scripture and listening to the Holy Spirit. Converse with God as you would a coach or counselor. Ask for guidance and direction as often as you can. Don't wait until you think it's important enough "to bother God with". It's all important. There are no small decisions.

Dear heavenly Father, I open myself up to your guidance and direction. I want to learn to hear you and to understand your word. I want to recognize the prompting of the Holy Spirit so I can always be within your will. I want to learn the easy way, Lord, not the hard way. Please help me with this. I ask in Jesus' name, Amen.