Christianity Oasis Forum

[TMB]

I know it is kind of long so thank you for helping!
So I went to a church last Easter that I didnt particularly like. It was a very old fashioned church which is not really my thing. After I left I felt like God wanted me to join the choir, but sometimes when I come up with an idea I dont like I psych myself out over it like maybe I should do it because I dont want to. I think I may have over analysed this thought and made it into something bigger than it was.

Anyways, I rarely think of it, and it has only nagged at me twice out of the few times I have thought of it. However, I was feeling anxiety today so when I thought of it it has nagged me more than usual.

I am so conflicted over it because I dont want to do it, and the thought of it makes me feel sick and I really did not enjoy that church or the thought of having to go to choir practice for their choir throughout the week. It is simply not something I want to do. Sometimes I feel like I need to do it and other times I feel like I'll be fine if I dont. I dont know the answer. I had a similar experiance when I was thinking about joining the army. I would sometimes feel like it was something God wanted me to do, but mostly I would feel like it was not for me. In this case I did want to join the army though so you can see I kind of make myself not do what I want to and do what I dont want to.

However, it has really bothered me this time! I read that as a last resort you should flip a coin to get God's answer which I did (twice just to double check haha) and both times it came out against joining the church. However, right before I was ready to flip it I dropped it and it came out pro going to the church. Do I over think things???

[dema]

Knowing whether you heard from God, or from some deep inner voice that isn't God - like a hunch - is very difficult. Sometimes, you get signs and wonders. But this is rare. Sometimes you just KNOW. Just KNOWING is peaceful. Deep inside of you you feel peaceful about it.

So, what do you do when you don't have that deep inner peace about it? When you know that your flesh necessarily is fighting it and that would be blocking a deep inner peace?

You run it against God's word. Certainly there is nothing in the Bible against joining the choir. And God's word says to fellowship and to praise. The Bible doesn't tell you where - but if you aren't fellowshipping and praising anywhere else.......

My final conclusion for myself is that if I feel that God may have given me an instruction, to weigh it against results. If there is no likely negative repercussion, to go with it. If there is, to ask for confirmation. I have found that God doesn't tend to give confirmation on the ones that wouldn't hurt anything to do - until afterward.

So, I'm told to go left instead of right. There isn't any reason not to go left, but I go right anyway. And then I'm stuck in traffic for two hours when I can see that the people who went left are moving right along. That's the kind of confirmation I get when there isn't any reason NOT to do what I think I heard.

So, if it makes sense to do it - do it.
If it doesn't not make sense to do it - do it. (If there isn't a good reason to NOT do it, then do it.)
If it doesn't make sense to do it - then wait for deep peace, or wait for confirmation. Likely you will get both if you are supposed to do something that doesn't make sense.

Hugs.

[Jamie808]

Hey there TMB,
It was nice to meet u in da room last nite. Boy...these types of things can really get to us sometimes, huh ? I recently agonized about going back to college I was all signed up and ready to go but I felt God direct me otherwise the day before I was supposed to sign all the papers and give them $.

I think the most important thing in these types of conversations is to try let go. Ask God to help u let go if ur struggling w obsession about it. These kinds of things to me are kinda like "surrender meter checks" for me. In other words have I truly died to myself and given Christ everything about me, my will, my desires, my pride, my wants, my hopes and dreams, etc. If the situation was that God spoke to u clearly about going to the Phillipines to minister for Him how would u respond or He wanted to send u to an urban city to minister ? The other piece of this for me is admitting my own powerless - I have no ability to quiet my mind. I have no ability to discern God's path for me. It all needs to be Holy Spirit revealed. Hence I am being pointed to the cross again, on my knees.

My feeling is that no one can speak to u as if speaking for God - i.e. tell u what to do. But one thing for sure is God is calling u closer to Him. In my college decision I was all wound up, trying to submit and trying to "figure it out" and a friend asked me one day "do you know His voice?" Seeking the answer to that question for myself is how I ended up here at C. O. I was lead to do the "Many are called few are Chosen" study here about hearing God's call in ur life. It was an amazing study that helped me immensely. I recommend it to u and other heartily.

Im so glad u popped in last nite. I hope u will stay and let us get to know u. I need people like u in my life who are fellow travelers ready to do His will. God Bless U in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Jamie

[TMB]

Thank you for your helpful answers. I have decided to just do it. What makes it better is that I am blessed with an awesome boyfriend who is willing to go with me even though neither of us like the idea

My fear is that once I go God will ask me to keep going even though it is not the church I want to go to (at all).

Is is possible to get worked up about something like this and then realize it was nothing to begin with?

[dema]

Absolutely possible.

On the one hand, sometimes God does ask us to do things we don't want to do to test our obedience. And sometimes afterwards he releases us - and sometimes not.

And, other times, we realize that what we were resisting was actually Green Eggs and Ham, and Oh I like it Sam I Am.

[TMB]

Thanks Dema that really helps