"God told me..."
Have you ever heard those words...used in a totally bizarre or inappropriate way?
Here's some examples I've heard (or that have been said to people in my circle): "God told me you that you were going to wear purple today", "God told me you were going to be my future wife" (said a 50-year old guy to a 20-something girl) or "God told me you are going to be a country singer" (said to a woman who loathed country music).
Sometimes people use the "God told me..." phrase in completely weird (and kind of creepy!) ways. And like a guy in today's passage, sometimes people use it as a way to justify their own (sometimes self-righteous) ideas. Let's review:
...it's God's Spirit in a person,
the breath of the Almighty One,
that makes wise human insight possible.
The experts have no corner on wisdom;
getting old doesn't guarantee good sense.
So I've decided to speak up.
Listen well!
I'm going to tell you exactly what I think...
During his lecture throughout today's chapters, Job's "friend" Elihu speaks some nuggets of truth. In these short verses, I think he's spot-on in giving God credit for making human insight possible. Where Elihu fell short? Inserting his own opinion (including a bunch of inaccurate, judgmental assessments of Job) into a bunch of spiritual-sounding lingo.
I think (and I know!) that sometimes, "God told me..." statements can be very accurate. But before any of us use those words, it's important to be careful--to ask ourselves, "What's my motive for saying 'God told me XYZ...' to this person?" and first and foremost, "Does what I'm saying 'God told me...' align with what God's already said in the Bible?"
No comments:
Post a Comment