God Told Me...

Fall 1987

      "It's true," my little friend Cristin insisted, her eyes wide.  

     "It is not!  You're making it up!  You're lying to me!"  I told her blatantly.  We were in kindergarten, and I was used to her pretend little stories.  Of course, as a child that age, I sometimes told them too.  

     "It is true!" She shot back.  "God told me in my mind!"

     Well, at least this little girl knew the highest authority to appeal to!  I felt frustrated, knowing I couldn't rightly refute what she was saying any further, because I would be arguing with the Almighty (even though I knew that was more of her story-telling).  

Present Day (April 2021)

     Sadly, false claims about hearing from God are not relegated to elementary-aged children.  Many years later, I was in a Bible study.  A very insecure woman in the study often began her sentences with, "The Holy Spirit told me..." and then she'd state her opinion.  It was a setup where you couldn't disagree with her or it appeared you were disagreeing with the Holy Spirit.  Just like when I was in kindergarten, I found myself getting frustrated, because I knew the Holy Spirit hadn't necessarily told her the things she was claiming, but I couldn't outrightly challenge her (at least not without making a lot of trouble I didn't feel up to handling at the moment).   In essence, she was saying, "God told me in my mind!"  

     People claiming to speak for God is an ages-old phenomena.  In a sense, Satan started it in Genesis 3, when he told Eve to eat the fruit.  His refutation and twisting of what God has said was, in essence, falsely speaking for God.  People have been doing it ever since.  Sometimes, like Satan, the motive is to destroy others and get them into sin.  Other times, it is simply a cover for insecurity, or a selfish motive.  In any event, claiming to speak for God is serious business.  In the Old Testament, false prophets were to be killed (Deuteronomy 13:5).  

     One of the most bizarre experiences I have had of someone falsely claiming to speak for God was a letter I received some years ago.  This letter was from a woman I knew.  I admired that she was ministry-minded, but I had seen her manipulate others at times.  Her theology was a little more into the "signs and wonders" than mine.  This is not a bad thing in itself at all.  God does have the power, and does work in our lives, dramatically at times.  However, I had seen her use this belief to control people and situations, and it made me uncomfortable.  I generally got along with her when our paths crossed (we didn't work for the same ministry, but our ministries occasionally overlapped).  Finally, though, the time came when I crossed swords with her.  I did something she didn't like, and, like so many others who offended her, I received a manipulative, shaming phone call from her.  It was disguised as niceness and concern, but she was really putting me down.  She was posturing herself over me, and putting me in what she believed was my place.  When I did not allow her to control me (I politely refuted her controlling comments), I received a letter from her in the mail.  The letter did away with all her fake niceness.  The velvet gloves came off.  She told me how wrong and sinful I was, and how she wanted nothing further to do with me or my ministry (Hooray!  Oh, wait...and she thought this would be a punishment to me?), and then added, "God told me a secret about you!"  

     Was I wrong and sinful?  Well, the truth is, I am a sinner.  I'm a forgiven, saved sinner, being sanctified and becoming more like Jesus, but I am still not perfect (I won't be until Heaven).  It is always possible that I had a part in the situation.  I can take responsibility for that, and own it.  I can make it right.  I am not claiming I was 100% innocent, nor do I claim to have handled this woman perfectly.  But she was trying to posture herself over me, and when I didn't allow that, she became mean.  Is that how biblical prophets acted?  No.  Did God tell her a secret about me?  No.  God doesn't tell secrets like that.  He isn't a petty junior higher who wants to leave others out!  In the Bible, when He gave prophets a message for others, He had them actually deliver it, not say, "God told me a secret about you!"  This reeks of pettiness.  While I didn't stumble as a result of her ridiculous letter, it was unnerving.  How do you know when God is really speaking through someone?  Here are a few warnings that what someone says is not of God:

It contradicts the Bible.  If someone says God told them something, but what they're saying is unbiblical, that is a very clear sign it isn't of God.  For example, God won't lead anyone to commit adulatory, lie, steal, or anything else that goes against what He has established in His word.  I once read a very inspiring story about this woman who felt called to get on a bus and travel 200 miles to tell someone she didn't know that it was okay for her to marry the man she loved.  The story was written by the woman in love, and she took this stranger-messenger as God's voice.  However, the story was about how she, a Christian, got God's okay to marry an unbeliever.  It was a touchy-feely story, but it wasn't a biblical conclusion.  Second Corinthians 6:14 clearly says, Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers... It might seem miraculous that some stranger felt led to come on a bus 200 miles to tell her to marry him, but the result reveals that isn't of the Lord.  

     We also need to be on the watch for things that go against God's character.  I knew a very catty woman (the same one who always said the Holy Spirit told her things that were really just her opinions).  She once claimed that God told her to exclude another Christian woman from a ministry she was trying to start.  She very publicly invited this woman to join in front of everyone, then wrote her a very mean message privately, telling her that God said she wasn't invited after all.  Is that of the Lord?  No.  God doesn't operate like that at all.  When we look at Jesus, we see someone who always made time for people.  When He did need private time with His disciples, or even with his closest three friends (Peter, James and John), He made that effort to get them alone.  He wasn't nasty to other people in order to just be with them.  Make sure what you are hearing from the Lord is in line with His word and His character as revealed in His word. 

It condemns.  The woman who said God told her a secret about me was being very condemning.  She was initially putting me down and criticizing me, and then she took it further by cutting me out of her life, saying God told her a secret about me.  If she wanted no further contact, she could have simply dropped contact.  You can let someone go without making it this big condemning thing.  Romans 8:1 says, There is therefore now no condemnation for them which are in Christ Jesus...  As Christians, we are not condemned by God, and shouldn't accept it from other people.  God is able to communicate with you.  You don't need other people telling you about your walk with God.  Hebrews 8:11 says, And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.  We, as believers, are indwelt by the Holy Spirit.  He can convict you when you aren't living in a godly manner, but it won't ever be condemning.  It will lead to deeper fellowship with Him.  He gives you the power to do right, and the desire to carry it out!  Conviction from the Holy Spirit will never leave you feeling hopeless, worthless or condemned.  It will leave you knowing, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me! (Philippians 4:13).

     There is a difference between condemnation and correction.  None of us is above the need for correction.  If you have a trusted friend or mentor who calls you to account, consider yourself blessed.  Faithful are the wounds of a friend (Proverbs 27:6).  A Christian friend's correction should be done in love, not superiority, and should certainly not be condemning to you.  And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds (Hebrews 10:24).  Correction should be more than just pointing out your wrongs.  It should encourage you toward doing right, believing the very best about you.  If someone rips you to shreds--whether it is an attack on your character, an enraged confrontation, casting doubt on who you are in Christ, or making you feel horrible about yourself, that is not of the Lord.  

It doesn't have any focus on Jesus.  Christ is the center of everything for us.  He is the central focus of scripture.  He is our Savior.  Our redeemer.  He is our creator (Colossians 1:15-16).  If someone is claiming to be speaking for God, but what they're saying doesn't come back to Jesus at some point, that's a red flag.  Colossians 3:1 says, If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  Self-help messages are fine in some contexts, but a word from the Lord will center on Jesus, not just shallow philosophy, or humdrum things in life.  Hebrews 12:2 says, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith...  If Jesus isn't being glorified, I would question what is being said.  

The person claiming to speak for God has a life that isn't yielding fruit.  No one is perfect, but someone being used of God should be bearing good fruit.  A pastor I knew of used a lot of profanity in delivering God's message to people, which caused some to question whether God was really speaking through him.  Other people who claim to speak for God end up having a lot of moral failures in their lives, and yet people still follow them.  Be careful who you listen to.  Matthew 20:17-18 reminds us: So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 

     In Conclusion, you are responsible for your walk of faith.  Jesus warned us not to let ourselves be deceived.  Matthew 24:4 tells us, Jesus told them, “Don’t let anyone mislead you,.."  You are responsible for your heart and soul.  You need to be grounded in God's word.  Be taught by the Bible and led by the Holy Spirit.  God will show you whom to trust, and will let you know when He is speaking to you!  I don't know about you, but I'm all ears!