How will you know?

How do you know if you don’t go?

I know it’s a cliche, but I don’t know how else to say it.

Remember when you thought you were supposed to help someone on the side of the road, but you talked yourself out of it and kept moving? Or you felt like you were supposed to talk with someone you didn’t know or, even worse, didn’t like. But again, you talked yourself out of it. You were late to church/class/lunch/whatever. Besides, they were too busy and probably didn’t want you bugging them.

So, you walked away, suddenly convinced that you were never supposed to talk to them. But, in the back of your mind, you had that little thought. “Did God want me to do that?”

Ok, so let’s ask the question? Did God want you to do it? I have no earthly idea. But my point is, neither do you.

Two short stories:

I was waiting for the train in downtown Dallas. It was hot. Somewhere around 105 degrees. There was a guy standing on the platform across the tracks and he was preaching. He was wearing a three-piece suit and he looked hot. I felt God telling me to go buy him some water. I hesitated. I did all the normal excuses: I’ll look weird, he won’t need it, it’s just an impulse, I might miss my train. As I stood there arguing, time was ticking. I finally decided I would do it. I walked across the tracks, went into the little store and bought some water. When I came out, he was gone.

Did God want me to get him some water? I don’t really know. In my heart, I say yes, most assuredly. But I can’t prove it.

Let’s assume that God did want me to go. If this assumption is true, I disobeyed in my hesitation. If it wasn’t God, I’m an impulsive person who can’t make up his mind. (I’m trying to be kind, it is me after all.)

So, let’s give it the AIM test.

1. Was it scriptural? Yes, I think that one could say that. In Revelation, the people who were told they could get into heaven were said to have given Jesus a drink when they gave it to the least.
   
2. Do other Christans confirm it? I haven’t talked to anyone about it, but I think that most of my Christian friends would at least say it COULD be from God.
   
3. Does it produce good fruit? It could/would have. I would have given some water to a man that had been outside in the hot sun, wearing a three-piece suit
   
4. Does it exalt Christ? See 1-3.
   
5. Does God bring it to pass? Well, I’ll never know…

Next story:

I was in Matamoros, MX. We were in a pretty poor colonia and it had just rained. The streets were completely mud-soaked as there was no pavement to speak of. About a block from the ministry site, there were about twenty buses lined up single file on the very narrow street. I decided to buy some water from a little neighborhood store. I was thinking that maybe God wanted me to buy the water to be able to talk with/minister to the people inside. I bought the water, but didn’t do anything else beyond saying ‘buenos tardes.’ I stepped outside and stood there, wondering what to do with the water. Oddly enough, I HATE bottled water.

So I was standing there thinking, ‘well, that was dumb. What am I going to do with this water?’ I looked across the road and saw a bus driver sitting in his bus, reading the paper. God said to me, ‘go give him the water.’

So, naturally, I went the other way and started arguing again. He had some water already in a gallon jug. I didn’t have a translator. He was busy reading his paper. I would lose the people I was walking with (not true. they would have waited).

Then, I remembered the man on the train platform four years before. I turned around, went to the open bus door, introduced myself, got his name (Martin), and held out the water bottle. He smiled, took it, and said thank you. (He spoke about as much English as I do Spanish) I said goodbye and left – no translator, remember?

I walked up to my group and saw that Veronica, the translator, was free. At my request, she went to Martin’s bus and I got to speak to him for a little bit. He was from the Dominican Republic and was a Christian. We told him about the church we were helping and he said he lived somewhere else. That was it. We said goodbye again and I left. I got to give a Christian brother some water. Whoopee, right? Give it the AIM test above and it passes, IMHO.

As I went through the afternoon, I started thinking about that small, insignificant act. How would I have known that God was speaking to me if I had not gone across the street and given the water to Martin? How was I to know that it wasn’t just some weird impulse? Stay with me, here. I’m NOT saying it was God. I’m just saying that it sure looks like it was. But I never would have been able to say that with such assurance if I had not gone.

How will you know if you don’t go?

I’m not saying that every time you feel an impulse to do something nice, strange, or helpful that God is telling you to do it. I’m only asking you to consider the possibility. Just because danger is involved doesn’t mean that it isn’t God. Just because you might be late to church doesn’t mean it isn’t God.

How do you know it’s God? Do the test. It takes practice to learn to discern his voice. I’ve been convicted lately about the amount of time I spend in my leisure activities and not in my Bible study. I’m not trying to be crazy here, but when I spend an hour and a half playing Burnout3 on my xBox and zero minutes in the Word, guess what I think about as I’m falling asleep? That’s right, crashing cars.