God told me...
I am waiting to hear God's voice...
When I hear from him (God) I'll let you know...
Greetings in the name of our gracious savior, the Lord Jesus Christ...
"Under the care of his wing" (instead of "Sincerely" at the end of a letter)
I saw the face of God in my face...
and my personal favorite: The Devil is a liar...
The list goes on.
(By the way, all of the above phrases are things I have actually read or heard at work or over the phone. It never ceases to amaze me how specifically and clearly God speaks to some people!)
People who talk and think this way provoke one of two reactions.
1. What am I doing wrong that causes God to be so indirect and nondescript when it comes to my life journey and spiritual revelation?
OR
2. What the hell are these people smoking?
The crazy part is that I actually used to talk and think like that. I used to say that God "led" me here, or there. And I used to believe that all my decisions were based on the "fact" that he was speaking to me. I never defined it as a literal, audible voice, but rather a belief in my heart that God was nudging me in one way over another.
When I think about it now though, I am not as convinced as I once was about those "God spoke to me" moments. I now wonder if they weren't just natural development of my interests, passions, and personal desires. I know, I know, who's to say that those things aren't motivated or shaped by God's will? I don't know how to answer that, which is half the reason I am writing this post.
All I know is that when I hear people say that they undoubtedly, irrefutably hear God talking to them, I can't help but question their sanity. Maybe my feelings are based in a deep seeded jealousy that God isn't talking so clearly and directly to me. Or maybe it's the fact that so many people I know at one time or another were convinced that they were hearing God, when in fact they were hearing the wishes of their own subconscious.
Ex: I knew a woman in college who was convinced that God spoke to her in a dream and said that she was to marry another friend of ours. I did not think she was hearing right, but I gave her the benefit of the doubt and "waited" with her as she patiently prayed for the day he would propose, even though they never dated. She was convinced that God placed a supernatural ring on her finger in her dream and that since she woke up from that dream she could still sense the feeling of an actual ring on her finger even though she wasn't actually wearing one. A year later, the guy did propose...to another woman. Nine years later, they are still married.
Another woman I know applied to a PhD program, convinced that this was the direction in which God was leading her, because that's what he told her. Hmm. Convenient. Apparently God forgot to tell her that she needed to know how to properly construct a thesis statement and supporting citations in her essay. She was denied on the basis that her writing skills were insufficient for Doctoral level work. "WHAT??? BUT GOD TOLD ME!!!! The Devil is a liar!!!"
I find that when things don't go the way people suffering from EGT syndrome expect, they blame the devil. This is a convenient strategy for people who can't stand the thought of taking personal responsibility for one's actions, irrationality, poor decisions and lack skills or common sense.
Being confronted with EGT (as entertaining as it sometimes is) really does frustrate me. Not only is it frustrating, but it is one of the main reasons I can't step foot into a church right now. Too much EGT!!!! Last week I was at a church and a woman was sharing how she has just started making crocheted purses and she kept saying, "I KNOW God keeps telling me to sell my stuff in Santa Monica." Really? So God is taking up marketing now? Why can't this woman realize that the urge to go to Santa Monica to sell her wares is more about a logical understanding that people who visit or live in Santa Monica typically have an indiscriminate amount of money to spend on trendy crocheted handbags???? Revelation from God, and logical assessment of supply and demand are not the same thing. UGH!
I don't know, maybe my cynicism is at work again, poisoning my ability to see the intimate handiwork of God in the everyday things of our lives.
I mean, Jesus did tell the disciples to throw their nets over the other side of the boat after an unyielding, exhausting day of labor, and the result was an abundances of fish that nearly snapped their nets! But Jesus was actually right there with them, giving direct guidance in the form of legible words coming directly out of his mouth. More than that, there was an end result that was directly in line with the direction. Such an event cannot compare to what we have to go by when we think God is speaking to us. So how can we be so sure when or if God is speaking?
Does all of this mean that I don't think God (if he or she does exist) doesn't speak to people? Of course not. What kind of God would God be if he/she didn't reveal himself/herself to us in some way. And what would be our purpose if we couldn't discern that revelation?
To me it all comes down to basic, philosophical, epistemological (theory of knowledge)questions:
What is knowledge? (in this case in regards to God's revelation)
How is that knowledge acquired?
What do people know?
How do we know what we know?
All questions I have no answers to.
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