At times there are many conflicting voices that you consider as you make a decision:

1.  Your gut feel of what you want.

2.  Your friend A who has been prayerfully seeking God’s will and Word to share with you.

3.  Your friend B who tells you her gut feel.

4. Your spiritual adviser who has an intimate relationship with God.

5. The message from your quiet time of reading God’s Word.

In 2Samuel, King David told his spiritual adviser, Nathan, his gut feel that he should build a proper house for God.  Nathan gave him the “go” trusting that David was being led by God.  It turns out, both David and Nathan were wrong even if David’s intention was good and was for God. God’s plan was for David’s son, Solomon, to be the one to build the temple.

2 Samuel 7:2 [David] said to Nathan the prophet, “Here I am, living in a house of cedar, while the ark of God remains in a tent.”

3 Nathan replied to the king, “Whatever you have in mind, go ahead and do it, for the Lord is with you.”

4 But that night the word of the Lord came to Nathan, saying:  5 “Go and tell my servant David, ‘This is what the Lord says: Are you the one to build me a house to dwell in? … 12 When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 

This passage is teaching us that we, our friends, even our spiritual advisers could be wrong (until God reveals to them the way He did Nathan the confirmation of His will).   We need to inquire from God.  He speaks through His Word.  His Word is alive.

Jeremiah 29:12-1 Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 

Some reflection questions:

1.  Am I seeking God’s will through His Word?  Am I a testimony of living out God’s will?  What things do I need to make things right with God?

2.  Do I prayerfully seek God’s will before I add a voice to people’s ears or do I presume that I know exactly what God wants people to know and interfere with His will by blurting out whatever I feel like saying?

3. Am I considering the impact that my words will have on the person I’m talking to if they made a decision based on what I say?

Dear Lord,
Please help me to seek Your voice through Your Word.  Please give me discernment by the power of Your Holy Spirit to understand Your will that I will follow in my own life what it is You want for me.  Please help me to filter what is from You and not from You, be an edifying voice according to Your Word to the people You put into my path and to have reverence for You in considering the impact of my words on people, to be Your faithful servant and ambassador.  Please help me to seek to be (Holy) Spirit-filled always.  Please help me not to be a Confuser from the enemy who draws people away from Your will in Jesus’s name amen.

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Thank you, Heidi, for this devotion on my Canada visit!