What if I think God is telling me to do something stupid?

Obviously, if it is God speaking, you do it, no matter how hard it is for your mind to comprehend it. The real question is, how do I know it is God speaking?
Central to divine guidance is the rule of three witnesses. Any true message must line up with Scripture, circumstances and the Holy Spirit. For example, God would not expect you to violate the written Word of God, the Bible, in obeying Him.
So, if the message tells you to get your chainsaw or axe and murder your neighbors, you can be confident God is not involved.
If God tells you to go to Africa and be a missionary for Him, circumstances will line up. In other words, He will make a way. If He doesn’t provide finances, then you can rest assured that it is not His time yet, even if He has asked you to go.
 
Finally, the inner voice of the Holy Spirit within must support the message. This is something that 20th Century Christians are not very good at. The Bible expects us to know the leading of the Holy Spirit (His sheep "know His voice…" John 10:4 and "The Spirit of Truth… will guide you into all truth" John 16:13). Most of us are deficient in this area and should be doing a little more homework here.
 
It shouldn’t surprise anyone that even when all three of these witnesses support the message, there is often a reluctance to obey. Perhaps I can give a few examples from my life to illustrate that it is not important that we understand, only that we obey.
 
I was on a business trip in Chicago a few years ago. I had about a ten minute walk from my hotel to the meeting place. Since I thought I might have an opportunity to do some witnessing, I put a copy of the Gospel of John in my pocket. During my walk, I saw a black doorman with the full suit on, bright red uniform, gold braid, and hat. In my pride, I said, "This is my project," as I considered the various "witnessing approaches" I could try on him.
 
Instead, God commanded me, "Ask him if he’s a Christian." I objected that such an approach was rather simplistic in light of the many techniques I was proficient in. "Ask him if he’s a Christian!" God commanded more forcefully.
 
Feeling a little stupid for using such a sophomoric approach, I popped the question.
 
"No, but I’d like to be," he responded.
 
Just then, a car drove up to the hotel, and he could not say another word to me as he crossed in front of me to do his job. I just had time to pull out the Gospel of John from my pocket and hand it to him. "Here, read this!" I instructed, before continuing on my way down the street.
 
God knew that a car was coming, and any witness to this doorman could be no longer than a sentence, no matter how many more technical approaches I was aware of. So, while He made me feel foolish, He got the job done.
 
On another one of my "foolish" missions, I was at the Great Lakes Naval Base doing my Naval Reserve Training. I had taken two weeks off my job as a nuclear engineer to do this training and was behind in my engineering work, so I brought some with me. I was looking for the library so I could have a quiet place to do my work.
 
One of my "rules" took into account that a typical Navy environment has 10,000 guys and ten girls. Most of the girls have heard every "come-on" and line in the book. So, my policy was just to leave the girls alone, to give them a break from countless obnoxious males.
 
I saw a sign outside of the building saying, "Library," but no signs inside. Downstairs I saw a girl. "Library?" I asked. She pointed up the stairs and I took off. I was proud of myself for keeping my "pestering" to a minimum.
 
On the way up the stairs, God said, "Witness to her."
 
"Are you kidding?!" I questioned Him. "This is a Navy base! I don’t pester the girls on a Navy base! This can’t be God!" So, I tested Him. "Is God’s death on the cross sufficient for my sins?" I asked (I figured Satan wouldn’t want to admit that).
 
"Yes," He responded.
 
"Well, You really put me into an embarrassing spot!" I reminded God. I headed back down the steps, very mad at God, and very embarrassed. This was going to look exactly like a guy on the make, precisely what I had wanted to avoid! I headed to the drinking fountain, to provide myself with some kind of excuse for being back down the stairs. "You’d better set this up, God, ‘cause I’m not going to put much effort into this!" (I’m not saying I talk to God like this all the time, nor am I justifying such childish behavior. I’m just telling it like it was).
 
"Do you know that Jesus loves you?" I demanded of the poor girl.
 
"What?"
 
"Do you know that Jesus loves you?" I repeated, in the same rough voice.
 
"What!?"
 
This girl was really hard of hearing, and she wasn’t helping me get through this ordeal real quickly. I softened my voice a little, and slowed down, "Do you know that Jesus loves you?"
 
"I guess so, I’m a Christian."
 
Well, I figured that God had really goofed up on this one. Here I was, commanded to witness to a Christian. So, I sat down with her and began to witness. Pretty soon, another girl came along, heard what we were talking about, and sat down to listen.
 
Then the first girl got up and left. Now, I was really in a fix. Was I supposed to follow the first girl or stay and talk to the second? I felt no leading to run after the first girl, so I stayed, and got quiet, waiting on God.
 
"Can I ask you a question?" she asked.
 
I nodded.
 
"Am I damned to hell if I run away from home?"
 
Finally, I knew why God had pulled me into this situation where I felt so foolish. He knew if He had spelled out the whole situation, I’d have been saying, "Where? What? What do I say to the first girl? How will the second girl know to sit down?" So, He just kept it simple, only asking for my obedience… which He barely got.
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