Yoo Hoo! God Calling...

Several recent conversations have prompted me to consider how God calls people.  I've always been awed at how Abraham, a man living in a land where many gods were worshipped, was able to distinguish a "call" from the one true God and then obediently gather up his family to tell them they were going "where? I don't know." to do "what? I don't know." because God told him to do it.  And that's what they did!  Amazing!  God had big plans for him and that called for a big leap of faith.

Seems like there are lots of goofy ideas floating around about how God does that.  Certainly there are several strange ways found in the Bible.  But how does a person who honestly wants to do whatever God has created her to do know what that is?  Is it a mysterious thing that only a special few get to know?  Is it something you discover as you take each step of faith?  What if your choices seem to be between what is good and what is also good???  

God's will God's will for our lives can only be general, not specific, for specificity invariably involves the micromanagement of our lives, which ultimately diminishes our freedom, growth, and responsibility ... God's will is not a tightrope that must be traversed with no room for error.    Philip Gulley The Evolution of Faith: How God Is Creating a Better Christianity      Start or join the conversation for this posting on the Emergent Village Facebook Page Visit The Emergent Village Voice blog at EmergentVillage.com     Emergent Village sends daily insights and inspirations from the emergent community. We're always looking for great ideas to feature, so click here to propose your favorite quotes, lyrics, ancient adages, or even that brilliant realization that came to you this morning. We'll select and feature quotes that fall into the following categories: inspiration, theology, leadership, culture, poetry/song. Submit a contribution to MinEmergent@gmail.com                          Join Our Email List

If you miss the first call, can you put God on hold and have another chance at it?  And what if you think you heard it correctly, but you actually made a mistake?  Will God give you a do-over? 

When someone says, "God told me to....", I look around at the faces of the people hearing that and sometimes wonder if they are saying to themselves, "Really.  And what kind of voice did God have?"  "Did God sound like James Earl Jones or Morgan Freeman?"  "Or Meryl Streep?"  "When did you hear God's voice?"  "Were you on drugs?" 

I'm not trying to make fun at other's expense, but I do wonder about these things.  I can honestly say that I've never heard an actual voice, but I have had really strong impressions.  But it's what follows those impressions that finally convince me it was God trying to tell me something.  Things like all of a sudden, within a few days' time, I will see/read/hear/ something that affirms it again.  It might even be a movie I see that unexpectedly speaks to the same issue.  It may be a conversation I overhear.  But the most convincing thing is that I see/read/hear is again and again--until I finally want to say, "OK, God!  I got it!" 

So, how do you hear from God?