Does God Tell You Things?

It is common to hear or use the phrase "God told me..." in Christian circles. Sometimes it comes up in relationships: "God told me we should be together." Or maybe a poor guy has been rejected by not only the young lady but also by the Holy Spirit (ie. "the Holy Spirit is telling me we shouldn't be together."). 

Here is a good article by Nancy Guthrie entitled "Why Do we Say, 'God Told Me?'". Her argument (which I agree with) is that we hear from God through his written Word (ie. the Bible) and not in some private  or mystical special revelation.

One part that I found insightful is when she thinks about why it is that we often talk about God telling us to do something even when the Bible gives us no such expectation:

So why do we speak about hearing God in this way? We grew up being told that we must have a "personal relationship with God," and what is more personal than hearing him speak to us about our individual issues and needs? Sometimes if we dig deep we realize we speak this way because we want to impresses others with our close connection to God and make sure they know we've consulted with him on the matter at hand. Another reason may be that to say, "God told me . . ." can prove useful to us. If you've asked me to teach children's Sunday school this fall, it sounds far more spiritual and makes it far more difficult for you to challenge me if I say that God told me I need to sit in adult Sunday school with my husband than if I simply say that I don't want to or have decided not to teach.

But I think there is something more at work here than simply our desire to sound spiritual or to make it difficult for someone to challenge our preferences or decisions. We genuinely long for God to guide us. We genuinely long for a personal word from God, a supernatural experience with God. Yet we fail to grasp that as we read and study and hear the Word of God taught and preached, it is a personal word from God. Because the Scriptures are "living and active," God's speaking to us through them is a personal, supernatural experience.

God has spoken and is, in fact, still speaking to us through the Scriptures. We don't need any more special revelation. What we need is illumination, and this is exactly what Jesus has promised the Holy Spirit will give to us as his word abides in us.

She concludes by asking if this issue is really a big deal.

Does it really make a difference when we expect God to speak to us through the Scriptures rather than waiting to hear a divine voice in our heads? I think it does.

When we know that God speaks personally and powerfully through his Word, we don't have to feel that our relationship to Christ is sub-par, or that we are experiencing a less-than Christian life if we don't sense God giving us extra-biblical words of instruction or promise. When we know God speaks through his Word we are not obligated to accept—indeed, we can be appropriately skeptical toward—claims by any book, teacher, preacher, or even friend when they write or say, "God told me . .  ." We don't have to wait until we hear God give us the go-ahead before we say "yes" or "no" to a request or make a decision. We can consult the Scriptures and rest in the wisdom and insight the Holy Spirit is developing in us and feel free to make a decision.

The whole thing is worth reading. She provides good biblical reasoning for what she is saying. I hope that these excerpts (highlighting the more practical side of things) encourages you and spurs you on to think about this issue.