Listening to Your Gut
Tell me this, have you ever eaten at a restaurant and after leaving, you were highly disappointed at the food as well as the customer service and said, Man, something told me not to eat there? Or, have you ever been out shopping and saw something on sale that you really wanted but shrugged it off and later learned that the store no longer carries that item or no longer has your size and said, Man, something told me to get that when I had the chance? When you ignore that “Something told me voice” essentially, you are learning to ignore the voice of God. As hard as it might be to believe, often times, God speaks to us through our Gut: Your Gut is God’s Unlimited Truth. There is no end to God guiding you in His truth by His Spirit.
The scripture says it like this: A man’s heart plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps. Most of the time, God is not going to speak to you with a loud and thunderous and boisterous voice. God speaks to us many times in the way of directing your steps. This word ‘Direct” in the Hebrew is the word ‘Kun’ which means to establish or confirm. In other words, God’s directing is that gentle nudge that confirms what you are thinking or pushes you away from from those things that cause you to stumble.
Perhaps you find yourself in a new relationship, and your eyes like what they see, your heart likes what it feels and your hands like what they feel. But deep down inside, there’s that gentle nudge telling you to walk away: That something is not quite right. Don’t ignore that GUT feeling. That is God’s Unlimited Truth pushing you away from something that is not good for you. Even though your eyes, heart and hands might feel like its good, remember the words of Jesus; Only God is good! God always desires to do good to you!
You might be saying, well Alex, that sounds good and all, but how do I know that listening to my Gut is me listening to God and not me listening to my own inside voice? Cause if I’m being honest about it, I got some thoughts floating in my head that I know are not from God, so how can God trust me to listen to my inner voice. You know, that’s a great question, but you’re in good company. King David seemed to wrestle with the same question. Listen to what he asks of God. He says, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my thoughts; And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.”
David knew that there were some things in his heart that he struggled with. I mean, he had an affair, he had an innocent man killed, at one time he thought the might of his army was what put him on the map. But look at his request: Search me God and know my heart. This word ‘know’ in this context means ‘to be instructed’. Essentially, David is saying, here’s my heart Lord, it's messy, but I trust you to instruct it. He also says of his thoughts: Try me and know (or instruct) my thoughts and see if there is any wicked way in me. Here’s the lesson, when your desire and trust is that that God would instruct the the ways of your heart and the thoughts of your mind, you will get in a habit of listening to your GUT. You are trusting that in all things, whether your career, business ideas, your children, relationships and more that God will always nudge you in the right direction.
