Our discussions about Wayne Grudem’s views on New Testament (fallible) prophecy have led me to ask this question.
Some fine Christians take a pure wisdom approach to God’s leading and decision making (Decision Making and the Will of God).
Others take a very subjective approach.
I am in the middle, only occasionally “feeling” led.
Often our approaches may be colored by our personality. Perhaps people who are constantly “feeling led” tend to be more emotional than others who sense and occasional leading or have never “felt” led. Perhaps not.
So what about you?
Poll Results
Do you believe that God has led you apart from (but not contrary to) the Bible and/ or applications of wisdom?
I have never “felt led” other than from Scripture or wisdom (often developed from Scripture). Votes: 9
I rely heavily on Scripture and test everything by it, but I occasionally “feel led” toward specific choices/acts. Votes: 11
I rely heavily on Scripture and test everything by it, and often “feel led” toward certain choices. Votes: 1
I “feel led” by the Spirit toward certain choices daily or almost daily. Votes: 0
Other Votes: 6
Discussion
NewInclined
I often feel inclined toward one option over another without any conscious reasoning to back the preference, but I cannot detect any specific “ledness” in the inclinations. That is, most of these intuitive inclinations feel the same, though with varying degrees of confidence.
I say “most,” because some of these inclinations are clearly wrong (Romans 7 comes to mind). But among the “not-clearly-wrong” inclinations, they all feel the same.
Since they all feel the same in quality, I can’t tell Spirit leading (of the specific choice A over choice B type) from ordinary human intuitive (as in, not derived by conscious reasoning) decision-making.
Views expressed are always my own and not my employer's, my church's, my family's, my neighbors', or my pets'. The house plants have authorized me to speak for them, however, and they always agree with me.