Knowing III

John 21:²² [NIV] “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow Me.”

Test #3 for recognizing Gods voice is: Does it concern my responsibility? Is it your business? Peter was asking Jesus in John 21:22 what was going to happen to John. Jesus had already told Peter what would happen to Peter, and how when he grows old, how he was going to be led by another plus how he would die. But Peter turned around and began to ask about John. Jesus’ response in essence was, what is your business? A lot of people are quick to say, “God has spoken to me about you”. My thoughts are, “Really? Where was I?”

Rom.14:⁴ [NIV] “Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.” A single lady says to a married man, “While I was praying, God showed me that your wife was rude and not submissive”. The question is, how exactly is that your business? Does it concern your responsibility? That is what helps you test if it is your business or not. The “God told me to tell you… xyz” syndrome has caused a lot of damage in many faith communities. We have had people [even pastors], come to tell us that God says we should pay for their projects. I must have been sleeping when He said that.

Unfortunately, satan will always seek to discredit the Lord when well-meaning Christians interfere in other people’s affairs. Rom.14:^{10, 13} [PH, emphasis added] “We will all be judged one day, not by each other’s standards, or even our own, but by the judgment of God… It is to God alone that we shall have to answer for our actions.” Guess what? The last time I checked, you are not God. It is to God alone that we shall have to answer for our actions.

If what God is saying to you is going to affect other people’s decisions then give them an opportunity to hear God for themselves. You cannot say to someone, “God told me you are my husband”; it is too presumptuous. Getting married, I did not even tell my wife what God told me until we were about to get married. It was during one of our conversations I learned what God told her. I did not go to her with “God said”. I knew what He had said but I courted her myself.

Prayer: Lord, help me understand my business and empower me to mind it, in Jesus Name. Amen!