Do you ever get ‘caught’ in making or acting on the RIGHT decision? Or is it later, once you’ve acted that you wonder if you should have said ‘no’ rather than ‘yes’ (or vice versa)? Simple answer. At the time of decision… did you have a check in your spirit? If so, what was it saying? For me, I find that every time I’m not totally confident of what I do or am planning on doing and I sense a check but proceed anyway – maybe not the best choice or maybe not with the best of intentions (motivation). Does this resonate with you?
Our ‘WHY’ of doing what we do or don’t do is critical. We need (all caps) to be honest with ourselves in why we are acting or speaking in the manner we are. Sometimes, admittedly, there truly are pros and cons to each of the options and we don’t know which is the best choice. Or the times when we sense we should do one over the other but lack the confidence to follow through. Why the doubt? Is there really a strong reason to do or not do that you aren’t seeing… merely sensing? HOW do you act?
I’m a great believer in ‘checks’ in my spirit. Experience has taught me that every time I’ve ignored those checks, I’ve come to rue it. Maybe not a catastrophe but not a huge success either. How you define checks and what you do with them is important. For me, a check is from the Holy Spirit warning me to be certain. Sometimes it’s a ‘wait’ – I don’t have all I need to proceed. Sometimes it’s a ‘not a good idea’ check, causing me to rethink. Sometimes it’s a ‘you forgot (fill in the blank)’ and proceeding precipitously is not the best approach. Actually, a check can mean a host of rethinkings.
Scripture tells us that our ‘yes’ should be yes and our ‘no’ no. This provides a standard that I need to be certain that my words and behaviors follow this. But my inclusion is that our yes or no should be with confidence – which is an application of Matthew 5:37. We need to know our why of acting or responding. The Holy Spirit is here to guide us and I believe we need to be sensitive to what He is saying. ‘Checks’ can be one of His methods. Actually it depends on if we listen.
