There are a lot of opinions available to us out there. Whether it's a friend, co-worker, parent or a blogger online, we have no shortage of opinions that we can adhere to in a day. So which opinion should we listen to? Should we listen to some, all, or none? Here at Spirit Life we believe in living from the heart. We believe in allowing God to guide us through the still small voice that speaks within our soul.
Today's article is about people from the scriptures who made the decision to follow God's guidance in their heart, rather than the opinions of man. There are certain times in life when it is wise to take the advice of a person who has more experience or knowledge than us in a certain area. There are also times in our lives where we have a knowing in our soul, an intuition that comes from God, that should be followed above any opinion of another.
Paul Shipwrecked On Malta
...they said to one another, "No doubt this man is a murderer!" ...after they had waited a long time ...they changed their minds and said that he was a god.
Acts 28:4-6
Acts 28 records the story of when Paul was shipwrecked. Paul was arrested by the Roman government for preaching about Jesus Christ's resurrection and was on his way to Rome across the Mediterranean sea as a captive. Their vessel ran into a serious storm that ended up stranding them on the island of Malta. The locals of the island treated Paul with kindness and built a fire to help warm everyone up. Paul had decided to throw another log on the fire when a viper struck out and bit Paul on the arm. The local people started to murmur amongst themselves how Paul must be a murderer. They reasoned that even though he had survived the shipwreck, justice would not allow him to live. "He had to have been a terrible person to be a prisoner on that ship in the first place, so now we'll watch as the venom takes hold and kills him." They said to themselves. So they waited. Then waited some more. After a long time the locals realized that nothing had become of Paul's deadly snake bite, so their opinion of Paul changed. Now the people began to profess that he must be a god!
As it turns out the peoples opinion of Paul in both circumstances was incorrect. Paul was neither a horrible person nor was he a divine god, he was a man filled with the Spirit of God living from his heart! After this the natives brought their sick to Paul to be healed and it's recorded that he did heal them through the Spirit.
David Refuses Saul's Armor
Then Saul clothed David with his own fighting attire and put a bronze helmet on his head. He also put body armor on him. ...David removed them.
1 Samuel 17:38-39
In 1 Samuel 17 the Philistines go to war with Israel. The Philistine army camped against the Israelites and offered to settle their differences with a one on one battle between either sides champion. The Israelite soldiers were too intimidated by the size and aggression of the Philistine champion Goliath. For forty days straight Goliath challenged the Israelite troops to send forth their champion but no one was willing to step up.
Then there was David. David was a young man with zero military experience when he arrived at the Israelite camp. He was a Shepard for his fathers sheep. The only reason he was at the camp was because he was to deliver his older brothers lunches to them. When he learned of the current situation he knew in his heart that God would help him kill Goliath. David's brothers didn't believe in him but David wasn't backing down due to their opinions. Soon King Saul heard about David's courage and called for him. Saul took one look at young David and told him, "You're going to get yourself killed! Goliath has been a man of war for longer than you've been alive kid!" David continued to refuse the opinions of others, even the King himself. He stood his ground and convinced Saul that he had killed many wild animals in the past and Goliath would be no different.
Saul eventually believed David and he wanted David to dress in his armor. In Saul's opinion the young man would need to dress the part of a champion. David tried it on but declined the King's armor. David knew the strategy that would work for him, he needed to be light on his feet and strike Goliath down from a distance, just as God had shown him in his heart. You know the rest of the story. David slew Goliath with a single stone from his sling shot and used the giants own sword to cut off his head, saving his nation in the process.
Daniel Remains True To God
So the king assigned them a daily ration from his royal meats and from the wine he himself drank. ...But Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself with the royal meats or wine.
Daniel 1:5-8
Daniel was a young Jewish man who had it in his heart to stay true to his God. Daniel was taken from his homeland and was to be groomed for the King of Babylon's service. This included a specific diet that was contrary to the Jewish peoples diet.
Daniel was subject to the overseer of the court officials of Babylon, so he asked for the overseers permission to not defile himself with the Babylonian diet. The overseer was confused by Daniel's request. The common paradigm of the day was that eating meats and drinking wine was best for making people healthy and strong, fit to stand in the King's presence. The overseer said, "If I allow you to eat your own diet and you look feeble and malnourished in front of the King, it's my neck that is on the line! I'm responsible for you to look healthy and strong!"
Daniel knew in his heart that his God wanted him to stay true to the Jewish diet because it was best for Daniel's health, so he told the overseer to test him for ten days. If Daniel's diet left him looking feeble and malnourished after the ten days then he would submit to the Babylonian diet. As it turns out the overseer agreed and after the ten days Daniel's appearance was better and his body was healthier than all of the other young men in the kingdom!
Remaining true to what God has put in our hearts will always be the highest choice we can make. I believe human beings have a sixth sense, that sense is called knowing. We know what it is that we should be doing in certain situations and life events. That knowing comes from the still small voice within our hearts who guides us along our best lifepath. My prayer for you today is that you continue to follow your heart, in wisdom and peace. Cheers friends.