How to know the difference between God's plan and foolhardiness?

The question of knowing whether something unusual is God's plan, or is foolhardiness, is not always easy. For those to whom God or an angel spoke directly, it was probably pretty clear. One example of being spoken to by God or an angel is Mary, the mother of Jesus. Another is Moses when he was told to lead the people out of Egypt.

But in our lives, it's not always easy to know when we're solidly in God's plan, or if the unusual thing we might be doing is foolhardiness. Even when we have prayed about it, it's not always easy to be 100% certain about it. Did we misunderstand? Did we hear wrongly? Did we only think we heard something a certain way but really it wasn't that?

It's not always as easy as hearing a loud voice that we identify clearly as the Lord's. It sure would be great if we could be certain 100% of the time! Of course, many people have heard God's voice incredibly clearly and with certainty - not just in Biblical days, but today too. One example of this is Dr. James Lee; see the book When God Walks With an Ordinary Man by James Lee. We too can hear God more and more clearly the more and more we get to know Him.

I found that the more we know God through prayer and reading the Bible, the more we hear Him clearly. There isn't really a "shortcut" to this, although the more we read the Bible and pray (the more time spent each day on this), the faster we know Him and hear Him more clearly. While it's not realistic to say "in x amount of time I hope to hear y number of messages from God", we can aim to know Him better now than we did previously. It's not about comparing ourselves to other people; it's about knowing God better than we did before.

So getting back to the question of what is God's plan and what is foolhardiness, most of that involves a) getting to know God through prayer and Bible reading, and b) listening to God when we hear Him.

It does not mean thinking "Oh, I know God now, so whatever plan I come up with, that must be God's plan."

This is particularly topical during this time (i.e. during a global pandemic), when some people, especially pastors, have claimed that God is working a certain way or has a certain message. Many of them have said they believe that they are immune to the virus. Certainly there are examples of this sort of thing having happened in the Bible so it's not out of the question, but I would venture to say that in some of today's cases, they might not have heard any such thing from God, or have mistaken some other voice (such as their own) for His. It's important that you listen to God and to what he is saying. Don't assume that God will only speak to certain people, such as pastors, and not to you! Get to know God, and you will find He speaks to you.

There is no easy way to know the difference between God's plan and foolhardiness, but listening to God, asking Him for wisdom and discernment, praying, and reading the Bible will all help you know the difference. Even with all that, I very often don't know the difference in all situations, but I can safely say that I am clearer on it now than I was last year.

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