Welcome To The God Nudge

Finding Guidance In A Confusing World

Photo by Tom Gainor on Unsplash

Several years ago, my wife, Karen, and I were talking one Saturday night about the will of God for our lives and what the future holds for us. We’d both been serving the Lord for quite a few years and always desired to be where God wanted us to be. Yet, I had a stirring in my soul that a change was coming. We were trying to process what I felt God was saying to me. The direction wasn’t clear, so we decided to continue to pray. We trusted God to give us a clear word from heaven.

We were living in Oceanside, California, just north of San Diego, where we were the founding pastors of a wonderful church. We loved the city, we loved the people, and we loved Southern California—but there was a tugging in our hearts to make a change. We knew this would be a very important decision, and we didn’t want to make a mistake.

One of my church's leaders informed me that Harald Bredesen entered our service the following day as I prepared to preach on a beautiful Sunday morning. He was one of the most unique people on earth. He was a former Lutheran pastor who was baptized in the Holy Spirit. Some have said it was Bredesen who gave the name “charismatic” to the spirit-filled movement.

That morning, Karen led us in a wonderful time of worship. We experienced the presence and blessings of the Lord. I asked Harald, “Would you like to say anything to the people here at Family Fellowship?”

Harald was well into his 80s and walked slowly to the front of the church. He had been deeply moved during the worship time. As he spoke to us, he began to cry. He said he had never felt the presence of God as he had in our worship service that day. He announced that the Lord had a message for us: He wanted us to take our worship experience beyond the walls of our church. We needed to share this kind of worship with others—not only nationwide but also worldwide.

My heart sensed, “That’s it!” Harald’s words were the confirmation Karen and I were looking for. We’d been trying to determine if it was God’s will for us to leave the church in Oceanside and take a position at Southwestern University, an Assemblies of God college near Dallas, Texas. That one God Nudge—the word from Harald Bredesen—confirmed in my spirit what the Lord had been speaking to me for a long time. But Harald’s message wasn’t just for me. Karen had been very hesitant about leaving our church. Now she was convinced God had given us clear, unmistakable direction.

After preparing for the transition, Karen and I moved to our new assignment, which was one of the most strategic decisions we had ever made. I became the Vice President of Advancement at the university, and Karen became the Pastor of Chapel Worship. Thousands of young people learned from her as she led and taught them how to worship. Today, people all over the world are sharing what Karen planted in their hearts. It was the fulfillment of God’s Word through Harald Bredesen. Our sense of God’s leading, however, hadn’t been clear until we experienced a God Nudge.

God nudges us in many different ways. His Spirit may speak to us through a passage of Scripture. As we read, the Holy Spirit “illumines” the truth to give us encouragement, direction, or correction. A nudge may come from the advice of a leader or a mature Christian friend. God often uses circumstances. He may put up a roadblock to steer our path or open a door for us. God leads some people into visions and dreams. In this article, I want to focus on one particular type of God Nudge: the whisper of the Spirit. In several passages in the Bible, the writers describe the Spirit’s desire and ability to lead us. Paul says that the Spirit’s leading is like the intimate relationship between a parent and child. Just as a loving, attentive parent wants to guide his or her child in life’s decisions, our Heavenly Father wants to direct us too.

Paul wrote:

“For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.” (Romans 8:14)

Some people attend church regularly, but they’re just going through the motions. They sing the songs and put some money in the offering basket, but as soon as they walk out the door, they forget about God for the rest of the week. Others long to connect with God, but they assume their flaws and faults disqualify them from having a real, rich, meaningful relationship with Him. The good news of the gospel is that the sovereign, Almighty God of the universe has paid the ultimate price for you and me so that we can truly know Him. As a loving Father, He wants a give-and-take relationship. The fact that God wants to communicate with His children shouldn’t come as a surprise. In the opening lines of John’s Gospel, he makes the dramatic statement:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1)

John says that Jesus Christ is “the Word.” It’s His very nature to communicate with those He loves—including every person in the world.

As we’ll see in several articles I will post here, God delights in nudging His children, but we don’t play a passive role. We have to cultivate a sensitive heart to respond to Him. And like every form of interpersonal communication, we sometimes misunderstand. When we interpret a God nudge incorrectly, it’s not the end of the world, and it doesn’t mean we’re inferior Christians. We need to learn to discern His voice.

We need to remember, though, that we’re connecting to the Creator of the universe. God is “as close as our breath,” but He’s “far above all.” He stoops to connect with us like a loving parent bends to show love to a child. One of the greatest privileges in life is to have a rich, real relationship with God. The disciples were amazed that Jesus walked among them and related to them. Today, His Spirit lives within us and wants to relate to us every minute of every day.

Growing up in Littlefield, Texas—which also happens to be the hometown of country singer, Waylon Jennings—I had a paper route. As a young man barely in junior high school, I was assigned a street called Mocking Bird Lane. Before dawn each day, I threw papers on porches and in yards. For some reason, the city hadn’t installed adequate streetlights on this street, so I had to ride my bike in the dark. I quickly learned that the newspaper's owner wasn’t concerned about my fears. He was concerned only that his paying customers got their newspapers. Every morning, I had to fight through my fears to complete my route on Mocking Bird Lane.

Over the years, I’ve thought a lot about the lesson I learned from my first job. God wants to deliver important messages—He wants to answer people’s prayers. But His greatest challenge is finding people who will overcome their fears, listen to Him, and let Him use them to transform lives.

“When the Pharisee, Simon, who had invited Him saw this, he said to himself, ‘If this man were a prophet, He would know who is touching Him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.’ Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.” (Luke 7:39-40)

It’s amazing to me how Jesus was able to read Simon’s thoughts, and I’ve often thought that it would be very cool if we could do that. The Bible says I CAN do that!

“... whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you.” (John 16:23)

I don’t know that it means we would audibly hear what someone else was thinking, but I do believe that God can give us the ability to perceive another’s thoughts.

Another amazing example from the Bible is the story of the time that Jesus went to the house of Mary and Martha, and Mary sat at Jesus’ feet. At the same time, Martha busied herself doing meaningless household chores. Here is the Son of God sitting in her house, and Martha is worried about cleaning the kitchen! Jesus said that Mary had chosen a better thing.

I find myself a lot like Mary. I am a sinner who is incredibly interested in the supernatural side of life. What prompted Mary to anoint Jesus’ feet? I think it was a God Nudge so strong that she could break through the good-old-boys club and sit at the feet of Jesus like the other disciples were doing. Jesus applauded her faith and said to her, “Go in peace; your faith has saved you.” (Luke 7:50)

I believe that thousands of God’s desires are going unfulfilled daily on Earth. Too many people are receiving God's nudges but are simply ignoring them. Let’s not wait until we get to heaven before we realize what could have happened and what should have been done.

Are you listening to God’s whispers? Are you willing to learn to respond to God’s nudges? When He gives you a nudge, will you respond in faith and obedience? That’s the adventure of the Christian life. The historian of the Chronicles wrote:

“For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him.” (2 Chronicles 16:9)

He’s still looking for people like that today. I’m in. Are you?

Thank you for reading. Please forward this to a friend or two. :-)

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