Answer to prayer? -long

As it is so late (I’m watching election results because I’m a political junkie), I don’t want to flippantly respond to the crux of your post. HOwever, two things I am confident in answering is regarding your first question:(why do we do G-d?) Those of us who are Messianic Jews or Gentiles (as I myself am), those in Normative Judaism and maybe some Hebrew Christians do not write out L-rd and G-d out of respect for His Name; we also don’t use the 4 Hebrew characters of His Name. From Judaism 101-Judaism does not prohibit writing the Name of God per se; it prohibits only erasing or defacing a Name of God. However, observant Jews avoid writing any Name of God casually because of the risk that the written Name might later be defaced, obliterated or destroyed accidentally or by one who does not know better.The commandment not to erase or deface the name of God comes from Deut. 12:3. In that passage, the people are commanded that when they take over the promised land, they should destroy all things related to the idolatrous religions of that region, and should utterly destroy the names of the local deities. Immediately afterwards, we are commanded not to do the same to our God. From this, the rabbis inferred that we are commanded not to destroy any holy thing, and not to erase or deface a Name of God.

So it is a respect issue and though not set in stone (and not legalistic!), when I write one of His Names, I must intentially think about it in order to not write it out fully; His Names are so casually used and abused in this time. So I assume you are of Jewish descent and are a Completed Jew since accepting your Jewish Messiah?

As to the karate thing; I definitely hear a major concern here and I generally frown on year long contracts, too. So I’m with you on that. So if it’s causing you this much discomfort, I personally would back out. You said he also showed interest in gymnastics, because he has friends doing it. If I may be so bold as to say that it is the duty of the parent to raise their children “in the way they should go”, not the way his friends go. It sets a bad precedence to have his peers have such power in decisions when you and your husband are the ones to decide what, when and even if he should be engaged in something outside of the home. Ask the L-rd to guide you and show you His Plans for your son, then this natural fickleness of being attracted to different sports can be waded through much easier, as it’s not your guilt or your son’s pressure (or a combo of both) making the decision. I have ground rules based on my priorities of being home more than being out and honoring the Sabbath, so that if a child does something outside the home, then it must be one thing at a time, for a relatively temporary duration and finished till the end (commitment) and not disruptive of my family’s priorities. What are yours and your husband’s priorities for the family versus the “business” of the world, esp. at such young and impressionable ages? Decisions shouldn’t be made that are rooted in guilt or fear; those are easily discerned as not being from G-d.

Ask G-d for wisdom and he will give it to you-He promises that very prominantly in James, I think Chapt. 1-go read it! Ask for discernment and He will provide it to you. When I am struggling to know if it’s G-d or me, I first ask Him the same way King David did; to  search my heart and reveal any hidden sin; as that can cause a “block”. if you will, in having a clear sense of G-d’s direction. As for the enzyme question; it’s a little simplistic, because it’s not about the  enzymes, but about our bodies as the “Temple of the Holy Spirit” and I think how we treat them is a way to Honor Him, plus we are made in His Image. There is a great deal of research that enzyme therapy is very successful, many on this board have found success; as is switching to a more traditional, less processed diet. The gut is very important to the neurological system. G-d has given the authority to you to make the best decisions for your child, with your husband and Congregation Leader to guide you; He gave your son to you and has already equipped you for what you need and He will continue to equip you. It sounds like your may be having a little of a confidence crash? NO shame; I’ve had them myself-I think all the ladies have here; esp. those of us with special needs children. I have an adopted dd with sensory integrative disfunction.

This has been longer than I anticipated and I don’t know if I’ve helped, it’s late and the brain is foggy! There is also great wisdom from the other ladies as well. I will check back in later.

Rachel

Ruth,

I believe that in essence you are asking two fundamental questions:  Does God care about the details of my life? and How do I know what God’s will is?

If God has numbered the hairs of our heads, He definitely cares about every aspect of our lives as well.  And while I do think that God can speak to us through the words of a song on the radio I urge caution in interpreting that.  For example, I know someone who was praying about something and then saw a goose.  Since she knew that a goose was a symbol of something (I forget what) she deduced that God was telling her to do such-and-such because she had seen a goose!  The point is that these things that we see and hear can be twisted by our own interpretation.  Maybe hearing “Downtown” on the radio is God warning you to stay away from downtown.  Maybe He’s telling you that is the way you should go.  Just too nebulous.

The thing that is certain is that God does speak to us clearly through His word and that He is not stingy about blessing us with the wisdom that we need.  James 1:5 says “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God who gives freely to all without finding fault and it will be given to him.” 

And Philipians 4:5 or 6  “Do not be anxious about anything, but in all things, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” 

God’s will is not hard to figure out.  He wants us to love and obey Him.  I think most of us fall into the sin of thinking that if things are going well, then we must be doing God’s will; and if things aren’t going well, we must have messed up somewhere. 

Thankful for an infinite, eternal, gracious God

Jean

Here’s a little food for thought… When God speaks does He always speak authoritatively? Put another way, does God ever speak without authority or in a way that’s not true? Of course not. If He did then He would not be God because truth and authority are part of His very nature.

So if we say God is speaking to us in some subjective way, perhaps through our thoughts, feelings, a sense of peace, circumstances, experiences, dreams, etc., then those promptings would have to always be true and given with God’s full authority, right? Anything less and it’s not God. Following the logic to it’s conclusion, that would make those things equal with scripture and then we’re heading down a very dangerous, very slippery slope.

What do you do if one person says God is telling him something and another person says God is telling him the opposite? How do you tell the difference from God directing you and your own desires? How do you know if that wishy-washy feeling is direction from God or a reaction to what you had for dinner?

That’s why we need something sure and always true. God speaks to us through His word and we can count on it always being true.

Am I saying that God does not use our circumstances and experiences to shape us? Nope. In fact, we know from the Bible that we are shaped through the things we walk through to then bring glory to Christ (1 Peter 1:6-7) and so that we can then help others through their difficulties (2 Corinthians 1:3-7). But I am saying that we should take our experiences and view them in light of what God has revealed in His word and not treat them as authoritative.

I recently read a good article titled Biblical Guidance in Practice. What I like about this particular article is that the author gives Bible references for what we know to be the will of God, references to how Christians in New Testament times made decisions, and then applies it to a specific example of making a decision in his own life.

I also like how the article brings out the idea that we should be living and doing God’s will that He has already revealed rather than somehow trying to find the one “right” choice for every situation. When we walk according to God’s principals and seek to give Him the glory then there are times when He lets us decide between multiple choices that are all God honoring. I like to think of those things like choosing between chocolate and vanilla. There is not necessarily a right answer. Pick one and enjoy! (Psalm 37:4)

I have to say I read the article recommended by Doug and it is excellent! Ignore whatever I said and just read that.

Nebby