I was driving around last week, listening to the song “God In You” by the PawnShop kings when this lyric leapt out of the radio, grabbed hold of my heart and refused to let go:

Just ‘cause a voice in your head spoke to you

Doesn't mean God’s telling you what to do

That’s not God in you

I immediately felt a pit in my stomach because those words, sadly, hit a little too close to home.  How many times have I manipulated God’s word for my own selfish gain?  How many times have I formulated a plan for my life and then “used” God as a justification to continue forward?  

I know I’m not the only one, too.  How many divorces have found a husband and wife at odds - one fighting to leave, one fighting to stay, both convinced they were doing “what God told them to do”, even though they were conflicting actions?  How many people have been pulled into cults - Christian cults and otherwise - simply because they felt a burning in their bosom?

How much violence has been attributed to “following God’s voice”?  How many terrorist attacks?  How many abortion clinic bombings?  

We are self-centered by nature.  Even as a believer, I often find myself warring against what God wants for me.  As a result, it’s so much easier to turn those thoughts into directives.  This certainly isn’t just a modern problem, either.  In fact, the Bible offers a distinct, clear directive to test our “voices in our head” against:  

Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. - 1 John 4:1

Our God refuses to allow us to follow him simply with our hearts.  He wants it all - including our mind, our intellect, and our intuition.  I’m finding as I get older that the tools are all there - it’s just a matter of “tuning the instruments” so I can listen well.

You can preview “God In You” by the PawnShop kings here:  http://pawnshopkings.bandcamp.com/track/god-in-you.  Check out the rest of their music too - you won’t be disappointed!