A friend recently asked how to know when you have heard from God.

I don't recall ever being asked this question—and I've been asked about it a great deal—but that the anxiety virtually dripped off the words. Many of us believe God's will is a narrow, obscure thing, and that if we miss it, life will head downhill in a major way.

The logic that many folks exercise regarding God's will is that by missing God's will and thus being outside His will is basically being somewhere that God is not. With this philosophy, it gets really dicey if the circumstances surrounding you are intense or unpleasant. After all, these difficulties could only be a sign that you missed God's will and He is really hacked off!

I lived a significant portion of my life with this narrow philosophy of God and His will. It was not until I had struggled laboriously to find the will of God on numerous big issues and lots of small matters over a period of years that I finally realized: this is not the case.

Obviously, there is more to come! Until next week...