Yesterday I had a patient who said she hadn't eaten for "a number of days", and was only drinking water. She didn't want to tell how long she hadn't eaten. I asked her why and she told me the Holy Spirit told her to fast. She otherwise seemed ok, a woman in her 60's nice hair, good hygiene , etc. I asked her why she came to the hospital, and asked if she came because concerned family members brought her. She admitted this was the case. I then asked how long she was going to keep fasting. She said until "the spirit" told her to eat... so I asked what would be the sign that she was to eat,...she said she would know and then asked me if I was a born again Christian. I told her "Yes, I am" to which she then replied "Then why don't you know the answer, you should know the voice of the Holy Spirit", and asked me if I ever fasted. I said I used to fast, juice fasts as well as water only fasts, when I was in NAM (the new age movement) and that there are "other voices" that we need discernment. I said to her gently: "I understand why your family is concerned, don't you?" and she agreed that she knew why they would be concerned.
When I took her back to the nursing module I prayed that the true Holy Spirit would help her, and hoped that a few seeds were planted.
There are so many who are being misled by voices thinking they are being guided by the Spirit of God. This woman seemed rational but she couldn't tell me why the "Holy Spirit" would tell her to do this fast, or for how long she would have to do it. Where is the discernment today? We are not to listen to "every spirit", and the devil himself will disguise himself as an "angel of light" and try to convince us that he is god himself. He hates us and is a robber (of life) a murderer, and a deceiver. We must be very diligent to know WHAT is true, and WHO is true. I pray for more oil in our lamps.
Yes, Susan, I'm in agreement with you here, and I'm glad for the woman that you got to plant the seed of trying/examining the spirits under the Word.
ReplyDeleteI think back to the times I've gone down a wrong pathway and find that it's always when I'm not reading my Bible and spending time listening to the Holy Spirit speak through the Word. I definitely cannot "wing it" without the Word I'm prey to the world's many voices. Whenever I adopt an idea I cannot explain, I have to question, "Where did this come from?" and usually I find it wasn't God's voice but my own sinful nature or the world's wisdom creeping in!
I think people are placing too much emphasis on feelings, and making every thought they have come from Jesus. Jesus doesn't go against His word, and what He does follows logical sense...to the degree that we can understand His logical sense, what is perfectly logical might not ALWAYS be logical to us. However, I do not believe that Jesus would have us do something that drastic without giving us sound reasons and parameters. If He places something on our heart to do, it would be for Him, and would not bring dishonor to Him. If she said that she was grieved over the state of our nation and felt compelled to fast and pray for a set number of days, that would be reasonable. If she was fasting and praying to receive understanding on something that was deeply troubling to her in this life, to help her get through it, again with a set plan to go for a set number of days, I would agree that it is good to seek the Lord when we are deeply troubled and feel the need to limit the demands of the flesh to seek the Lord in earnest. But when it involves hearing "a voice" telling you to stop eating, I would question "why?" and "how long?" and for "what outcome?" because God isn't frivolous and doesn't do things for no reason, there's always a reason, and it must follow the truth of what we find in scripture.
ReplyDeleteIt makes me very sad that there is such a void in the area of discernment these days. :-(