Is God Directing My Path?

How do you know that the hand of God is directing the paths you choose in life? Some claim to “hear” what God is trying to tell them, others “feel” the Spirit moving them in one direction or another. But how can the validity of such claims ever be tested, by the person experiencing it, or by anyone else? The first step toward evaluating the source of a “gut feeling” is to check it against Scripture. You will never receive anything from God that tells you to violate his will as it is already expressed in the Bible. If you think that’s what God is trying to tell you, I’m sorry to say the source of such misguided advice must either be yourself, or something more sinister.
Does my desire/feeling square up with Scripture? If so, what do I do now? There are two other tests that you can evaluate a choice in life by; conscience and the wisdom of respected fellow Christians. If what you want to do (or in some cases don’t want to do but know you should) matches up with Scripture, your conscience, and the wisdom of experience Christians; it is most likely a good choice. On the other hand, if it violates all three, no matter how much you want it, you should run away.
I faced such a choice years ago; having met a young woman that I fancied and being unsure of how to proceed. The question was this; could a Baptist and a Catholic get married? The Scriptures tell us to seek Christian unity, my conscience was clear, and the advice I received was mostly in favor. What to choose? Well, it’s been seven years of marriage under God’s blessings, and I hope for many, many to come. May God bless you when life’s choices appear before you, may your choices bring a smile to God’s face.