That Lightening Flash: Sure Before You Know

Last updated on: March 8, 2017 at 10:09 am by John Mark N. Reynolds

That Lightening Flash: Sure Before You Know 2017-03-08T10:09:14-04:00 John Mark N. Reynolds

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God speaks. He is there and He is not silent, but hearing God is the Alpha of a process through the Logos until reaching the Omega; knowing Truth.

We are sure before we know, but only when we know can our feelings be vindicated.

There came a time when I was unsure what to do next with my life. I was sad, plain old sad, and discouraged and then I knew what to do. God was there: helping and giving me direction. There was a sense of surety. This perceived solution felt right. The idea was like a lightening flash, sudden and illuminating. I had thought, done my homework, worked, and prayed, but now the bottom line was plain. I had been sad and now was excited.

I had a feeling of surety and energy.

I was excited enough to say to Hope: “I think God might be saying” . . . and yet my confidence was not knowledge. I would not say I knew the truth, but that I felt I knew the truth. After all, one can listen only to be mistaken. So before doing anything or even saying “I know what to do,” reason checks me and presses pause. Reason is a great gift from God, demanding I think, examine, discuss, and only then commit myself and see.

It is odd. One climbs so slowly to an answer, then God speaks and the surety that had been so illusive comes. We are not finished with the process, but now we have the energy to consider what we feel to what is written or known.

In a sense, this feeling of surety is like the flash of intuition that would come when solving a logical proof. I would sense how it could be done, see the conclusion, and relax. I had a sense of surety that I could solve that problem, but I still had to show my work. Only when working through line by line, following the rules and what intuition had shown me, could I know that my surety was well placed. When I worked out my intuition down to the last line of the proof, then I could say: I was right. I know how to do this problem.

I felt sure, but now I know.

When I think God speaks: do this or do not do that, then this drives through the hesitations that could keep me dithering, considering, doing nothing, hesitating on the sidelines. God speaks and the dullness is gone. The excitement drives me to gather my smart friends, pour out what I have heard, and then listen. Is this doable (even if it seems a long shot)? Is it moral? Is it good and can it be done beautifully? Do others catch what God is saying?

The one who hears God’s voice has the energy and desire to confirm that He has heard God’s voice: a form of faith seeking understanding. I consider, doubt, but not the disabling feeling of endless skepticism, but the rational check of a mature mind on intuition.

I think I have heard, but I want to know!

If so, if I can show my work, then the time has come to act: surety has met knowledge. We justified our beliefs. The surety, the feeling after the guidance, gave me a tentative answer, a courage to propose and the sense of confidence great enough to risk the entire plan on critics, evidence gathering, and discussion. I have discovered at times that my hearing was bad . . . I propose, but have to withdraw my hypothesis. It felt sure, but it was not true or good.

Most often, however, the intuition checks out: it is reasonable to act and so I do. The feeling of surety came first, then knowing that this was the thing to do. Even then . . . God help us this side of Paradise . . . we must recall that reality (material and spiritual) exists to keep guiding us as well. We commit ourselves and see and modify what we must in the light of experience. Like a general in a battle, the overall plan might inspired and still requires small (but vital!) alterations as we go.

All I do is provisional, intellectual certainty is not for this life, but emotional peace can be had!

The critical moment, the divine gift, was the flash of insight. One could reason “up” to God forever and never get much past His existence and a few other truths. The insight is God coming down to us, revealing Himself to us, and getting us further in human happiness than we have ever been before now. Always we are willing to be wrong, to be corrected by reason, experience, or wisdom, but always we listen, wait for the lightening flash that we cannot demand, but sometimes happens.

God speaks.

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