As women, many of us have grown up believing we are able to know what is going on in other people’s hearts, why they act as they do, and what they are really thinking. We sometimes call it women’s intuition. How does the Bible help us understand whether or not to trust those impressions?
Today’s Readings:
2 Chronicles 5 & 6
Psalm 79.11-13
Proverbs 20.13-14
Acts 13.1-25
What Does the Bible Say About Women’s Intuition?
2 Chronicles 5 & 6:
The Dedication of Solomon’s Temple
There is a lot in these two chapters. The work on Solomon’s temple had been completed and the Ark of the Covenant was placed in the Holy of Holies. Immediately, the glory of the Lord filled the temple. And in chapter 6, Solomon addressed the people and prayed an incredible prayer of dedication. If you have never read it all, I hope you will take the time to read it prayerfully.
God Alone
But today I’d like to talk about one important truth tucked into Solomon’s prayer in chapter 6:
29 whatever prayer, whatever supplication is made by anyone, or by all Your people Israel, when each one knows his own burden and his own grief, and spreads out his hands to this temple: 30 then hear from heaven Your dwelling place, and forgive, and give to everyone according to all his ways, whose heart You know (for You alone know the hearts of the sons of men).
Look at that last phrase again, “… for You alone know the hearts of the sons of men.”
Yet, as human beings, we are good at believing we know other people’s hearts. And, ladies, we are especially prone to this kind of thinking. We may call it women’s intuition or something else. But we sometimes think we know what our husbands, our children, our bosses, our fellow church members, and even strangers are thinking. We decide we know what they meant by something they said or what motivated their actions. Of course, we don’t have a monopoly on this habit.
Women’s Intuition & The Heart
But believing we have women’s intuition or whatever we call it can be dangerous. When we start believing it, we will often respond to our spouses, our children, our brothers and sisters in Christ, and others based on what we think we know. Our thinking will affect how we speak and act outwardly.
18 But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander (Matt. 15.18-19 ESV).
Women’s Intuition & The Heart-Knower
When we make assumptions, they are rarely good ones. And if left unchecked, they often lead to sin. For example, assuming your spouse is flirting or even involved with someone else without proof can lead to sinful jealousy and accusations. Assuming a fellow church member didn’t speak because they were intentionally being rude rather than simply preoccupied can lead to broken relationships, gossip, and other ungodly responses. And those are just two examples.
Instead, when we’re tempted to believe the worst or think we know someone else’s heart, we need to remember Jeremiah’s and Solomon’s words.
Praying for Discernment
It’s not that we should stick our heads in the sand and refuse to see the facts. And someone’s previous actions can give us insight into what could be going on in their hearts.
But instead of relying on women’s intuition or any other kind of unsubstantiated judgments, we should pray and ask God for discernment. And even then, we need to be tentative in our conclusions. We should choose to believe the best until facts prove otherwise (1 Cor. 13.7) or as we might say, we should give the other person the benefit of the doubt.
And if we have serious concerns, we can pray and trust God to expose whatever needs to be exposed. In twenty-plus years of counseling, I have seen many instances where someone believed their spouse was committing adultery or involved in some other inappropriate behavior. But many times, they had no proof and their spouses adamantly denied it. I always caution them to wait on God and pray that if there is something they need to know, He will show them. And I have watched how in many of those situations, God revealed the truth in ways that only He could.
Because He alone is the true Heart-Knower.
Today’s Other Readings:
Psalm 79.11-13:
Future Deliverance
So we, Your people and sheep of Your pasture, will give You thanks forever; We will show forth Your praise to all generations (79.13).
We show forth His praise when we walk in obedience, trusting that He is using every circumstance for our good (Rom. 8.28-29), as we look forward to our eternal deliverance from all sin and heartache, and as we share our hope with others.
Proverbs 20.13-14:
Do Not Love Sleep
Do not love sleep, lest you come to poverty; Open your eyes, and you will be satisfied with bread (v. 13).
This is true in spiritual things, as well as, natural. If we fail to get up and spend time reading and studying God’s Word, praying, and investing in kingdom work, we will have little understanding and few eternal rewards.
Acts 13.1-25:
Different Hearts and Different Doors
When Paul wanted to share the Gospel with Jews, he began with their history and sought to show them God’s eternal plan of salvation as revealed in the Old Testament. This is a great example for us to follow. Not that we should always go to the Old Testament, but that as we share the Gospel with those we meet, we should pray and ask for God’s wisdom to understand the door into their lives.
That could mean beginning with a particular part of our testimony. Or possibly sharing a particular passage of Scripture or a particular story in the Bible. I often use the story of Joseph and the trials he went through to explain how God uses hardships for good.
When talking to “religious” people, I often start with John 3 and talk about the “religious” man named Nicodemus who, although he knew a lot about God and by religious standards was probably a “good” man, still needed a relationship with Jesus Christ.
As I said earlier, God knows each heart, so pray for His wisdom and help in every opportunity to share the Gospel.
Coming Up:
In the coming days, we’ll talk about the importance of godly friends, false shepherds, the consequences of bad advice, and discuss whether parenting is a formula.
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Blessings as you grow in Christ,
Donna ♥
Note about this post:
I began blogging through the Bible in 2012 and have done so every year since then. These posts are the product of many edits and additions throughout those years. Some days I make major changes, other days fewer.
A while ago, I read Jen Wilkin’s book None Like Him about the attributes of God. One is His incomprehensibility. In it, she says, “God is incomprehensible. This does not mean that he is unknowable, but that he is unable to be fully known.”
I have found that to be true each year as I’ve gone back through the Bible. Sometimes I find myself feeling as if a passage just appeared there for the first time. I’m reminded that no matter how many times we read through the Bible, we have only scratched the surface. I hope you feel the same.
Indeed these are the mere edges of His ways,
And how small a whisper we hear of Him!
But the thunder of His power who can understand?” (Job 26.14)
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