WEBVTT - 488 Witchcraft Disguised as Prayer Part 3: Signs, Omens, and Fleeces 0:00:02.680 --> 0:00:03.600 Life Audio. 0:00:05.640 --> 0:00:08.680 Hello, welcome back to the Praying Christian Women podcast. I 0:00:08.680 --> 0:00:10.320 am Alana here with Jamie. 0:00:10.360 --> 0:00:13.280 How are you doing great? I'm feeling really good. 0:00:13.400 --> 0:00:16.239 The voice is back and I'm not so hoarse and 0:00:16.640 --> 0:00:17.200 feeling good. 0:00:18.079 --> 0:00:22.640 Based on our topic, I'm picturing Glinda in the original 0:00:22.640 --> 0:00:25.079 Wizard of Oz or like, are you a good witch 0:00:25.640 --> 0:00:29.080 or are you a bad witch? Which are you feeling 0:00:29.200 --> 0:00:29.800 like today? 0:00:30.560 --> 0:00:33.120 I'm feeling like, okay, So if I feel like a 0:00:33.159 --> 0:00:35.880 good witch, does that make me bad? I'm feeling like 0:00:35.920 --> 0:00:39.480 a bad witch because I'm not into sorcery and witchcraft. 0:00:39.640 --> 0:00:43.920 So it's a trick question. It's like you know, asking 0:00:44.000 --> 0:00:46.040 somebody are you lying to me or something? 0:00:46.960 --> 0:00:49.320 It's like, yeah, okay, hold on, well. 0:00:49.200 --> 0:00:53.000 We are back to talk more about which is witchcraft, 0:00:53.040 --> 0:00:59.520 what's to be spiritually discerning regarding and I have absolutely 0:00:59.600 --> 0:01:03.880 seen an increase in what some people would call which 0:01:03.920 --> 0:01:06.000 he practices. I think you when I would probably call 0:01:06.040 --> 0:01:09.200 it more just sort of woo woo stuff in mainstream 0:01:09.480 --> 0:01:14.080 self help and things like that, even in some alternative 0:01:14.120 --> 0:01:19.479 healing circles. And so I think it's important for us 0:01:19.520 --> 0:01:22.200 as Christians to recognize we're not talking about people five 0:01:22.280 --> 0:01:25.759 hundred years ago who went on trial. We're talking about 0:01:25.800 --> 0:01:28.200 things that impact our lives today. 0:01:28.760 --> 0:01:31.720 Yeah, I feel like when I was growing up, kind 0:01:31.720 --> 0:01:34.840 of in my tween and teen years and then maybe 0:01:34.880 --> 0:01:37.399 into the Frank Peretti years. I'm not sure when his 0:01:37.440 --> 0:01:40.040 stuff came out, probably more my teenage young adult years, 0:01:40.400 --> 0:01:42.880 but Frank Peretti, for those that don't know, we're like 0:01:42.959 --> 0:01:47.840 this present darkness and like some of the very spiritual warfarey. 0:01:47.440 --> 0:01:48.200 Kind of things. 0:01:48.800 --> 0:01:53.520 And the big antagonist in those books was like the 0:01:53.600 --> 0:01:56.200 New Age, you know, like New Age was kind of 0:01:56.240 --> 0:02:00.160 seeping into the preschools and into the community. And the 0:02:00.320 --> 0:02:03.680 New Age of that era, I feel like was different 0:02:03.880 --> 0:02:06.360 from what we're seeing now. I don't know if I 0:02:06.360 --> 0:02:08.639 could put my finger on it, but I just feel 0:02:08.639 --> 0:02:12.760 like it's it used to be so compartmentalized and different 0:02:13.120 --> 0:02:17.640 from Christianity, and I believe that today, I think it's 0:02:17.639 --> 0:02:22.280 seeped in, and I think that Christianity has adopted some 0:02:23.320 --> 0:02:26.440 kind of just I don't know, like absorbed some of 0:02:26.480 --> 0:02:31.320 the New agey kind of language and beliefs. And at 0:02:31.320 --> 0:02:34.840 the same time, as the more I learn about some 0:02:34.919 --> 0:02:36.760 of the language that's used in some of the New 0:02:36.800 --> 0:02:39.840 age circles that have nothing to do with Jesus, I 0:02:39.880 --> 0:02:42.600 can actually glean biblical you know, we've talked about this, 0:02:42.639 --> 0:02:47.000 We've had all kinds of conversations about manifesting and you know, 0:02:47.320 --> 0:02:49.919 energy and frequencies and different things. 0:02:50.000 --> 0:02:52.720 This language that's being used, and I. 0:02:52.680 --> 0:02:55.120 Believe that there are just like there is with everything, 0:02:55.120 --> 0:02:57.760 there are elements of truth in some of these things 0:02:57.840 --> 0:03:00.640 that can be parallel to what we see in the Bible. 0:03:01.280 --> 0:03:03.440 But it's getting muddied, and I think we need to 0:03:03.480 --> 0:03:07.480 talk about it so we can tease out what is biblical, 0:03:07.639 --> 0:03:11.359 what is evil, and what is just kind of somewhere 0:03:11.360 --> 0:03:11.880 in between. 0:03:12.440 --> 0:03:13.079 Yeah. 0:03:13.120 --> 0:03:19.240 Absolutely. There's a phrase that a Christian psychologist kind of 0:03:19.280 --> 0:03:22.560 early pioneer coined. I think it's Larry to Krap who 0:03:22.600 --> 0:03:25.880 coined it. He called it plundering the Egyptians. And so 0:03:26.240 --> 0:03:32.000 when the Israelites are fleeing Egypt, the Egyptians are giving 0:03:32.040 --> 0:03:35.920 them like they're jewels and they're giving them gifts, basically 0:03:36.040 --> 0:03:39.400 being like, tell your God to stop destroying our nation. 0:03:40.240 --> 0:03:45.480 And his use of the phrase plundering the Egyptians was 0:03:46.280 --> 0:03:50.040 let's take what we can from secular science and secular 0:03:50.080 --> 0:03:55.560 practice and use it if it works in the church, right, Like, 0:03:56.040 --> 0:03:59.800 just because the person who created a tool that's you 0:04:00.640 --> 0:04:03.880 to build the physical building that your church works and 0:04:04.040 --> 0:04:06.839 wasn't a Christian doesn't mean that you're wrong to use 0:04:06.880 --> 0:04:13.480 that tool right to physically build your church. And sometimes we, 0:04:13.600 --> 0:04:15.720 or at least in certain circles, are like, well, if 0:04:15.720 --> 0:04:18.359 it's not right from the Bible, or if the person 0:04:18.480 --> 0:04:24.720 who spearheaded this philosophy was not a Christian whose theology 0:04:24.839 --> 0:04:30.280 lines up with everything I believe, then the foundation's faulty, 0:04:30.360 --> 0:04:33.360 and therefore we've got to throw it all out. And 0:04:33.640 --> 0:04:36.200 I would wager that there are some times where, yes, 0:04:36.320 --> 0:04:39.200 if the foundation is that faulty, maybe you do. 0:04:39.240 --> 0:04:41.200 Throw it all out. Right. 0:04:41.320 --> 0:04:44.000 That's why in our last episode, a lot of Christians 0:04:44.040 --> 0:04:45.839 in our family, for a good chunk of when our 0:04:45.920 --> 0:04:48.479 kids were very young, like we had as little to 0:04:48.520 --> 0:04:52.279 do with Halloween as we possibly could. And for people 0:04:52.320 --> 0:04:54.719 who didn't listen to the last week's episode, I'm also 0:04:54.800 --> 0:04:58.480 not stating that that is how every Christian family should 0:04:58.480 --> 0:05:01.320 react to the holiday. They were going to be talking 0:05:01.360 --> 0:05:05.240 about all this kind of stuff and basically learning what 0:05:05.360 --> 0:05:07.720 do you keep, what do you throw out? What is 0:05:07.760 --> 0:05:10.560 so tainted that you've just got to get rid of it. 0:05:10.960 --> 0:05:15.480 And what maybe has a little negative truth in it 0:05:16.000 --> 0:05:19.360 that you can easily sift out from all the other junk. 0:05:20.000 --> 0:05:24.880 But what is so corrupted by what it's enthrouded in 0:05:25.360 --> 0:05:26.760 that we don't even want to touch it. 0:05:27.040 --> 0:05:29.159 One of the spinoff topics that I think we're going 0:05:29.240 --> 0:05:33.280 to focus on a lot today from Witchcraft is looking 0:05:33.320 --> 0:05:38.719 for signs. We touched on Gideon asking laying out the fleece, 0:05:38.880 --> 0:05:40.920 which is, well, we'll go into that a little bit 0:05:40.960 --> 0:05:45.559 if you haven't heard of that. That is basically him saying, God, 0:05:45.640 --> 0:05:48.039 you told me something. I want to know if this 0:05:48.160 --> 0:05:50.080 is really what's going to happen, And he laid out 0:05:50.080 --> 0:05:52.919 this fleece and asked for kind of a miracle to 0:05:53.040 --> 0:05:58.479 prove it. Tea leaves were mentioned, so, you know, looking 0:05:58.520 --> 0:06:02.760 for signs. There's so much the language today, there's so 0:06:02.920 --> 0:06:06.160 much of this the universe sent me a sign, or 0:06:06.760 --> 0:06:09.599 I just love it when when the universe drops me signs. 0:06:09.880 --> 0:06:12.640 But a parallel language could be, hey, I love it 0:06:12.640 --> 0:06:15.880 when God sends me a godwink or a sign. You know, 0:06:16.200 --> 0:06:19.159 So what is it? What is correct? How do we 0:06:19.200 --> 0:06:21.680 think about these things? So I'm going to start off, 0:06:22.080 --> 0:06:25.039 you know, we're going to be talking about like signs 0:06:24.240 --> 0:06:27.680 and things like reading the tea leaves, and I'm just 0:06:27.680 --> 0:06:31.120 going to give us a couple of verses that lay 0:06:31.160 --> 0:06:34.880 the foundation for these practices and just kind of go 0:06:34.960 --> 0:06:38.760 through and talk through them. So Deuteronomy eighteen ten ten 0:06:38.760 --> 0:06:41.240 through twelve says, let no one be found among you 0:06:41.760 --> 0:06:47.560 who practice practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft. 0:06:47.880 --> 0:06:50.479 Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord. 0:06:50.960 --> 0:06:54.240 And then Leviticus nineteen twenty six, do not practice divination 0:06:54.560 --> 0:06:59.599 or seat omens. So, you know, we kind of talked 0:06:59.640 --> 0:07:04.200 a little bit about this before, but like these practices 0:07:04.720 --> 0:07:09.560 were kind of, I don't know, the people of Israel 0:07:09.680 --> 0:07:14.680 were surrounded on all sides by paganism, like the Canaanites, 0:07:14.840 --> 0:07:20.320 the Philistines, like they had not only pagan beliefs, but 0:07:20.520 --> 0:07:25.480 some of them like overtly evil and you know, yeah, 0:07:26.080 --> 0:07:30.080 like burning their kids to sacrifice to these gods. And 0:07:30.160 --> 0:07:34.120 so the words that are used here's it's pretty much 0:07:34.360 --> 0:07:40.080 looking for signs that help you make a decision, but 0:07:40.240 --> 0:07:44.800 not just asking God, but looking to other means like 0:07:44.920 --> 0:07:49.440 trying to take a shortcut. I'm convinced that the reasons 0:07:49.440 --> 0:07:52.160 that he gave these commands not to do these things 0:07:53.000 --> 0:07:56.679 were because there were spiritual forces that were not God, 0:07:56.840 --> 0:08:00.880 that there were dark forces that could their way into 0:08:00.960 --> 0:08:03.600 any open door that people gave them. 0:08:03.840 --> 0:08:06.920 And or, on the other hand, if. 0:08:06.800 --> 0:08:10.240 They just left themselves open to whatever sign, like hey 0:08:10.320 --> 0:08:12.600 let it be sunny tomorrow. If I'm supposed to marry 0:08:12.600 --> 0:08:17.040 this person, that's not seeking God's guidance, that's just leaving 0:08:17.040 --> 0:08:19.600 it to chance. So I think there are two different 0:08:19.600 --> 0:08:23.720 things at work, either just superstition leading to chance or 0:08:23.880 --> 0:08:27.040 actually opening yourself up to a dark force, whether it's 0:08:27.080 --> 0:08:32.560 a spear guide, whether it's an influencer in determining an 0:08:32.600 --> 0:08:34.600 outcome based on one of these things. 0:08:34.679 --> 0:08:39.520 So yeah, I think it's similar to the spectrum that 0:08:39.559 --> 0:08:44.319 we talked about earlier about like fortune cookie to like 0:08:44.640 --> 0:08:50.320 Chinsey horoscope to fortune telling to whatever goes even beyond that, 0:08:50.360 --> 0:08:54.640 you know, seance or something. And I think in a 0:08:54.720 --> 0:08:58.600 lot of these questions there is something that does begin 0:08:58.679 --> 0:09:03.320 with something innocuous like flipping a coin. To me, I'm 0:09:03.360 --> 0:09:07.400 not inviting the devil into my soul. If I'm like, 0:09:07.720 --> 0:09:10.160 do I want an apple or an orange, and I 0:09:10.200 --> 0:09:11.800 can't decide, so I flip a coin. 0:09:13.000 --> 0:09:13.240 Right? 0:09:13.800 --> 0:09:18.280 Is that one hundred and eighty degrees different than casting lots? 0:09:19.000 --> 0:09:23.120 I see them as on a similar spectrum at the 0:09:23.240 --> 0:09:27.320 very least. Right, So, if we have flipping a coin 0:09:27.559 --> 0:09:31.280 to make a decision as being in almost every case, 0:09:31.320 --> 0:09:33.040 can you think of a case for flipping a coin 0:09:33.080 --> 0:09:36.520 would actually be spiritually dangerous? Like it might not be 0:09:36.559 --> 0:09:38.800 the wisest right, I'm gonna flip a coin to determine 0:09:38.840 --> 0:09:41.600 if I'm gonna, you know, marry this guy. Not a 0:09:41.640 --> 0:09:45.280 wise choice. But do you think it's it's ever could 0:09:45.320 --> 0:09:48.840 open you up to spiritually being manipulated? 0:10:01.640 --> 0:10:05.839 Yeah, I mean I think if you go into it, 0:10:06.320 --> 0:10:09.120 I mean I think your heart condition, your intention going 0:10:09.160 --> 0:10:13.079 into something is definitely a good litmus test, Like am 0:10:13.120 --> 0:10:15.640 I going into this? That's a bad example, because you 0:10:15.640 --> 0:10:18.120 can have good intentions and still have a bad outcome. 0:10:18.280 --> 0:10:22.559 For instance, let's say I was really tempted to literally 0:10:22.559 --> 0:10:24.680 when we were making the decision whether or not to 0:10:24.920 --> 0:10:30.880 allow our then sixth grader go back to public school 0:10:30.960 --> 0:10:33.760 in middle school or keep him homeschooled. It was one 0:10:33.760 --> 0:10:38.000 of the most like grueling decisions of our parenting, and 0:10:38.480 --> 0:10:41.280 we kept coming back different and we were like, God 0:10:41.280 --> 0:10:45.160 give us unity, and I was both of us were like, 0:10:45.520 --> 0:10:47.319 should we just flip a coin? Honestly? 0:10:47.360 --> 0:10:49.160 Should we just say God help us? 0:10:49.240 --> 0:10:49.440 You know? 0:10:50.000 --> 0:10:52.920 And I think I use the word casting lots. Should 0:10:52.920 --> 0:10:55.240 we just cast lots and see if God does that? 0:10:55.559 --> 0:11:02.160 And I do think that when you try to take 0:11:02.200 --> 0:11:07.240 a shortcut from hearing from God in a genuine way, 0:11:07.840 --> 0:11:13.240 that it could open you up to potential evil inserting itself. 0:11:14.080 --> 0:11:16.240 I could absolutely agree with you on that, you know, 0:11:16.360 --> 0:11:19.880 especially like I'm taking it to a comical extreme and 0:11:19.960 --> 0:11:23.280 I'm picturing you and Matt like with a six sided 0:11:23.400 --> 0:11:29.320 Monopoly game die and like taking five minutes to pray 0:11:29.559 --> 0:11:33.560 over this die and you know, and then you know, 0:11:33.679 --> 0:11:36.680 doing some kind of ritual before you roll it. Like 0:11:36.760 --> 0:11:40.440 to me, yeah, that that's actually that doesn't pass my 0:11:40.559 --> 0:11:41.520 spiritual debt check. 0:11:42.040 --> 0:11:45.200 But this kind of brings us to Gideon's fleece because 0:11:45.360 --> 0:11:47.480 Gideon did this, So why don't we just go ahead 0:11:47.480 --> 0:11:49.720 and read about that? Because this is one of the 0:11:49.720 --> 0:11:54.120 most like confusing things, you know in some ways, because 0:11:54.280 --> 0:11:58.160 it is it seems to kind of go against this idea. 0:11:58.679 --> 0:12:02.680 So Gideon in Judges chapter six, verses thirty six through 0:12:02.720 --> 0:12:06.040 forty in the NIV, Gideon said to God, if you 0:12:06.120 --> 0:12:09.880 will save Israel by my hand, as you have promised, 0:12:10.160 --> 0:12:13.319 so this is the first thing. Apparently God had already 0:12:13.400 --> 0:12:16.920 told Gideon in that and I didn't go back to 0:12:16.920 --> 0:12:19.840 see the way that God told him. But Gideon is saying, 0:12:19.840 --> 0:12:22.079 you've already said that you're going to save Israel by 0:12:22.080 --> 0:12:24.800 my hand. I'm not sure. I really, really really want 0:12:24.840 --> 0:12:27.320 to be sure that I heard you right. I will 0:12:27.320 --> 0:12:30.520 place a wool fleece on the threshing floor. If there 0:12:30.640 --> 0:12:33.160 is dew only on the fleece and all the ground 0:12:33.200 --> 0:12:34.920 is dry, then I'll know that you will save Israel 0:12:34.960 --> 0:12:37.160 by my hand as you said. And that is what happened. 0:12:37.160 --> 0:12:40.080 Gideon rose early in the next day. He squeezed the fleece, 0:12:40.200 --> 0:12:43.000 wrung out the dew a bowlful of water, so we're 0:12:43.000 --> 0:12:46.679 not talking like a dusting. Then Gideon said to God, 0:12:46.720 --> 0:12:49.040 don't be angry with me. Let me make just one 0:12:49.080 --> 0:12:52.160 more request. Allow me one more test with the fleece, 0:12:52.480 --> 0:12:54.800 but this time, make the fleece dry and the ground 0:12:54.880 --> 0:12:57.600 be covered with dew. That night, God did so. Only 0:12:57.640 --> 0:12:59.920 the fleece was dry, all the ground was covered with dew. 0:13:00.520 --> 0:13:04.280 So this is Gideon heard from God. He's trying to 0:13:04.360 --> 0:13:10.680 confirm it, and he asks this insane thing, and he says, 0:13:10.960 --> 0:13:13.360 don't be angry with me the second time he does it, 0:13:13.640 --> 0:13:16.360 which is implying that he knows that he's kind of 0:13:17.080 --> 0:13:21.199 testing God. And so I mean, I have to come 0:13:21.240 --> 0:13:23.880 away from this like if I were to do this 0:13:23.960 --> 0:13:26.440 exact thing, if Matt and I had just said, all right, 0:13:26.480 --> 0:13:28.360 we're going to do exactly what Gideon did. 0:13:28.760 --> 0:13:30.760 We're literally going to lay this. 0:13:31.280 --> 0:13:34.560 You know, I killed a sheep last hunting season and 0:13:34.600 --> 0:13:37.160 we have this piece of wool. We're literally going to 0:13:37.200 --> 0:13:37.959 reproduce this. 0:13:38.520 --> 0:13:41.040 Could you just shear the sheep so a little baby 0:13:41.080 --> 0:13:42.000 sheep doesn't have to die? 0:13:42.559 --> 0:13:45.200 I'm sorry, Well, it wasn't. It wasn't a baby. It wasn't. 0:13:45.240 --> 0:13:49.640 It was very It was an old sheep, but it 0:13:49.679 --> 0:13:53.760 died of natural causes. We simply okay, no, But I 0:13:53.880 --> 0:13:57.200 have to say, and maybe I don't believe that the 0:13:57.240 --> 0:13:58.520 miracle would have happened. 0:13:59.559 --> 0:14:00.320 I just don't. 0:14:00.400 --> 0:14:05.200 And maybe I'm woman of little faith, but I really 0:14:05.280 --> 0:14:09.480 think that if we had said we think, let's say 0:14:09.480 --> 0:14:11.920 that we had some kind of because so he's not 0:14:11.960 --> 0:14:14.600 trying to make a decision first of all, one way 0:14:14.640 --> 0:14:17.160 or another, yes or no. He's saying, I think I 0:14:17.200 --> 0:14:20.240 heard from you, confirm it this way. But even if 0:14:20.240 --> 0:14:22.800 we had made a decision like, Okay, we think Joey's 0:14:22.840 --> 0:14:26.000 gonna stay home and do homeschool for another year. If 0:14:26.040 --> 0:14:28.280 we're right, if we think we heard from you, right, 0:14:29.000 --> 0:14:31.840 do this exact thing. I have to tell you. I 0:14:31.880 --> 0:14:34.560 don't think that the next day I would go outside 0:14:34.640 --> 0:14:38.280 and be able to squeeze a bowlful of water out 0:14:38.280 --> 0:14:42.640 of that skin and the rest of the grass beat 0:14:42.680 --> 0:14:43.480 totally fine. 0:14:43.320 --> 0:14:44.400 Or you know right? 0:14:45.840 --> 0:14:49.600 So then what if you say, I think I know 0:14:49.640 --> 0:14:52.960 what you're saying, and you test God and it doesn't 0:14:53.000 --> 0:14:55.040 get confirmed, what do you do? 0:14:55.160 --> 0:14:59.080 Then there's a hard one because I think in the 0:14:59.160 --> 0:15:04.000 scenarrey you you're presenting, it kind of makes the fleece 0:15:04.480 --> 0:15:08.800 the magic yeah, and less about God. Now. I think 0:15:08.840 --> 0:15:13.240 that sometimes I've heard different interpretations of Gideon in his fleece. 0:15:13.880 --> 0:15:18.200 I don't see anything that leads us to believe that 0:15:18.240 --> 0:15:22.680 Gideon was wrong for doing what he did. Right now, 0:15:22.720 --> 0:15:24.840 he was afraid that God would be mad, but it 0:15:24.880 --> 0:15:27.440 never says that God was even close to getting mad 0:15:27.480 --> 0:15:27.840 at him. 0:15:28.160 --> 0:15:31.080 No, it reminds me of Thomas when he asked Jesus. 0:15:31.920 --> 0:15:35.040 It reminds me exactly of that story where he could 0:15:35.040 --> 0:15:38.000 have said, as he did many times, you of little faith, 0:15:38.040 --> 0:15:38.760 and shook his head. 0:15:38.760 --> 0:15:41.160 But he didn't. He was just like, hey, didn't, come on, 0:15:41.320 --> 0:15:42.120 I'm gonna show you. 0:15:42.760 --> 0:15:46.760 And it reminders are so hard on Thomas, and it 0:15:46.920 --> 0:15:50.640 always irks me exactly like you said, Jesus does not 0:15:50.840 --> 0:15:56.280 chide him. Jesus presents to him the proof that he 0:15:56.400 --> 0:16:01.200 said he needed. And I think about the Brian church 0:16:01.400 --> 0:16:05.440 in Acts and when they're presented with the Gospel, they 0:16:05.720 --> 0:16:11.960 are applauded for going back and seeing if what they 0:16:12.080 --> 0:16:17.920 heard is true. In scripture, Gideon did not have the 0:16:17.960 --> 0:16:22.680 Bible to like the full Bible to read and to 0:16:22.920 --> 0:16:29.040 say Gideon will go and defeat the Midianites. So we 0:16:29.160 --> 0:16:31.360 have three options, and the Bible doesn't tell us which. 0:16:31.480 --> 0:16:34.920 Either Gideon had very little faith and God was getting 0:16:34.960 --> 0:16:37.720 angry with him but put up with his demands for 0:16:37.800 --> 0:16:45.600 a sign, or Gideon was actually really wise to test 0:16:45.840 --> 0:16:48.280 this crazy notion and make sure that it wasn't coming 0:16:48.280 --> 0:16:52.120 from his own delusions of brand ear and God was 0:16:52.720 --> 0:16:55.720 he was doing exactly what God wanted to have his 0:16:55.800 --> 0:16:58.840 will confirmed, or maybe somewhere in the middle, maybe it 0:16:58.880 --> 0:17:01.720 was just kind of a neutral thing. God was like, oh, yeah, sure, 0:17:01.800 --> 0:17:03.800 if you need another sign, here you go, and like 0:17:03.880 --> 0:17:08.680 there's no emotion attached to it whatsoever. You know. It's 0:17:08.680 --> 0:17:10.080 like when your kid asks you for a cup of 0:17:10.119 --> 0:17:12.199 water and you're like, okay, here you go, you know, 0:17:12.800 --> 0:17:16.040 And that's literally all there is to it. Now, we 0:17:16.160 --> 0:17:20.439 can't read all of that into it. We don't know 0:17:21.240 --> 0:17:24.800 that God was getting tired of Gideon's lack of faith. 0:17:24.880 --> 0:17:28.080 We don't know that Gideon was doing something wrong. We 0:17:28.119 --> 0:17:31.480 don't know that maybe Gideon was doing exactly the right 0:17:31.520 --> 0:17:35.040 thing to be wise and to test the verse that 0:17:35.160 --> 0:17:38.879 you always love to go back to, don't treat prophecy 0:17:39.000 --> 0:17:42.399 with contempt, test everything in a way. That's exactly what 0:17:42.480 --> 0:17:46.560 Gideon's doing. He's not discarding the prophecy that God gave 0:17:46.600 --> 0:17:48.800 him that he would defeat the mini Nites, but he's 0:17:48.840 --> 0:17:53.280 also testing it. So literally, I don't think we have 0:17:53.440 --> 0:17:57.160 enough information to know if Gideon was doing the right 0:17:57.200 --> 0:18:00.000 thing or the wrong thing, or somewhere in the middle. 0:18:00.400 --> 0:18:04.919 Now here's another really interesting thing, because if I'm in 0:18:04.960 --> 0:18:08.919 your scenario about the homeschool question, and I truly do 0:18:09.000 --> 0:18:12.119 want to sign, I wouldn't pick a police I would 0:18:12.119 --> 0:18:16.200 pick something like I've done this before. If I'm supposed 0:18:16.359 --> 0:18:20.680 to go to fred Meyer before I go home, let 0:18:20.720 --> 0:18:23.639 this light be green, you know what I mean. And 0:18:24.680 --> 0:18:32.880 here's the thing. I think that sometimes we attribute Holy Spirit, 0:18:33.080 --> 0:18:41.040 Big D discernment to things that are just our subconscious 0:18:41.080 --> 0:18:44.119 talking to us. So by that, what I mean is 0:18:44.800 --> 0:18:47.000 I think it's wrong to attribute it to God, but 0:18:47.040 --> 0:18:52.639 I don't think it's wrong to test what's in your subconscience. 0:18:52.800 --> 0:18:55.920 Let's say I am trying to decide do I want 0:18:56.160 --> 0:19:01.720 to fly down to Utah and see Jamie, And in 0:19:01.760 --> 0:19:04.199 my brain, I'm like, here's all the pros, here's all 0:19:04.240 --> 0:19:07.000 the cons I've prayed about it. God hasn't given me 0:19:07.600 --> 0:19:11.240 a green light or a red light. So I decide 0:19:11.280 --> 0:19:13.919 that I am going to put out a fleece, my 0:19:14.119 --> 0:19:16.560 fleece just because I know me, and I'm going to 0:19:16.600 --> 0:19:19.560 be very honest and transparent with you my fleece. 0:19:19.680 --> 0:19:20.320 Even if I. 0:19:20.320 --> 0:19:22.679 Went into it with a open mind and the best 0:19:22.720 --> 0:19:25.879 of intentions as possible would be something that would be 0:19:25.960 --> 0:19:28.040 more likely to happen than not if I was meant 0:19:28.040 --> 0:19:29.800 to go visit you, because I know that I want 0:19:29.800 --> 0:19:33.639 to go visit you. Yeah, to me, that's not bad, 0:19:33.760 --> 0:19:36.160 that's not evil. The only danger is if I attribute 0:19:36.160 --> 0:19:38.600 it to God. But really it's just my desire talking 0:19:38.640 --> 0:19:42.160 to me. But like, for people who can't make a decision, 0:19:42.160 --> 0:19:43.919 were you Are you even the one who told me 0:19:43.960 --> 0:19:45.760 this trick? If you can't make a decision and you 0:19:45.840 --> 0:19:50.919 just flip a coin, not to decide, but to see 0:19:50.960 --> 0:19:52.600 how you feel. 0:19:53.160 --> 0:19:56.080 No, you told me that I told you that you did? 0:19:56.520 --> 0:19:57.000 You did? 0:19:57.119 --> 0:19:59.359 You told me that we were talking about it in 0:19:59.400 --> 0:20:03.439 an episode, And that is one of my favorite things 0:20:03.480 --> 0:20:05.399 I've taught all my kids that I'm like, if you 0:20:05.440 --> 0:20:09.040 can't make a decision and you're not feeling guided in 0:20:09.080 --> 0:20:11.199 any way. 0:20:10.560 --> 0:20:11.240 Flip a coin. 0:20:11.400 --> 0:20:15.040 And I'm not about huge things necessarily, but maybe for 0:20:15.119 --> 0:20:18.280 big things, but flip a coin. See how you feel 0:20:18.680 --> 0:20:22.159 about that. Are you disappointed? And that might reveal what 0:20:22.400 --> 0:20:24.960 really is the best thing to do? Are you excited? 0:20:25.000 --> 0:20:25.760 Are you thankful? 0:20:26.240 --> 0:20:29.120 And so? Our daughter's very indecisive. 0:20:29.200 --> 0:20:32.560 She loves to you know, she loves to ask other 0:20:32.600 --> 0:20:34.560 people what she should do, and I'm like, you have 0:20:34.600 --> 0:20:36.960 to make that decision yourself. But I told her that 0:20:37.000 --> 0:20:39.679 this is a really good way to help reveal what 0:20:39.760 --> 0:20:42.159 you truly want. And I think the reason she has 0:20:42.160 --> 0:20:44.720 a hard time is she's a people pleaser and she's 0:20:44.840 --> 0:20:47.119 always anticipating, well, what if I do this, will this 0:20:47.200 --> 0:20:49.520 person mind? If I do this, will this person mind? 0:20:50.600 --> 0:20:52.480 I think it helps us get in tune with what's 0:20:52.560 --> 0:20:55.679 inside of us and how we really feel about something. 0:20:56.119 --> 0:20:59.359 And maybe again, that's good what the Holy Spirit is 0:21:00.080 --> 0:21:02.600 saying to us. Maybe it's helping us get in tune 0:21:02.600 --> 0:21:04.080 with that still small voice in a. 0:21:04.000 --> 0:21:19.280 Way, maybe where I would differ because I think in 0:21:19.320 --> 0:21:22.240 that case, there's still small voice is your will. 0:21:22.280 --> 0:21:23.880 And I don't think it's wrong to talk. 0:21:24.119 --> 0:21:25.480 I think all of us need to. 0:21:25.400 --> 0:21:26.960 Tap into our will. 0:21:27.440 --> 0:21:30.480 Yeah, especially as women and especially as people. Please, we 0:21:30.520 --> 0:21:34.119 are taughts to not listen. But I think that often 0:21:34.200 --> 0:21:37.359 the still small voice that we are learning to listen 0:21:37.359 --> 0:21:41.840 to is really just our own and that's okay too, right. 0:21:41.960 --> 0:21:45.640 So again, if we're talking about little things, should I 0:21:45.720 --> 0:21:48.359 go to the mall with this friend or should I 0:21:48.400 --> 0:21:51.000 go to the movies with that friend? And she feels 0:21:51.040 --> 0:21:53.960 like either way, someone's going to be let down. And 0:21:54.000 --> 0:21:55.920 she says, Okay, I'm gonna flip a coin. 0:21:55.960 --> 0:21:56.680 And here's the thing. 0:21:57.160 --> 0:22:00.399 The coin is not going to tell her which to choose. 0:22:00.800 --> 0:22:02.240 I think that's that's part. 0:22:02.640 --> 0:22:05.960 The coin isn't telling you what to choose. It's revealing 0:22:06.600 --> 0:22:07.879 what you already wanted. 0:22:08.520 --> 0:22:10.840 So basically, the way you do it is just like, Okay, 0:22:10.880 --> 0:22:12.760 if it's A, I go to the mall. 0:22:12.800 --> 0:22:14.159 If it's B, I go to the movies. 0:22:14.200 --> 0:22:17.159 You flip the coin. If it lands on A and 0:22:17.240 --> 0:22:19.639 you feel happy, that means you wanted to go to 0:22:19.680 --> 0:22:23.639 the movie right. If it lands on B and you 0:22:23.720 --> 0:22:27.680 feel sad, that means you should go to the movie 0:22:27.760 --> 0:22:29.960 right or whichever. I forget which one was, as I know, 0:22:30.040 --> 0:22:33.320 but yeah, no, we get it. So we're not attributing 0:22:33.359 --> 0:22:37.760 any magical power to the coin. I think that it's 0:22:37.800 --> 0:22:41.879 important to not attribute divine power to that voice. I 0:22:41.920 --> 0:22:44.800 don't think that's the voice of God. I think that's 0:22:45.160 --> 0:22:48.640 just us, especially as women, who have a hard time 0:22:48.720 --> 0:22:53.040 knowing what we want, learning how to ask ourselves what 0:22:53.119 --> 0:22:55.880 do I want? You know, like it sounds really silly, 0:22:55.960 --> 0:22:59.679 but sometimes like ask your stomach or ask your tongue, 0:23:00.240 --> 0:23:02.840 what do you want to eat right now? Like, and 0:23:03.080 --> 0:23:05.359