When divine guidance is loud and clear

I spend a lot of time doing creative work: writing essays, short stories, and poems, and writing and practicing songs. When I try to decide which project to undertake next, if I’m not immediately motivated in one direction, I give careful consideration to which project to commit to. I pray to know in which direction God wants me to go. I try to be ready to hear God’s guidance.

As I’m praying, I’m sometimes reminded of an experience I had when I heard God’s direction clearly and distinctly.

Years ago, my wife, Laura, and I left our small daughters with my cousin and drove our old green pickup trick up Bourne Road out of Sumpter, Oregon, for a rare outing, just to see the country. Laura said later that she felt motivated to pray for our safety, for the safety of our daughters, for God’s ever-present protection and expression of harmony.

I felt the beauty of the country around us and God’s supporting presence. But suddenly, a loaded log truck came around a curve of the narrow gravel road and bore rapidly down on us. A solid rock bluff blocked us to the right, and trees and a sharp drop bordered the road to the left. I heard a clear voice say, “Punch it,” and I did. I floored the gas pedal.

Though it was not part of the spoken words, I knew that part of the instruction was to swerve sharply to the right, and I did, without question. If I’d had time to think about it, I would have thought I was swerving directly into the rock bluff. Because I was looking at the log truck, I didn’t see that the rock bluff gave way to a steep, grassy slope a few feet wider than our old green pickup. Beyond that grassy slope, the rock bluff resumed. Our pickup exited the gravel road at speed and, because of the steepness of the slope, stopped, parked on the steep, grassy slope, completely off the road, the rear wheels in a low spot so the pickup didn’t roll backward.

After a moment to absorb what had happened, I set the parking brake, got out, and looked the situation over. Nothing had been damaged. I rolled one rock out of the way, listened for traffic, backed down onto the road, and drove home. I asked Laura, “Did you hear the voice?” but I already knew she hadn’t. The instructions had been for me because I was driving.

She said, “No.”

We were very grateful, and we still are, for clear direction in a time of danger.

Although I haven’t had instructions that were that clear since that experience, I have had a strong sense of God’s presence much of the time, and a few times I have been certain that God instructed me to follow a certain course of action, though I heard no words. Most of the time, though, when I am listening to know how best to commit my energies, it is less clear in which direction God wants me to go.

I am a reflection of divine Mind, of infinite intelligence that includes all right ideas.

So, if I’m not hearing God’s instruction as clearly and as urgently as that day of the log truck, how can I be sure that I’m not allowing myself to be distracted, following the “wrong” direction or going off the path that God has for me?

I often think and pray about how to use my energy with the seven synonyms for God given by Mary Baker Eddy on page 587 of Science and Health. I am a reflection of divine Mind, of infinite intelligence that includes all right ideas. I ask myself: Does the project I am deciding to pursue reflect the infinite intelligence of divine Mind and include itself as a right idea? Is every step of my way within the boundaries established by divine Principle? Does the totality of what I am doing reflect Love? Listening for divine direction involves study, thought, and prayer.

Much of the time I have some uncertainty about whether what I am doing is part of God’s plan for me or not. But if I approach living and study right, it seems to me that some uncertainty can actually be a sign of humility. After all, if I become too certain about my direction without listening for God’s instruction, I may be following self-direction rather than divine direction.

At times, I feel some frustration that I do not hear God speak to me more often. But I move forward, guided by my growing understanding of what God is and what I, as an individual reflection of God’s being, express. And if my next step isn’t clear to me, I know that I only have to listen more deeply, rather than freezing into inaction because of a perceived lack of guidance.

With guidance and with gratitude, I take the next step.