Is That You, God?

The Spirit draws, but emotions drive.

Jesus said, “But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself.” (John 12:32, NIV). The Lord draws, invites, woos. He puts a desire in our hearts that is satisfied only when we love Him, trust Him, and obey Him. This drawing may easily be rejected or crowded out of our minds. His voice is gentle. Elijah heard it as a “still, small voice” (KJV).

Emotions, on the other hand, are sometimes said to drive us. Whether we are driven by fear, guilt, or anger, or elation or excitement, it is as though we have energy from these emotions, and we are seeking some action that will give us rest from them. Emotions cannot be satisfied. When we try to find satisfaction, whether through human relationships, food, drugs, sex, work, or by any other means, we become obsessed. We lust. We cannot think clearly until we are satisfied.

Sometimes it is difficult to distinguish between being drawn and being driven. One helpful way to make the distinction is to remember that when we are driven, we are trying to escape some unpleasant emotion or imagined consequence, or to find rest from the good but strong inner feeling. When we are being drawn, we do not feel the need to escape. We simply know that there will be a blessing in obedience. We have a choice to do something good, and do not do it simply because we need emotional comfort, or because we will feel guilty or anxious or depressed because we do not do it.

A practical example will help. Am I being called to talk to such and such a person? If I am obsessed with the idea, it is probably not rooted in the Spirit. If there is a gentle nudge, and I recognize the goodness of it, and know I would find deep satisfaction in doing it, it is probably the Spirit prompting me.

There are times when our emotions can get caught up in what the Spirit says. There were a few times when I was asked to serve in a particular place and did not give an answer right away. After praying about these opportunities, I realized that I was being called by the Lord, and wanted with all my heart to serve in those places. I got so caught up in the emotion of the prospect of serving that I could hardly wait to give my answer that I was willing to serve. I was afraid those who offered the invitation would retract the offer. I was unable to rest until I had accepted the position and was assured that the position was mine. But this sense of urgency was not the Spirit, even though I was doing the right thing. It was simply my own impatience, and perhaps somewhere down deep there was some emotional need that I was desperate to have met.

We can easily say “No” to the Spirit, and may feel some remorse or emptiness when we do, but that remorse is not the voice of the Spirit. That remorse can become bigger in our emotions than it is to the Lord Himself. In Psalm 51, the Psalmist says, “My sin is ever before me.” (KJV) His emotions were driving him. We cannot easily say “No” to our emotions of guilt or anger or fear. We feel that we must behave in a certain way when we follow emotions. Let’s notice, while we are thinking about Psalm 51, that our emotions do not always go against what is right in God’s eyes. David’s guilt was driving him to confess his sins. When the Spirit tells us what to do, we do not feel that we must obey, but we deeply want to obey Him; we long to obey Him.

It is easy to be called by the Spirit to some form of service, but to stop listening to Him, or to stop depending on Him for wisdom or timing or power or inspiration, and to be led instead by emotions. Many well meaning pastors are moved by the Spirit to minister to a person in need, but go beyond what the Spirit has called them to do. They might take it on themselves, for example, to give five hours of attention to a person when only one was needed. (It is also possible to ignore the Spirit’s voice when, say, a feeling of self-importance, resentment, or urgency causes the pastor to leave before the ministry is done.) Some take too much responsibility for the results of their ministry and burn out from frustration, anxiety, or overwork.

Those who find it difficult to relax are not hearing the Spirit. They are driven by emotions. Jesus made it a habit to get alone and relax, and taught His disciples to do the same. There seems to be an exception to this principle when our emotions are running strong during times of intense spiritual activity, such as times of revival. Finney's description of the spirit of prayer sounds as though he was obsessed for a brief time with interceding in prayer. Similar experiences have been reported in other revival literature. We get consumed by participating in certain spiritual activities because there is nothing more desirable or right to us at these times. We cannot get them off of our minds. We might be awakened in the night to intercede for someone and cannot rest until we do. Even so, it is possible to shut such activity down. We can say "No" to being employed by the Spirit for intercession. We can block the call to intense prayer by preoccupying ourselves with entertainment or eating.