| So, I’ve thought
about this idea of putting out a fleece for God to give you an answer about
something. (Taken from the story of
Gideon in the Bible) The idea is
something like, “God, if X happens, then I’ll know you’re telling me to do Y.”
Now, most people will tell you that this type
of thing is categorically invalid. But I
can see a situation in which it might be ok.
Here’s the things that I think have to be true in order for putting out
a fleece to be valid:
1) You definitely cannot give a 2-way fleece. Here’s what I mean, “God, if I get 5 green
lights in a row today, I’ll know you want me to date this girl (for example),
but if You don’t, then I’ll know you don’t want me to date her.” We cannot manipulate God into speaking to
us. He is completely free to do whatever
He wills. If He doesn’t answer your
fleece (for example, you get 3 green lights, then 2 red lights), it means
ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! So first of all, a
fleece must be only 1-sided.
If God answers it, it may tell you something. If not, it tells you nothing at all. This is a definite prerequisite for a valid
fleece. A 2-sided fleece is an attempt
to manipulate God into giving you an answer.
2) The fleece must be clear.
So my above example of traffic lights would not be a good one, because
what if it turns green after you already started slowing down? What if it’s green, but there’s a stopped car
in front of you? etc. So it needs to be something that’s not based
on judgment call. Also, you should
probably not be able to manipulate the result, as you could with a traffic
light (i.e. slow down a lot before getting to the light if it’s red, so it will
hopefully turn green before you get there, etc).
3) The fleece must have an extremely low probability of
happening on any given day. I would say
that 5 red lights does not have a low enough probability of happening. Examples of fleeces that violate this
principle would be: If it rains tomorrow…, if the phone rings in the next half
hour…, if somebody gives me a compliment at work… These kinds of things happen all the time, so
they are bad ideas for a fleece. (At
least I hope people sometimes compliment you!)
A good rule of thumb would be something that has never happened to you! After
all, God is just as capable of striking your mailbox with lightning as He is
making it rain.
4) The fleece must not be a selfish thing. For instance, “God, if you let me win $10,000
or more with this scratch-off lotto ticket, I’ll know you want me to quit and
take that other job.” I don’t think God
is really in the business of answering people’s selfish prayers to get rich,
get advancements, win stuff, etc.
5) Fleeces must be about what we should do, not what will
happen. God is the One Who knows the
future, and He doesn’t often share that information with His creatures, outside
of Biblical prophecy. Bad fleeces would
be, “If X happens, I will know my sister will get better.” “If X happens, then this is the person I will
eventually marry.” Etc. It would be better to say, “If X happens,
I’ll know You want me to try such-and-such medical treatment, continue to date
this person, etc.” It’s asking God about
what we should do, not what will happen if we do that thing. So we also can’t tie a particular outcome to
our action. We have a tendency to think,
for example, that if God tells me to date the person, it will likely end in
marriage. It certainly won’t be a bad
breakup. But perhaps God wants to teach
us something different, that has nothing to do with whether we marry that
person or not. We can’t assume the
result of any action God tells us to do.
Sometimes, He may tell us to do something to teach us about failure.
I think if you adhere to these simple rules, there is
nothing wrong with putting out a fleece for God. It’s like saying, “God, I know You’re
sovereign, and You don’t have to give me an answer, but if you really wanted to
make it clear to me what I should do here, this is one way You could tell me.”
So now some examples of what I think could be good fleeces:
If I’m walking down the street, and a stranger throws a
tomato at me, I’ll know You want me to take that job.
If 5 different people mention Reykjavik
(the capital of Iceland)
today to me in casual conversation, I’ll know you want me to move to Lincoln,
Nebraska.
If a squirrel falls out of a tree today and smacks into the
sidewalk right in front of me and dies, I’ll know you want me to break up with
my boyfriend.
If I pass a man carrying a Greyhound dog on his shoulders on
my way to work…
Now, you could throw 2 fleeces, for instance, the Reykjavik
thing means you move, and the squirrel thing means you don’t move. This is not the same as a double-sided
fleece, because if neither happens, you still know nothing. And they both follow all the other rules.
Hoping a stranger throws a tomato at you today,
FuriousDreamer |
