An Attempted Deception

After having studied the Bible for several days, and accomplishing little paid work, I asked God this morning what he wanted me to do today. I felt he told me to work first, then study. It sounded like his voice so I took my son to school, got moisture probes out of the storage shed, and went home to clean the probes up. A song popped into my head, so I began singing,

Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things will be added unto you, Allelu, Allelujah.

I sang the refrain as I got my computer started. While I was waiting on the computer, I loaded the dishwasher whistling the song. Then my eyes were opened, and I became incredibly aware of what I was repeating over and over: seek ye FIRST. I spoke out loud “is that You trying to tell me that, Lord?” I heard a reply “yes”.  Then I asked “you did tell me to do work first this morning, right?” I again heard “yes”. I was confused.

Immediately I stopped what I was doing. I thought about the refrain I was singing, which is directly out of Scripture. Then I remembered the Bible says to compare all information to the word of God to verify its truth (Acts 17:11). I asked “is that you, Lord?” referring to the voice telling me to work first. I know clearly the Lord responded “no”. Finally I asked “I am supposed to seek you first, aren’t I?” Again I heard “yes”, and because I knew the lyrics were from Scripture, I knew it was the one true God who replied that time. I grabbed a pen and notebook, and pulled up a sermon on YouTube to listen to. The first one I listened to quoted the verse where my song lyrics originated: 

But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well, Matthew 6:33.

This situation was given to me by God, I believe, to provide us with a clear example of the ability and cunning of Satan to mimic God’s voice. We MUST know Scripture if we are to discern the still small voices we can receive. I am also telling my stories to provide comfort to those who are discouraged by confusion, yet have a desire to learn, grow, and know our Lord better. Don’t give up! We’re in this together!

Let those who have eyes see, and those who have ears hear. Mark 4:9

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:5