I have seen so many lives shipwrecked because an individual decides to guide her life and decisions by a prophetic “word” or utterance given by another. In the Christian Pentecostal and Charismatic traditions, this can be in the form of “Thus saith the Lord”, or “I have a word for you”, or “God is telling me…” In New Age circles, revelation often comes through a means of divination like Tarot, runes, or channeling or some other “psychic” method.

Many people who seek out “words” and psychics do so because they are in some kind of emotional, physical, or financial turmoil. They desperately want answers as to why they are suffering, or they want to know the future. It then becomes very easy for some to depend on outside sources to find out their life path and what they should do in life.

In Christian circles, those who are deemed as “prophets” or “anointed” ministers are usually not to be questioned: what they bring forth is from God, and if God said it, who are you to argue? Even the use of Scripture is used to bolster this mindset. The most notable passage is I Chronicles 16:22 “Touch not Mine anointed and do My prophets no harm”. Some use this verse as a way to shut down any inquiry of the minister or the revelation they are bringing forth. Thus, fear is used to keep people in line, and keep them obedient.

Still others think that if a minister or psychic brings forth information or knowledge previously unknown to the spiritual leader, this makes them an accurate source for spiritual revelation. And so these respected “spiritual” folks speak for God/the Divine and people begin to trust them. Some go so far as to hang on to every word that comes out of a prophet or channel’s mouth. There is no questioning or seeking the Divine for self. “After all, didn’t God just speak to me through another?”

The danger in this is the abdication of our will and our ability to think for ourselves. We become spiritual co-dependents. When we hand over our will to another, and these “words” are our guiding source, we are following an agenda. The question is whose agenda is it? This brings up the question “From whence do prophets and psychics get their information?”

Traditional Christians would say all prophets and “anointed” ministers get their information straight from God. As such, the information they bring forth can be banked on and is safe to follow. Yet, I know an individual who married a minister only because someone prophesied to her that she was to marry a minister. It’s been an unhappy marriage of 18 years, and this minister that she married has been verbally abusive, deceitful, engages in cybersex, and has now abandoned his family.

If we make decisions based solely on what another fallible human being says, we are abdicating our will and letting another choose for us. Even if we take to heart sacred Scriptures like the Bible and follow it blindly without examination or questioning, we can be find ourselves in the same situation. In this case, we’ve abdicated our will and thought processes to the written word – often at the expense of the spirit of the passage.

In New Age circles, the beliefs about where information and revelation comes from are varied. Some possible sources include channeled entities or aliens, departed love ones, God, or Higher Self. Still others believe that we are made up of energy, and as such, our thoughts, emotions, and intent are energy, as well. When we use telepathy, or “pick up” information, we’re just reading cosmic information in the energy field. And some believe that information is gleaned by the collective unconscious or by reading the Akashic Records.

Those in New Age circles are just as prone to abdicate their will. Some read channeled materials as if it’s an infallible sacred text. Others depend on Tarot card readers, psychics, and astrologers to map their life, and advise them of their “best choice”. Some are so paralyzed by a lack of will and mistrust of their own decision-making capabilities that they govern their whole lives by the stars or by the cards. As a result, self-responsibility goes out the window. If I don’t have to think for myself, then I won’t be responsible for what happens. Or, if something goes terribly wrong, it’s the fault of the astrologer or card reader, or even God.

Quick Fixes

I’ve had people come to me wanting to fix their problems and their life. They have consistently made choices over the years to get them where they are at, but I’m expected to undo their choices and make it all better? Unfortunately, this is also how many relate to God/The Divine: the great Fixer-Upper in the Sky that will pluck me out of my mangled situation like some deus ex machina.

It would probably be more accurate to say that these types of individuals live their life on auto-pilot, being bounced around like an emotional pinball machine, reacting to unconscious patterns set up by nature, nurture, and reinforcement of those influences. If you think about it, there really isn’t true choice without awareness. I don’t know what it is about humans that makes us so stubborn and hard-headed at times, but it seems like it’s the “school of hard knocks” that teaches us lasting lessons and snaps us out of self-destructive patterns, apathy, and auto-pilot living.

This is why a prophetic word or prophecy or psychic reading isn’t enough for some people: they are still making the same choices they always have made, and are thus reaping the same life they’ve always been living. I once heard that one definition of insanity is to keep doing the same thing over and over, and expect a different result. Even Einstein said that a problem cannot be solved at the level in which is created.

And this presents a Catch-22: if it’s true that a problem cannot be solved at the level it was created, then wouldn’t new or additional information help us? Maybe. But if you take the revelatory information and apply it within your existing belief systems and personality patterns, you’ll probably still be getting more of the same. Often what is needed is a paradigm shift or a direct experience with the Divine to help us navigate our way through life. Becoming conscious is often arduous work.

Unfortunately, many ministers and gurus don’t teach this. I mean, it’s not exactly popular for a Spiritual Director to say “Well, sorry folks. There’s a lot of grunt work involved in becoming conscious. A direct interaction with the Divine will shake your foundation, and tear through your life like a cyclone. Your Ego will kick and scream, and you may even feel like you’ve lost your spiritual compass.”

In Christian terms, “Everything that can be shaken, will be shaken” (Hebrews 12:27) and “I will refine them as one refines silver, and test them as gold is tested.” (Zechariah 13:9). However, this concept was very familiar to Mystics like St. John of the Cross that wrote of the “Dark Night of the Soul” that one often experiences when they directly question God about their life, their choices, and their purpose, and yearn for Divine union more than anything.

The “hard road” isn’t necessarily the best road by default, and an “easy” way isn’t necessarily mindless unconsciousness. The more aware and self-responsible you become, the easier it becomes to detach from consequences and realize that you always can always choose again. You don’t like where your life is at? Take some conscious actions to define what you really want and where you want to be.

Constructing a Life Balance Wheel is a practical tool to use to define what you want, and to visually assess what areas of your life is unsatisfying. Realize that you are a co-creator with God, and as such, you have a responsibility to participate in the act of creation–even if this means getting the heck out of your own way and just be. Every path is different, and what you need, want, and value may be very different than your fellow congregation members, spiritual gurus, or your favorite authors.

The Practical Divine

I’m reminded of the story of the guy who was drowning, and he prayed “God, save me!”. A raft goes by, and he passes it up, thinking “God will save me!” Then the Coast Guard comes by and he refuses to come aboard saying “God will save me!” Finally, a helicopter hovers by and he says “No thanks. God will save me!” The man drowns, and goes to heaven. He says to God “But why didn’t you save me?” and God says “I sent you a raft, a boat, and an helicopter. What more do you want?”

The tools to aid us in our own growth are often contained in the very things we’d consider mundane “human” or “natural” spheres. Relationships (and how we act and react within them), our attitude towards abundance and money, and even nature itself contains lessons for us. Seeing yourself and life symbolically is another way to live your life as if everything can be a lesson or a tool. Jesus said “Except you become as a little child, you shall not enter the Kingdom of God” and He also said “The Kingdom of God is within you.” Even regaining a sense of child-like wonder and living in the moment can change your perspective and your life. You don’t see children obsessing about their thighs, or see toddlers worrying about what tomorrow may hold, do you?

Don’t get me wrong: God can speak through prophets, divination, and books. (Just like He/She can use nature and those life lessons.) I’ve found, especially as one that operates in prophetic gifting, that revelations and information often confirms what I already know. And if a revelation introduces completely new information, I set it on the shelf until it makes sense to me and feels right. In New Testament terms, I let “peace be my umpire”. If I never use the information, no biggie.

People are fallible, maybe the information will be relevant to someone else, or maybe it’s for a future time for me to use and understand. And if God really wants me to know something that I’m oblivious to, I’m sure He/She has multiple sources to get my attention. I can always choose to “be still and know that I am God” and tune into the “still small” voice for myself. But govern my life in blind obeisance to external revelations, channeling, psychic readings, and prophetic words? No way!

Think and hear for yourself, disentangle and detach from spiritual co-dependency, and know that Kingdom of God is within you.