The Lord ever tell you to do something strange?

[Jane_Doe]

This Sunday School the lesson was on Noah’s ark. Lesson we’ve literally had a million times.  But, the teacher did ask a slightly different question: “What times has a the Lord asked you do something odd that you didn’t find out why until later?”

For me, I thought of my last trip to San Francisco.  It was business trip wherein I arrive much earlier than my colleagues and the hotel wouldn’t be ready for hours yet.   I had nothing to do but wander around town.  So I plotted myself a tentative route, and wandered around town for miles.  Visited a bunch of churches, stores, ate lunch on the patio, etc. 

Finally it was super dark, and time to head back to the hotel.  I was already to start walking, when I felt the Spirit say “you should take the bus”.  I shook it off at first—no no, that’s just my inner natural man wanting to be lazy and not walk up all those awful hills-- I should toughen up and actually get some exercise.  “No, you should take the bus”, the voice came again. 

“Fine!” I finally concluded after some more inner arguing, “I’ll be lazy and take the bus”.  Well, in a city where there’s a bus stop every block, it took me 5 blocks to find the bus stop (cause I’m just that talented).   And then the bus doesn’t accept cash so I physically can’t ride the bus!    What the!?!  Spirit tells me to take the bus, and then I can’t.   Ok, that’s really weird, whatever. 

So I got back on the sidewalk and walked the 5 miles back, up and down those ridiculous hills.   Got back to the hotel, finally was able to check in, and nothing particularly happened.    It was completely uneventful besides some sore muscles.

Several days later, while studying the history of San Francisco (and not paying attention to my work meeting), I realized why the Spirit told me what it did: because in looking for the bus stop, I took a different way back to the hotel than what I originally planned.  I hadn’t wandered through that area of town you should NEVER go through a single lady after dark.   I didn’t go there- I was safe, and nothing happened.

The Lord works in mysterious ways J   Some times we are indeed asked to do things which seem strange to us, but He is in charge. 

 

 

How about you?  Have you ever had the Lord tell you to do something strange?

[mirkwood]

I was sitting in my patrol car one evening, early in my shift, about 8 years ago.  I was in a parking lot I frequently used to write reports.  I was on the phone with on of our canyon patrol officers talking with him.  I had the sudden thought that I needed to drive out of the parking lot immediately.  I shrugged it off, I always sit there, no big deal.  A few seconds later the powerful thought came, "leave now or you are going to be seriously hurt."  I dropped the car into drive and pulled out of the lot and drove away.  I was thinking how odd, but I did it as I kept talking to my partner.  I finished the conversation and turned down another road to go back to my parking spot.  I was thinking how paranoid I was being, I sit in that lot all the time.  The closer I got back to where I needed to turn right and go to the lot, the worse I felt.  Like something bad was going to happen.  As I approached the intersection I said in my head, "Ok, I got the message, I will turn left and go sit in this other spot I use too.  I will stay away from that lot tonight unless I get dispatched that way."  The bad feeling immediately left.  I have no idea why I felt that way.  I was back in that parking lot the next night, and many nights after without ever feeling that way again or having any problems there.

[Guest MormonGator]

I know nothing about cars and I can barely pump my own gasoline, much less do anything else. Right after returning home from the funeral of one of my closest friends back in September of last year, LG and I decided to go to Tampa for a night out. We got in the car and something told me to stay local (Tampa is an hour and half drive away from me). I don't know what it was, because we both wanted to go to Tampa that night. We went out to Ocala instead, about a half hour away. On the way out from the restaurant, I saw that I had a flat tire-I was stunned.  Logically I know it was probably just luck. But my friend knew a lot about cars, and I think either he or the Lord was telling me to stay local that night. It was without question one of the most spiritual moments of my life. 

it's weird though-The Lord telling me not to go to Tampa but instead stay local? For all I know, I could have been driving on the highway, had a tire blowout, and gotten into a serious car accident. LG and I have talked about it a lot since then. 

Edited February 12, 2018 by MormonGator

[Guest]

A while back I had created a package of dry goods from the cannery that had the best spread of nutrients in a single 6-can box.  I organized a lot of these.

One day I had gotten an impression that I was supposed to take one of these boxes to one of my home teaching families.  I thought, "Ok..."  There was no reason not to do so.  So, I didn't really question it.

My wife asked me what I was doing.

"I'm taking one of my prep boxes to my home teaching family."

"Why?"

"...because...I'm supposed to..."

"...OK..."

I went and delivered it.  They said thanks.  That was the last I knew.  I had no idea what special thing ever happened afterwards.

**************************

While in Afghanistan (forgive me if I'm repeating something I may have posted a few years ago) I was going to head out to one of the FOBs (Foward Operating Bases) for a technical assessment.  A voice told me "Don't go there."

It was a bit of a struggle because, before I accepted the position Mrs. Carb and I prayed about it.  We both felt a confirmation that I would be protected there.  So, when I heard this voice telling me that I would NOT be protected if I went there, well, it seemed contradictory. But eventually, I listened to the voice.  

I assigned myself to a different base and sent teams out where they needed going.

While the other team was at that first base, it was attacked.  The missile made a direct hit into the civilian bunker - (about a 1 in 10,000 chance).  A couple dead.  Several wounded.

[Sunday21]

I was at a conference on the last day. On the last day of conferences in my discipline, we have the ‘graveyard’ shift. Sessions by people that most attendees are not interested in or on ‘low’ interest topics. The speaker is not told that they or their topic is a dud but Veteran attendees know that their hugely expensive and time-hog of a project seriously sucks.

i was feeling rather sad and small as my paper had been assigned one step up from graveyard. Consequently, I was still at the conference on the last session of the last day when the ‘real’ professors were off touring vineyards and discussing their plans to collect data with NASA. (I hate the NASA people. More $ than they know what to do with and they have to mention NASA in every sentence of every conversation). 

To cheer myself up, I decided to take the advice of a recent sacrament speaker and pray to ask God if there was an errand that I should perform. I felt inspired to  walk down some corridors. I entered a nearly empty room with 50 empty chairs and three women, one of them in tears. I walked to the front of the room, my footsteps echoing, and sat down.

The older lady, a professor, ,looked very relieved to see me. She addressed me in French and gave the title of the talk and asked if I had seen the talk advertised. I replied in halting French , which I had not used in years, that I had studied this subject for my PhD. The professor nodded in satisfaction. It became clear that an anxious PhD student was about to give her first official public address on her PhD thesis as a means of practicing for her formal defence. Those swinish Anglos were obviously too indifferent to attend (the talk was advertised in French with a French title at an English conference so no,  no one was interested and thus the paper was assigned the graveyard slot).

The professor informed me, in French, that we would first hear the paper and then I would be asking questions. In my rusty french, I asked if I could ask questions in English. I received a look like a block of ice and was firmly told that as a student was presenting obviously, the questions would be delivered in the student’s language of preference. The petite prof drew herself up to her full height of 5’ 3” and told me that she was sure that I would have NO trouble. (It amazes me that in my country both the French and the Anglo’s are convinced that their opposite numbers are fully fluent in the other language but just too inconsiderate to use the REAL language!) Swinish Anglo that I am, I sat down and said a small prayer, hoping for the best.

Miraculously I was able to understand and ask some qentle questions while pointing out how important the topic was and how deserving of funding. The French professor was pleased and the young student visibly glowed.

Last time in my life, I was able to speak passible French! 

Edited February 16, 2018 by Sunday21

[Guest]

This isn't a story about being "told" to do something, but rather a story about feeling I had to do somethi g and later understanding why.

I went to a small LDS based school in Utah for High School. One older girls "Becky", was about 2 or 3 years older than me. She had the kind personality where she was loved by everyone, because she loved and accepted everyone. She had the bubbly type personality where she just made you feel like a friend and comfortable right when you met her. Although we weren't close friends, she was still a friend I could talk to and visit with sometimes during breaks and lunch.

The school would hold Youth Conferenes for us. One Youth Confernace was about 3 days long, on the last night before going home they had a dance for everyone. I wasnt one to enjoy dances, and I remember dreaded the dance but another friend and I talked about it and decided just to sit in the back and talk. When we got there I noticed something odd, Becky wasn't there and for some reason it just didn' feel right. I pushed the thought aside thinking she would eventually show up, but she never did. My uneasiness increased everytime walked and she wasn't with them. Everyone finally came but she never arrived, even her close friend arrived without her. At that point i started to really worry, I kept getting the feeling something wasn't right.

The friend I had come with knew I was worried about Becky but didn' understand why I was so worried about her, I didn't really understand either,  but I remember the feeling was so overwhelming. I KNEW we needed to go find her. I turned to my friend and told her, "We need to find Becky", knowing how concerned I was she agreed.

We started off towards the big cabins where all the girls lodged in. When we got there it was dark inside and we found Becky all alone.  I think she has been alone for about 20 or 30 minutes. I told her we had come to find her and asked why she wasn't at the dance. She burst into tears. We found out she had been raped a couple of years before and she just couldn't stand the thought of going to a dance and dancing all of the boys.

We stayed with her through the whole night, we talked and cried through the whole dance. Both my friend and I had been verbally and emotionally abused at home and although I feel Becky had the worse because of what she went through, we all took turns telling our story and helping each other heal. 

I really feel like it was the Holy Ghost who gave me the uneasiness feeling, neither my friend or I understood it why when it was happening but I believe in my heart it was because our loving Heavenly Father didn't want his daughter to suffer alone that night, he knew she needed our support and love. 

[wenglund]

I was standing at a dance talking to a friend and I was prompted by the Spirit to turn and look, and so I did. I saw a young woman who's beauty floored me. However, because she was walking quickly away through the crowd, I turned back to my friend and said that I needed to go and follow the woman. I didn't tell him that I felt as though I was to marry her.  I looked and looked but couldn't find her--which puzzled me. Why would the Spirit prompt me to look and see my future wife if she disappeared forever?

Several days later I was talking with roommates and family members about the experience, and after describing the woman, my brother said he knew who she was and that the girl he was dating at the time was good friends with her, and would I want him to get the mystery woman and future wife's name and number? Of course I said yes.

Anyway, to make a long story short, I met the woman, we went out a couple of times, and it turned out to be one of the worst dating experience of my lengthy single life. I was devastated and my faith shaken. 

It wasn't until much later, and after going through a similar, though more lengthy experience, that I finally understood the point of it all. I learned that sometimes when I receive a prompting, I  load it up with all sorts of unintended meaning and purpose, when the Lord may have other things in mind. The Spirit hadn't actually told me I would marry the woman, I was simply prompted to turn and look. I had assumed the marriage part on my own. I had been prompted to meet the woman in order to learn this valuable lesson.

Thanks, -Wade Englund-

[Vort]

12 hours ago, Sunday21 said:

 Swinish Anglo that I am, I sat down and said a small prayer, hoping for the best.

Oink, oink. How very bacony of you.

Mmmm...bacon...

[mirkwood]

11 minutes ago, Vort said:

Oink, oink. How very bacony of you.

Mmmm...bacon...

Did you mean to quote me?

[NeuroTypical]

1. The spirit once told me to NOT do the right thing.   There was an important conversation I had to have with someone, even though I didn't want to.  It was one of those conversations that might alter the course of a relationship, and came with a bunch of ways to mess it up.  I thought and prayed about it a lot.  I was ready to have the conversation - I was stopped by the spirit.

The next day, the other person brought it up, and we basically had the conversation we were supposed to have.  

-------------------------

2. I had a crappy boss once.  We all thought she was a crappy boss, and we'd sit there and talk about how crappy a boss she was.  I thought "Everybody is talking about her, and nobody is talking to her."  I felt the spirit that instant as powerfully and plainly as I ever had.  I did not want to go talk to this person.  But the spirit insisted.  There was no way such a conversation could be anything besides a colossal negative failure.  The spirit insisted.  As I stood up, it honestly, literally, felt like someone had a finger on my back belt loop, and was lifting me out of my chair and propelling me towards her office.  It was the most powerful prompting I've ever had.  I approached her office, her back was turned to me, hunched over her keyboard, typing furiously.  I cleared my throat, and she spun around, spitting nails and obviously in a bad mood.  

I proceeded to have the horrible failure of a conversation I thought I'd have.  I told her about she wasn't being a good manager.  She demanded specifics, which I stutteringly tried to give, which she argued with and dismissed.  It was a horribly embarrassing conversation, I went away feeling totally unprepared and ineffective, and yet I clearly knew God had wanted that to happen for some reason.  My sole relief as I limped back to my desk, defeated and exhausted, fearing that I'd just made things worse, was that I had done God's will.

I don't know what would have been different if I had not had that conversation.  We spent another six months groaning under that boss.  I would come home from work stressed and tired.  My wife made up names for her.  I got a bad performance review from her that impacted my career negatively a little.  Eventually we rolled off the project, and we all moved on to other things.  I said "no hard feelings", she said "I'm glad to hear that".  The company eventually went belly up. 

A few years later, we swapped emails. She had left management and went back into programming.  She was working on the team, that was writing the software for the rolling lights on the tv show Who Wants to be a Millionaire?  For decades now, whenever I see that show or a similar one, and the dramatic music and lighting sets the tense mood as someone is getting ready to answer, I think about her.  

Just look at those lights waving around.  Following a program written by someone I used to work with.  

Edited February 16, 2018 by NeuroTypical