5 Ways to Tell if Something Is a 'God Thing'

1. When it brings your attention and focus back to Christ

In the world today, the Holy Spirit is the one who shifts and orchestrates the events in your life. When he is at work, he will always point your focus and attention back to Christ.

“When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me.” (John 15:26)

The Holy Spirit does this because salvation is found only in Jesus’ name. However, Christ is also our model and the one we strive to be like. As Christians, when the Holy Spirit is at work in your life, he aims to transform you so you look like Christ. For this reason, everything he does brings Christ into the center. If you can’t point to Christ, if you can’t glorify Christ, or if it doesn’t challenge you to be more like Christ, then you must question if God is really in it.

One of the simplest ways to know if something is God is to look at who is getting the glory. If Christ is not being glorified, then God is not in it. It does not matter how “spiritual” an experience you have; if Jesus is not at the center, then God has no part in it. That’s why you can’t always judge something by how it makes you feel or the result. It would be best to consider which direction that event is moving you in.

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2. When it confirms God is aware of your situation

There may be times in our lives when we pray secretly for things, and God responds to our secret cries. In Isaiah 38, the prophet Isaiah told Hezekiah he would die. In response, he cried out to God and wept bitterly before the Lord in prayer. Here is how God responded through the prophet Isaiah.

“Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah: ‘Go and tell Hezekiah, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will add fifteen years to your life. And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city.’” (Isaiah 38:4-6)

Isaiah had no knowledge that Hezekiah was praying for God’s mercy, yet when he came to Hezekiah, he brought an answer to the prayer that Hezekiah prayed. God was at work. 

There may be things you pray for or situations you are going through. In this season, maybe someone brings the right word or even the right provision that you need. Especially when you have never expressed it to anyone else. You could go for prayer, and someone prays for your need without you telling them what your need is. Or, you could sit in church and one day the pastor “reads your mail,” meaning they preach as if they know exactly what you are going through and you never told them. Situations like these are what God uses to show that he is aware of your situation and that he has not forgotten you. 

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3. When it meets a need at just the right time

When God is in something, it can meet a need at the right time. In July 2012, my employer laid me off from work. At the time, I was married, had one son, and had another baby on the way. As part of the severance package, I could keep my health benefits until September. After that point, I would either have to go on an insurance plan that would have cost me about $1400 per month or consider other health insurance options. My son’s medical history included some expensive medical treatments, so the prospects looked bad. I can’t remember if I expressed this concern to anyone, but God knew it was in my heart.

In September 2012, I received an offer for a position doing something I really love. However, here is the God thing in all of this. My health insurance from my old job ended on September 30, and the health insurance for the new job started on October 1. God knew my heart’s concerns and my family’s needs, and he met the needs right on time.

When God is truly in something, he has a way of showing up at just the right time and providing exactly what you need. It is not a coincidence when you hear the right word, the right song, the right encouragement, or receive the right provision at the moment you need it. I know sometimes we wish we didn’t have to experience it this way. However, the only way you will ever know God is faithful is if you must be in a situation where he can prove his faithfulness to you.

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4. When it aligns with the word of God

Another test you can use to determine if something is a God thing is to see how it aligns with God’s word. God will never do something contrary to his word. This refers to activities that happen in church or outside of it. The Holy Spirit will not participate in or lead you into sinful activities. I heard a preacher once tell his congregation that God told him to divorce his wife and marry another woman. Because this blatantly goes against the word of God, you know God was not in it (I can’t believe people stayed in his church after that statement).  

If you resort to sinful behavior to produce a desired result, then you know God did nothing to make that happen. Please carefully note while God may work around our sinful decisions, usually with discipline and correction, he will never intentionally lead us into sin to accomplish his plan.

This means we are responsible for knowing what God has said in his word. When you know what his word says, here is what happens.

“Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.” (Ephesians 4:14)

So many people easily deceive themselves and believe that God is orchestrating activities that contradict his word. Unfortunately, because they are unfamiliar with his word, they don’t recognize that God is not part of it. If you want to be sure if something is a God thing, check to see how it aligns with scripture. If it doesn’t, then you know what the answer is.

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5. When you look at the results (but not always)  

“‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the Lord. ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.’” (Isaiah 55:8-9)

Sometimes, looking at the results is the most challenging way to assess whether God is in something. The assumption is when the results are positive, this must be a God thing. However, that is not always true. Results alone are not the measure. How you get to those results is equally important. Some believe that the outcomes will always be positive because we follow God. In the long run, that will be true, but not always in the short term. For example, Jesus followed the Father in perfect obedience, getting him nailed to a cross. In the short term, that outcome did not look so good. However, in the long term, his obedience paid for our salvation. So yes, results matter, but not more than your obedience to what God desires you to do.

One way churches wrestle with this is they might look at a full sanctuary as proof God is in this place. However, it would be best to consider how you enticed the people to enter your building and what you did with them while they were there. If all you do is entertain and you never tell them about sin, repentance, or the gospel, then does it matter how many people are in the building?

I went to a church with a fall program; well over one thousand people were packed into the building. They put on a fun show at this event and gave out candy for the kids. The event looked like God was in it because of the amount of people who showed up. However,  they never mentioned the gospel at all. It did not differ from going to a Nickelodeon kids’ awards show: lots of fun but no actual substance. How can that be when the heart of God is to draw people to Jesus, yet this event never mentions Jesus?

While results can indicate that God is doing something supernatural, we must measure the results according to God’s standards and not worldly priorities. Otherwise, we may think God is doing something he is not part of.

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