#11: Fire drill!

Have you ever had a time when you thought you received a spiritual prompting to do something and you decide to follow it?

And then nothing happens...


And in your mind you think, "Wait, what's going on? Didn't the Holy Ghost prompt me to do this? Shouldn't something have come of this to confirm that yes, I did the right thing?"

The whole experience is usually anticlimactic and confusing because then you start to second guess yourself and you wonder if maybe you just made the whole thing up.

Case in point: driving away from an appointment, a name pops into your head and you get the feeling that you should go visit them right now. That's silly, you think, they live in the opposite direction and we were already in that area earlier today. Why should we go visit them right now?

The thought feels like a prompting from the Holy Ghost though, so you shrug and say, "I'll go and do..." and then turn the car around and go visit this person like the Holy Ghost suggests. In your head you're imagining that they might open the door and burst into tears because they've been praying all day for someone to come help them and then you show up as an answer to their prayers...you can picture the whole scene and it's a beautiful sight...

AND THEY'RE NOT EVEN HOME!

What?!  Why did you feel like visiting them was the right thing to do? What was the point of following that prompting if nothing happened because of it?

Here's what I think.

First of all, you never, EVER know all the results of your actions. Just because you can't see the direct result of a decision/action doesn't mean there isn't an effect.

Secondly, I think sometimes these "wild goose chases" are actually trust building experiences. Not to build our trust in the Holy Ghost, but for Him to gain trust in us. We have a personal relationship with each member of the Godhead. Sometimes it's easy to focus on our side of it but they need to be able to trust us just like we need to be able to trust them.

I feel like these experiences are almost like fire drills in school. There's no actual fire during the drill (so it may seem kind of silly and pointless) but when the time comes that it really matters, people know what to do. It may be the same with the spiritual promptings that we receive. If the Spirit knows that we will follow His directions no matter what, He will have more confidence that we will do what we're prompted to do when it matters.


So the next time you get a prompting that ends in a less-than-exciting finale, don't get discouraged. You showed the Holy Ghost that you are paying attention. That's totally worth it, don't you think?