How do I know if a coincidence is from God or it's OCD telling me it is?

[tuliplane]

Sometimes it's hard for me to decipher whether I'm going through an obsession or if God really is expecting something from me. I feel guilty and have legalistic thoughts over various things. Sometimes I stress over a certain topic, then I began to understand that my thought was legalism, understand grace and live for awhile doing the thing that I thought was sinning...until it acts up again and then I stress over the very topic I was worrying about a year or so before.

I was having an episode today...it was centered around modesty/clothing. This happens twice a year or so...I start obsessing over and scrutinizing my clothing, checking and rechecking in front of the mirror and then worrying that certain areas may be outlined too much which could be sinful. It was causing some pretty bad anxiety. In the middle of my compulsions of researching to see if my clothes were inappropriate, someone shared a modesty article on facebook...she only shared it to make fun of it actually; it was extremely legalistic and gave an entire list of things that can't be worn, with such rules such as you must button every button on your top or else you're inviting a man in, women can't wear pants of any kind, or any form of sleeveless blouse. The article actually began with the sin of Bathsheba, and that although it was unintentional and she was not aware of causing lust, she was guilty of the sin of carelessness. I understand the faultiness of almost the entire article...yet I was still wondering if the Holy Spirit was trying to communicate with me because 1: it was shared in the middle of me stressing about the very same thing, 2: the article actually mentioned the very type of clothing I was worried about, and 3: I prayed to God asking him to show me if I was sinning or not.

How do I decipher between the Holy Spirit and OCD obsessions? The obsessions constantly center around holiness...pretty much everyday I have anxiety that I thought something I shouldn't have, that I'm wearing something I shouldn't be, that I have a desire that shouldn't be present, etc., etc. I obviously want to follow God and do His will, it's just sometimes the constant weight of all these things is just so much...

 

[BioLeap]

Sometimes it's hard for me to decipher whether I'm going through an obsession or if God really is expecting something from me. I feel guilty and have legalistic thoughts over various things. Sometimes I stress over a certain topic, then I began to understand that my thought was legalism, understand grace and live for awhile doing the thing that I thought was sinning...until it acts up again and then I stress over the very topic I was worrying about a year or so before.

I was having an episode today...it was centered around modesty/clothing. This happens twice a year or so...I start obsessing over and scrutinizing my clothing, checking and rechecking in front of the mirror and then worrying that certain areas may be outlined too much which could be sinful. It was causing some pretty bad anxiety. In the middle of my compulsions of researching to see if my clothes were inappropriate, someone shared a modesty article on facebook...she only shared it to make fun of it actually; it was extremely legalistic and gave an entire list of things that can't be worn, with such rules such as you must button every button on your top or else you're inviting a man in, women can't wear pants of any kind, or any form of sleeveless blouse. The article actually began with the sin of Bathsheba, and that although it was unintentional and she was not aware of causing lust, she was guilty of the sin of carelessness. I understand the faultiness of almost the entire article...yet I was still wondering if the Holy Spirit was trying to communicate with me because 1: it was shared in the middle of me stressing about the very same thing, 2: the article actually mentioned the very type of clothing I was worried about, and 3: I prayed to God asking him to show me if I was sinning or not.

How do I decipher between the Holy Spirit and OCD obsessions? The obsessions constantly center around holiness...pretty much everyday I have anxiety that I thought something I shouldn't have, that I'm wearing something I shouldn't be, that I have a desire that shouldn't be present, etc., etc. I obviously want to follow God and do His will, it's just sometimes the constant weight of all these things is just so much...

Yeah, belief is the borg queen itself. You know who the borg queen is right?

Star Trek.

 

[Sketcher]

How do I decipher between the Holy Spirit and OCD obsessions? The obsessions constantly center around holiness...pretty much everyday I have anxiety that I thought something I shouldn't have, that I'm wearing something I shouldn't be, that I have a desire that shouldn't be present, etc., etc. I obviously want to follow God and do His will, it's just sometimes the constant weight of all these things is just so much...

The Holy Spirit doesn't feel like one of those obsessions. He's more direct, and less pressuring. The pressure comes from your own mind.

 

[timewerx]

Sometimes it's hard for me to decipher whether I'm going through an obsession or if God really is expecting something from me. I feel guilty and have legalistic thoughts over various things. Sometimes I stress over a certain topic, then I began to understand that my thought was legalism, understand grace and live for awhile doing the thing that I thought was sinning...until it acts up again and then I stress over the very topic I was worrying about a year or so before.

I was having an episode today...it was centered around modesty/clothing. This happens twice a year or so...I start obsessing over and scrutinizing my clothing, checking and rechecking in front of the mirror and then worrying that certain areas may be outlined too much which could be sinful. It was causing some pretty bad anxiety. In the middle of my compulsions of researching to see if my clothes were inappropriate, someone shared a modesty article on facebook...she only shared it to make fun of it actually; it was extremely legalistic and gave an entire list of things that can't be worn, with such rules such as you must button every button on your top or else you're inviting a man in, women can't wear pants of any kind, or any form of sleeveless blouse. The article actually began with the sin of Bathsheba, and that although it was unintentional and she was not aware of causing lust, she was guilty of the sin of carelessness. I understand the faultiness of almost the entire article...yet I was still wondering if the Holy Spirit was trying to communicate with me because 1: it was shared in the middle of me stressing about the very same thing, 2: the article actually mentioned the very type of clothing I was worried about, and 3: I prayed to God asking him to show me if I was sinning or not.

How do I decipher between the Holy Spirit and OCD obsessions? The obsessions constantly center around holiness...pretty much everyday I have anxiety that I thought something I shouldn't have, that I'm wearing something I shouldn't be, that I have a desire that shouldn't be present, etc., etc. I obviously want to follow God and do His will, it's just sometimes the constant weight of all these things is just so much...

I too have OCD.

I've always found Christian religious doctrines sometimes contradictory to some teachings in the Bible which naturally confused me even more.

What I did was study the Bible on my own and try not to think too much what everyone else is saying. 1 John 2:27 confirms what I'm saying.

My specific advice to you is don't think too hard about it. Don't worry about being too legalist or being too loose about it. Simply do what is "convicting" you.

Being an OCD sufferer, it is far more important for us to study the Bible more than everyone else. This is the only way you can reconcile your beliefs and stop getting confused about things anymore.

 

[Mari17]

Sometimes it's hard for me to decipher whether I'm going through an obsession or if God really is expecting something from me. I feel guilty and have legalistic thoughts over various things. Sometimes I stress over a certain topic, then I began to understand that my thought was legalism, understand grace and live for awhile doing the thing that I thought was sinning...until it acts up again and then I stress over the very topic I was worrying about a year or so before.

I was having an episode today...it was centered around modesty/clothing. This happens twice a year or so...I start obsessing over and scrutinizing my clothing, checking and rechecking in front of the mirror and then worrying that certain areas may be outlined too much which could be sinful. It was causing some pretty bad anxiety. In the middle of my compulsions of researching to see if my clothes were inappropriate, someone shared a modesty article on facebook...she only shared it to make fun of it actually; it was extremely legalistic and gave an entire list of things that can't be worn, with such rules such as you must button every button on your top or else you're inviting a man in, women can't wear pants of any kind, or any form of sleeveless blouse. The article actually began with the sin of Bathsheba, and that although it was unintentional and she was not aware of causing lust, she was guilty of the sin of carelessness. I understand the faultiness of almost the entire article...yet I was still wondering if the Holy Spirit was trying to communicate with me because 1: it was shared in the middle of me stressing about the very same thing, 2: the article actually mentioned the very type of clothing I was worried about, and 3: I prayed to God asking him to show me if I was sinning or not.

How do I decipher between the Holy Spirit and OCD obsessions? The obsessions constantly center around holiness...pretty much everyday I have anxiety that I thought something I shouldn't have, that I'm wearing something I shouldn't be, that I have a desire that shouldn't be present, etc., etc. I obviously want to follow God and do His will, it's just sometimes the constant weight of all these things is just so much...

I TOTALLY get what you're saying. I have had, and do have, very similar obsessions. There's no clear-cut answer, but some of the things I've learned are:
- If you don't KNOW the answer for sure and feel kind of confused about it, it's probably not that big of a deal (or at least not as big a deal as you're making it!).
- OCD tends to have a different "feel" to it than your 'real' conscience. There's no line that clearly divides your conscience and OCD, but often with OCD we feel a lot of guilt, dread, and confusion. With our conscience, we have a more positive motivation to do something, and feel more calm and certain about it (even if we don't know for sure).

Hope that's a little helpful. Feel free to pm me or message back on here if you have more questions!

 

[GodLovesCats]

My first thought when I clicked on this thread title was 3:16. As in, John 3:16 being about salvation and I was saved on March 16 (3/16) No doubt that had to be from God because the prayer was, "Lord, give Andrea the Holy Spirit."

 

[Gingerine]

Sometimes it's hard for me to decipher whether I'm going through an obsession or if God really is expecting something from me. I feel guilty and have legalistic thoughts over various things. Sometimes I stress over a certain topic, then I began to understand that my thought was legalism, understand grace and live for awhile doing the thing that I thought was sinning...until it acts up again and then I stress over the very topic I was worrying about a year or so before.

I was having an episode today...it was centered around modesty/clothing. This happens twice a year or so...I start obsessing over and scrutinizing my clothing, checking and rechecking in front of the mirror and then worrying that certain areas may be outlined too much which could be sinful. It was causing some pretty bad anxiety. In the middle of my compulsions of researching to see if my clothes were inappropriate, someone shared a modesty article on facebook...she only shared it to make fun of it actually; it was extremely legalistic and gave an entire list of things that can't be worn, with such rules such as you must button every button on your top or else you're inviting a man in, women can't wear pants of any kind, or any form of sleeveless blouse. The article actually began with the sin of Bathsheba, and that although it was unintentional and she was not aware of causing lust, she was guilty of the sin of carelessness. I understand the faultiness of almost the entire article...yet I was still wondering if the Holy Spirit was trying to communicate with me because 1: it was shared in the middle of me stressing about the very same thing, 2: the article actually mentioned the very type of clothing I was worried about, and 3: I prayed to God asking him to show me if I was sinning or not.

How do I decipher between the Holy Spirit and OCD obsessions? The obsessions constantly center around holiness...pretty much everyday I have anxiety that I thought something I shouldn't have, that I'm wearing something I shouldn't be, that I have a desire that shouldn't be present, etc., etc. I obviously want to follow God and do His will, it's just sometimes the constant weight of all these things is just so much...

Let me assure you first and foremost these kinds of things(feeling like youre seeing signs) are very common with OCD. Thats why those obsessions stick so well. Let me tell you a story. Once, I was worried about accidentally coveting to the point where I barely think about other people's things ex: "Oh I wonder how that cute dog's doing"- without repenting. This was fueled by the fact that no matter where I turned it seemed I heard the word "covet" or "lust" it was horrifying and during times like that I would get sad and tell God "You know I'm trying so hard."
This happens with almost every obsession of mine. It is annoying but very normal and does not mean your obsessions are from God or anything so dont worry about that.
It took me a while to come to terms with this and even longer to realize why it happened until I remembered something my sister told me when I was a child. I had a really bad sore throat then and I asked in frustration "Why do I swallow so much when I'm sick?" and my sister thought about it for a moment and said "you dont. You just notice it more because it hurts."
OCD is a illness. When you are in an obsession you are hyper ssensitive to things that relate to your obsession. Normally you wouldn't even notice them but now that you have a "sore throat" in your brain you do notice. For example I for one never noticed how much people around me use the word "steal" until I had a major obsession over accidentally doing it and while I am no longer worrying about it, that obsession left mark so deep that I am still very much aware of how loosely people use the word.

To answer your question about being able to tell the urgings of the Holy Spirit from OCD, this is the method I use: God knows you have OCD and therefore will not approach you in a manner that would cause confusion or mental agony His goal is to build you up and get you to progress. Worrying you would not result in that. God has plans to prosper you not to harm you. Hold on to that. Secondly God is a God of love and mercy and He tells us repeatedly do not worry and do not be afraid, God would not cause you to worry. Look at Mary when God sent an angel to tell her the news she would have Jesus, the angel told her not to be afraid why? Because the angel knows thats not how God works and even when having news delivered that normally would be really scary He wants us to be at peace. Then of course there's Gideon who I really identify with because of his anxiety. Gideon was afraid but God went out of His way several times to soothe Gideon's fears even. This tells us something right here if God wants you to do something He will make sure He will not do it in a way that scares you. As said in 1 John 4:18 there is no fear in love.
I for one am positive that God is love and there is no fear in Him.
God loves you Tuliplane and so do we.

 

[Mari17]

Let me assure you first and foremost these kinds of things(feeling like youre seeing signs) are very common with OCD. Thats why those obsessions stick so well. Let me tell you a story. Once, I was worried about accidentally coveting to the point where I barely think about other people's things ex: "Oh I wonder how that cute dog's doing"- without repenting. This was fueled by the fact that no matter where I turned it seemed I heard the word "covet" or "lust" it was horrifying and during times like that I would get sad and tell God "You know I'm trying so hard."
This happens with almost every obsession of mine. It is annoying but very normal and does not mean your obsessions are from God or anything so dont worry about that.
It took me a while to come to terms with this and even longer to realize why it happened until I remembered something my sister told me when I was a child. I had a really bad sore throat then and I asked in frustration "Why do I swallow so much when I'm sick?" and my sister thought about it for a moment and said "you dont. You just notice it more because it hurts."
OCD is a illness. When you are in an obsession you are hyper ssensitive to things that relate to your obsession. Normally you wouldn't even notice them but now that you have a "sore throat" in your brain you do notice. For example I for one never noticed how much people around me use the word "steal" until I had a major obsession over accidentally doing it and while I am no longer worrying about it, that obsession left mark so deep that I am still very much aware of how loosely people use the word.

To answer your question about being able to tell the urgings of the Holy Spirit from OCD, this is the method I use: God knows you have OCD and therefore will not approach you in a manner that would cause confusion or mental agony His goal is to build you up and get you to progress. Worrying you would not result in that. God has plans to prosper you not to harm you. Hold on to that. Secondly God is a God of love and mercy and He tells us repeatedly do not worry and do not be afraid, God would not cause you to worry. Look at Mary when God sent an angel to tell her the news she would have Jesus, the angel told her not to be afraid why? Because the angel knows thats not how God works and even when having news delivered that normally would be really scary He wants us to be at peace. Then of course there's Gideon who I really identify with because of his anxiety. Gideon was afraid but God went out of His way several times to soothe Gideon's fears even. This tells us something right here if God wants you to do something He will make sure He will not do it in a way that scares you. As said in 1 John 4:18 there is no fear in love.
I for one am positive that God is love and there is no fear in Him.
God loves you Tuliplane and so do we.

LOVE this reply! Thanks for sharing your wisdom, Gingerine!

 

[Gingerine]

LOVE this reply! Thanks for sharing your wisdom, Gingerine!

Thank you Mari I enjoy helping and thank you again for helping me apply my advice to myself as well

 

[tuliplane]

I TOTALLY get what you're saying. I have had, and do have, very similar obsessions. There's no clear-cut answer, but some of the things I've learned are:
- If you don't KNOW the answer for sure and feel kind of confused about it, it's probably not that big of a deal (or at least not as big a deal as you're making it!).
- OCD tends to have a different "feel" to it than your 'real' conscience. There's no line that clearly divides your conscience and OCD, but often with OCD we feel a lot of guilt, dread, and confusion. With our conscience, we have a more positive motivation to do something, and feel more calm and certain about it (even if we don't know for sure).

Hope that's a little helpful. Feel free to pm me or message back on here if you have more questions!

Thank you for this! It's so true...I am often aware that I probably make things a bigger deal than they really are, but the other part of my brain argues that I NEED to keep focusing on it because it IS a big deal. Such a struggle! But yes, so much guilt, dread, and confusion with OCD!! Mixing it with matters of God and the Bible makes things doubly or triply confusing and guilt-inducing!

 

[tuliplane]

Let me assure you first and foremost these kinds of things(feeling like youre seeing signs) are very common with OCD. Thats why those obsessions stick so well. Let me tell you a story. Once, I was worried about accidentally coveting to the point where I barely think about other people's things ex: "Oh I wonder how that cute dog's doing"- without repenting. This was fueled by the fact that no matter where I turned it seemed I heard the word "covet" or "lust" it was horrifying and during times like that I would get sad and tell God "You know I'm trying so hard."
This happens with almost every obsession of mine. It is annoying but very normal and does not mean your obsessions are from God or anything so dont worry about that.
It took me a while to come to terms with this and even longer to realize why it happened until I remembered something my sister told me when I was a child. I had a really bad sore throat then and I asked in frustration "Why do I swallow so much when I'm sick?" and my sister thought about it for a moment and said "you dont. You just notice it more because it hurts."
OCD is a illness. When you are in an obsession you are hyper ssensitive to things that relate to your obsession. Normally you wouldn't even notice them but now that you have a "sore throat" in your brain you do notice. For example I for one never noticed how much people around me use the word "steal" until I had a major obsession over accidentally doing it and while I am no longer worrying about it, that obsession left mark so deep that I am still very much aware of how loosely people use the word.

To answer your question about being able to tell the urgings of the Holy Spirit from OCD, this is the method I use: God knows you have OCD and therefore will not approach you in a manner that would cause confusion or mental agony His goal is to build you up and get you to progress. Worrying you would not result in that. God has plans to prosper you not to harm you. Hold on to that. Secondly God is a God of love and mercy and He tells us repeatedly do not worry and do not be afraid, God would not cause you to worry. Look at Mary when God sent an angel to tell her the news she would have Jesus, the angel told her not to be afraid why? Because the angel knows thats not how God works and even when having news delivered that normally would be really scary He wants us to be at peace. Then of course there's Gideon who I really identify with because of his anxiety. Gideon was afraid but God went out of His way several times to soothe Gideon's fears even. This tells us something right here if God wants you to do something He will make sure He will not do it in a way that scares you. As said in 1 John 4:18 there is no fear in love.
I for one am positive that God is love and there is no fear in Him.
God loves you Tuliplane and so do we.

Thank you so much for these words - they are so helpful.
I absolutely love your analogy of the sore throat and how with OCD, it's just that our brains are more attuned to the obsession. Interestingly, I logged on here this morning because I couldn't go back to sleep due to being uncomfortable with a sore throat and read your response! I was actually thinking of this very same thing this morning - how it seemed I just keep swallowing. I'm always going to remember your comparison!
I remember during some of my worst moments, how often I would see the same word everywhere. It was so unsettling...and I figured that it couldn't just be my own mind because I really was seeing these words outside of myself! But again, like you were saying our brains are very sensitive and latch on to key things.
I can relate so much to your coveting obsession! Right before going through my modesty obsession, I was just going through an idolatry obsession. It happens to be the season where I cleaned my closet out...I changed sizes and needed new things and other items I just hung onto for years and it was time for them to go. These obsessions typically accompany me each time I need to shop for new clothes. I enjoy fashion and am starting to finally learn how to dress for my body type, know what colors work for me, what my style is, etc. Unfortunately with that though comes the OCD perfectionism and also the anxiety of spending money! Even though part of me really likes shopping for clothes, there's another aspect of it that ruins the experience. I stress over if the item is perfect enough (is it the right color? are threads coming out? is it still in style? is it immodest?). I spend hours shopping and scrutinizing...and then I start to worry that I'm making fashion an idol. Am I being materialistic? Should I even be concerned with being fashionable? Should I even be spending money on this? Am I putting way too much time and thought into it? Am I putting it above God? Then when I tell myself I do need the item, I have such anxiety over the money spent! It's a never-ending loop. I purchased a swimsuit top online and the seller included a Bible verse with it (which is so nice really!) - it was Colossians 3:14 "And above all these, put on love". My mind immediately jumped to: 'It's scripture - it must be God giving me a message, probably about my immodesty'. I looked up the passage and it was centered around clothes in an analogy form, 'put on this, put on that', it mentioned getting rid of sexual immorality, covetousness and idolatry. Of course I interpreted that as God telling me I was immodest and making things into idols in my life.
OCD really gets so much more complicated with God and Biblical teachings in the mix; learning to decipher between false guilt and actual promptings from the Holy Spirit, especially with a Bible verse thrown your way that seems to match what you're going through!

 

[Simplywell]

Sometimes it's hard for me to decipher whether I'm going through an obsession or if God really is expecting something from me. I feel guilty and have legalistic thoughts over various things. Sometimes I stress over a certain topic, then I began to understand that my thought was legalism, understand grace and live for awhile doing the thing that I thought was sinning...until it acts up again and then I stress over the very topic I was worrying about a year or so before.

I was having an episode today...it was centered around modesty/clothing. This happens twice a year or so...I start obsessing over and scrutinizing my clothing, checking and rechecking in front of the mirror and then worrying that certain areas may be outlined too much which could be sinful. It was causing some pretty bad anxiety. In the middle of my compulsions of researching to see if my clothes were inappropriate, someone shared a modesty article on facebook...she only shared it to make fun of it actually; it was extremely legalistic and gave an entire list of things that can't be worn, with such rules such as you must button every button on your top or else you're inviting a man in, women can't wear pants of any kind, or any form of sleeveless blouse. The article actually began with the sin of Bathsheba, and that although it was unintentional and she was not aware of causing lust, she was guilty of the sin of carelessness. I understand the faultiness of almost the entire article...yet I was still wondering if the Holy Spirit was trying to communicate with me because 1: it was shared in the middle of me stressing about the very same thing, 2: the article actually mentioned the very type of clothing I was worried about, and 3: I prayed to God asking him to show me if I was sinning or not.

How do I decipher between the Holy Spirit and OCD obsessions? The obsessions constantly center around holiness...pretty much everyday I have anxiety that I thought something I shouldn't have, that I'm wearing something I shouldn't be, that I have a desire that shouldn't be present, etc., etc. I obviously want to follow God and do His will, it's just sometimes the constant weight of all these things is just so much...

I have found the best way to tell if it is God or not is to spend time with Him in His word. The more I spend with Him the more I get to know Him and His character. The Bible makes God's character clear. He IS love!! He does not condemn, that is satan's tactic. God will convict us when we seek Him but He is always there when after ignoring Him we turn back. Read the story of the prodigal son. The son was in the wrong. He had no right to anything of the father's because of his own choices, but when he returned to his father willing to submit to whatever was necessary, he was greeted with open arms.