How do you know?

[StLGirl]

First I apologize. Wow. It's been one year and one day exactly since I've been on this forum. I have gone through a lot lately, nothing terrible, but I have been thinking about coming back here for awhile and here I am.

Well, I have a church that I attended, it was basically a morning Bible Study service for women, so not the traditional Sunday service.

It was for the spring, they break in the summer, they will be starting again early September. I'm undecided if I want to go back. I'm not sure why but I am wrestling with this decision and it's really eating at me.

I am hoping that God will just give me a sign. Or basically, when the class list comes out, I'm hoping that something will "jump out" at me. I let other things get in the way too - like, it's earlier than I want to get up, we will probably only have one car so it's hard to get around due to my husband's schedule, and I hate how they are constantly asking for money. I know that donations are necessary but I feel like they've constantly got one hand on my wallet. Other times I just don't feel like I fit in and I don't get what they are saying.

On the other hand I don't feel that I have enough of God in my life and this is a sure-fire way to renew my spirit.

So my question I guess - do you just "know" when something like this is right? Do you pray for a sign? Is it best just to go and quit later if it's not working out? What would you do? Does my plan of seeing what's being offered this fall and going from there sound good? Is it possible God would not want me taking this path....?

 

[ImmersionX]

Sounds like the Lord is already giving you good advice on how to deal with this situation.

Peace and God Bless.

 

[Albion]

First I apologize. Wow. It's been one year and one day exactly since I've been on this forum. I have gone through a lot lately, nothing terrible, but I have been thinking about coming back here for awhile and here I am.

Well, I have a church that I attended, it was basically a morning Bible Study service for women, so not the traditional Sunday service.

It was for the spring, they break in the summer, they will be starting again early September. I'm undecided if I want to go back. I'm not sure why but I am wrestling with this decision and it's really eating at me.

I am hoping that God will just give me a sign. Or basically, when the class list comes out, I'm hoping that something will "jump out" at me. I let other things get in the way too - like, it's earlier than I want to get up, we will probably only have one car so it's hard to get around due to my husband's schedule, and I hate how they are constantly asking for money. I know that donations are necessary but I feel like they've constantly got one hand on my wallet. Other times I just don't feel like I fit in and I don't get what they are saying.

On the other hand I don't feel that I have enough of God in my life and this is a sure-fire way to renew my spirit.

So my question I guess - do you just "know" when something like this is right? Do you pray for a sign? Is it best just to go and quit later if it's not working out? What would you do? Does my plan of seeing what's being offered this fall and going from there sound good? Is it possible God would not want me taking this path....?

Hi, StLGirl.

It's a tough situation, all right, without any easy answers. However, the thing that jumps out at me is that this is apparently a class or side activity, not a church itself, althought it must have some charactristics of a parish or congregation or else you wouldn't have used the word "church" for it. I'd think that finding an actual church is the place to start. Then you could consider this other group...and what to do about it might become clearer as a result. My hunch is that the group isn't right for you because of the nagging doubts you describe. When we feel that way about any association, it is significant, whether it's the Lord pulling you or just your own sense of things.

If so, the right thing probably is to look elsewhere. I'm sure they'd welcome you back if you had a change of heart later on. In fact, leaving could be a good test of how meaningful, or not, this association is/was for you.