When my mom was about 21, she worked a late shift that ended at 11 p.m. She took the same route home every night. She would leave work, walk a short block to the bus stop, and like clock work the last bus would be there waiting. But on this particular night, the bus was not there. As she stood alone in the dark waiting for the bus to arrive, a strange feeling came over her. Until this day she can’t explain it, but something told her to hide behind a tall trash bin. Without questioning the feeling…she did. That’s when a car full of guys slowly circled the block four times. She heard one guy yell from the car, “Where’d she go?” When the bus finally arrived, she darted from behind the trash bin, jumped on, and made it home safely.
We’ve all heard the phrase “go with your gut” which encourages us to act on a seemingly unexplainable feeling intended to safeguard us from potential danger. However, when we use this phrase are we improperly giving credit to ourselves when it should be attributed to God?
Some have argued that “gut feelings” are synonymous with intuition. Meaning, we rely on our natural ability to know something without any proof or act a certain way without fully understanding why. While science has coined the term for this, we aren’t any closer to understanding why. What flips the switch from reason to instinct?
A scientist by the name of Walter Bradford Cannon theorized this reaction to be the fight-or-flight response. According to Cannon, in moments of a perceived harmful event or threat, animals react with a general discharge of the sympathetic nervous system, priming the animal to fight or flee. While this theory offers an argument for a response to fear, it still does not completely explain how a person has similar feelings in the absence of any fear. For example, “gut feelings” often immerge when considering friendships, career opportunities or even the general direction of our lives. Sure, we can dismiss them as random feelings that come and go, but they aren’t random. In fact, these feelings are incredibly precise.
How many times in spite of all the evidence to suggest otherwise, something told you a person did not have your best interest at heart or to avoid a situation and you were right? How many times have you been better off after following those feelings?
I believe the gut feelings or intuition we experience is ingrained by God to help us find the truth. That’s why it is not a fear based response, but rather a truth based response. The Bible talks about this in John 14:16-17:
And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.
That feeling we get that warns us of danger or helps us to make the right choices, goes far beyond natural instincts and taps into something much deeper. While we may not know what to call it, we feel it. Sometimes we don’t have to struggle for an explanation. It’s OK to give the credit to God.
