"I just feel..."

She smiled. “I just feel that way. Let’s go ahead with this decision.”

        Flummoxed, her partner Simon spoke, “do you have any rationale or reason for taking this decision, Ruth?”

                                                     Simon and Ruth have married six months ago. Both were young and upwardly mobile. What brought them together was their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. As believers, they met in a Church and dated for six months before committing themselves and marrying.

                                                     They had a lovely Church marriage, well attended, and a cozy time of honeymoon. Now they were settling in their new home and adjusting to living together. Both of them had lived independently for a part of their lives. So, adjusting and living together was taking some effort.

                                                     Simon now smiled as Ruth spoke. She said, “I make decisions, some of them at least, by my gut feeling. I can’t explain. But most of my decisions turn out to be the best possible, in retrospect. That is how I live, Simon. Any problem with this?”

                                                     They were enjoying their first cup of coffee together early morning. That was the last day of their leave. They were scheduled to go to work from tomorrow. Simon took a deep sip of his coffee and said, “I may not have any problem with that dear. But I am trying to understand how you come to these decisions.”

                                                     “Well Darling, that is something I cannot explain to myself or to you, however hard I may try. This I feel is a gift or talent given to me by God.”

                                                     “Okay, so you say we should not hire this lady as our servant maid. I will be happy to concur with you. Let’s look for someone else then.”

                                                     One Sunday they finished worshipping online to avoid COVID 19. Enjoying their cups of coffee, they discussed the message they heard.

                                                     “What do you think of the preacher, Pastor Lemuel, today?” asked Simon. They had a visiting preacher that day.

                                                     “I somehow feel that his message was not totally biblical. What do you think?”

                                                     “Is it your intuition coming to play again?”

                                                     “Perhaps, darling,” replied Ruth, “What is your take on him?”

                                                     Taking a deep sigh and a small sip of coffee, Simon spoke, “Well, I am not too sure I can make a comment about him having heard just a 30-minute message, Ruth.”

                                                     “But we have seen him clearly in the online platform and heard his message clearly. He showed the scriptures he quoted on a PowerPoint. What more do you want, to decide?”

said Ruth as she put her cup down.

                                                     “Hmmm. Difficult to say anything decisive, at least for me, Ruth. Unfortunately, I don’t have the strong intuition, as you. What he shared was simple and true to our fundamental doctrines. That’s all I would be able to comment on. Anything further would need my imagination, I presume.”

                                                     Months passed. Simon was busy at his workplace when he got a call from Ruth. They did not call each other at work except when it was necessary.

                                                     “What’s the matter Ruth?” enquired Simon hastily.

                                                     “Well, Darling! Got a Whatsapp message about Pastor Lemuel today. It seems he has lost his faith. One of my friends sent it to me. He was caught embezzling funds from his ministry. It has been leaked to the press too. I just wanted to share this with you.”

                                                     “Really! I am surprised,” replied Simon, “we will discuss this in-depth in the evening, at home.”

                                                     In the evening, they sat relaxing after supper, both cradling their hot cups of coffee.

                                                     “Now tell me in detail about what you heard dear Ruth,” started Simon.

                                                     “I remember you asking about this man after he shared the sermon at church one Sunday. When I said I am not very happy about his authenticity, you asked me why. I couldn’t tell you a reason. But I somehow, in my gut felt that he was not a real man of God. It was purely a got feeling. Today I got the news, which is authenticated, that he was found embezzling the funds of his ministry. He has confessed and has been arrested by the police. It is sad indeed.”

                                                     Taking a deep sip, Simon spoke, “This authenticates your hunches or so-called gut feelings, doesn’t it Ruth?”

                                                     “True indeed,” she replied.

                                                     “I wonder whether you were inspired by God to make that comment?” hesitantly commented Simon as he left his empty cup on the table.

                                                     Ruth also placed her cup on the table and smiled, “That would be too preposterous to claim, Darling, for me at least. I can only say, that was my gut feeling.”

                                                     “I wonder…” trailed off Simon.

                                                     He spoke again, “What do you think about our investment in a piece of land? One of my colleagues told me that there were some plots left in a development they had sponsored. Shall we go for one of those plots?”

                                                     “Which colleague of yours is this? Is it Harry?”

                                                     “How did you guess?” wondered Simon as he looked straight at Ruth, “another hunch?”

                                                     “Don’t you tease me, Simon,” cried Ruth as she smiled, “but, I just feel that we should have no dealings with Harry.”

                                                     “Why on earth not, Ruth?” he blurted.

                                                     “This one is my gut feeling, truly.” Replied Ruth.

                                                     “Feeling uncomfortable, Simon asked, “Are you sure?”

                                                    “ Yes Simon, I am sure.”

                                                     “Okay, Ruth. We will drop this and look elsewhere for some land. But we do need to invest in some land at this point in our lives. We can, with God’s help, of course later on, if the Lord tarries, plan to build. House for ourselves. What do you say, Ruth?”

                                                    “You are right Simon. I agree totally with what you said. But we will pray and buy the land. I am confident of my feeling, though it is just a feeling.”

                                                     “Sure, Darling. We cannot take a risk and use most of our savings on something which may be a fraud. Thank you for warning me. Otherwise, I would go ahead and buy that plot.”

                                                     “The Lord God is with us and warning us, dear Simon. Let’s kneel down and thank Him for all His mercies. We will ask Him to show us someplace where we may take some land.”        

                                                     They both knelt down to pray.