The Holy Spirit

Well, for starters, I've attended roughly ten different types of churches, received some schooling on the matter and been exposed to all kinds of different types of people.  My theology evolved until I was about 25 and then it stopped evolving because I felt confident in where I ended up.  No intellectual challenges have since caused me to question those conclusions.  Additionally, if He'd wanted me to change my theology, He'd tell me point blank.  The two instances in which He has spoken to me point blank were not issues that held anywhere near the significance as having sound theological understanding, so it stands to reason that He would've used one of those two (or added a third) if it was that important.  Who knows though?  I'm not dead yet.  It might still happen.

As I've stated before, it is the results that matter.

"Even so, every good tree bringeth forth good fruit."

The first commandment I was given:  "This is the one I have chosen for you.  If you want to be happy, you will take this one as your wife."  Result:  I am happy.  Very happy.  And I have grown positively as a person due to her influence.  Further, she was not at all what I would have picked out for myself.  She completely went against the grain of what I had been choosing for myself in that department up until He interceded on my behalf.

The second commandment I was given:  "You need to give your grandma money."  Result: when my grandma showed up at my aunt's house (her primary caretaker), crying and wringing her hands about not having enough money to fix a problem on her car (and also, feeling a little depressed that perhaps only her daughter was really showing much care for her in the family), my aunt held up the check she had just received from me and said "The Lord will provide."  And my grandma was able to fix her car.

Am I fully enlightened?  No, I am not.  There are certain things God either doesn't want me to know or doesn't want me to focus on too much for His own reasons.  They are matters that could impact my faith, but they are irrelevant to my theology.  I do have further questions, but they are not questions that my fellow human beings can truthfully answer.  And as I've already said, while they cannot be truthfully answered, I feel as though Milton has made excellent guesses.

If you knew the whole story of what led up to it, if you understood that I did not know the girl (at all, first time I remember meeting her) who I was being told to marry, if you had a full scope of the kind of girls I had dated previously, when you take into account our children, how well I enjoy spending time with my in-laws (like, i seriously love my mother and father-in-law and my brother-in-law is my best friend), how success has come to us in every area we've pursued it, if you knew this girl was vehemently opposed to having children and moderately opposed to getting married and if you knew just how well we compliment each other and how happy we are, it might move your belief dial a skosh. 

But don't worry.  You are in good company.  I told my mother-in-law (who is the most gullible person I know) about the prophecy I had received within a couple months of dating her daughter.  She thought I was delusional.  I told my mom (who is the second most gullible person I know) around the same time and she was skeptical.  I eventually told my wife after we got married and she said I was delusional, but that she still loved me.  I reminded her after three years of marriage.  And again after seven.  And again after ten.  Delusional, delusional, delusional were her answers.  And this, after ten years of great marriage.  You'd think that would be proof enough, but it wasn't.  Even after the birth of our firstborn, she was not convinced.  It was only after the birth of our second that she relented and admitted that she could no longer deny the truth because the truth had been shown to her so many times that it no longer seemed coincidental.  Nevertheless, the three most important women in my life, all of whom thought very highly of me in most regards, and all of whom are Bible-believing Christians and are supposed to believe that the Word of the Lord can come to his followers at any time, thought I was delusional until thirteen years of success became too much for them to counter.  They all believe my story now.  Does it matter that you or they believe me?  Not at all.  For the advice was for me and for my benefit, not theirs.  The benefits they received were just happy side effects of the life that was planned for me.  And what makes me so special that I should receive special treatment?  I think we can all agree that if marriage is your goal, choosing the right partner can make or break your life (or at least part of your life), so being given divine expression as to which direction I should follow in that regard was a huge blessing.  If there is anything special about me, I'm not aware of it.  Nope, the reason I was given this divine direction is because I asked for it.  I climbed a small "mountain" by myself (not that this is necessary, but it felt right), knelt down in the snow and prayed for this to happen.  And when I prayed, I prayed with the kind of faith that can move mountains. Perhaps I was delusional, but I truly believed that an angel would visit me and "show me the way," or, at very least, I thought I would at least audibly hear a voice that would tell me what to do.  Nothing happened that day up on that mountain.  The wind didn't even stir.  And for two full years, it seemed to me like my request would go ignored.  But then two years later, I was immutably and physically drawn towards a girl in a crowd.  I kept bumping into her and then intentionally moving away from her and every time I paid attention to something else and took my eyes off her, we were magnetically drawn together again.  Time after time, this very strange physical magnetism happened.  We never spoke that day, but within minutes of leaving the crowd (and her), I received the message I received.  I wasn't even attracted to her.  She was "not my type."  And of course, at the time, I did not correlate this revelation to my prayer from two years previous.  At the time, it was just weird.  It was surreal.  It was a little petrifying.  But I knew nonetheless that no matter what emotions I felt at this jarring event, I knew it was the Holy Spirit answering my original question.

As for the other, who wouldn't agree about the benevolence of enriching a poor, old widow, delusional or not?

Thank you, but it doesn't have to be unique. It can belong to anyone who faithfully prays in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and who has real faith that an answer will come, and will have the patience to wait for the right time for the Lord to reveal his good answer.  (The reason I did not receive an answer when I first asked the question was because I was in the wrong place, with the wrong girl and thus I wasn't ready to understand or believe the answer.)

It's not too good to be true.  It's just normal when dealing with God.  He wants nothing but good things for us.  The reason so many do not receive the good things they have in store is because they will not trust the Lord.  Remember:  I obeyed.  This is the most important part.  I obeyed and followed this advice to pursue a girl I did not know, was not attracted to and whose personality (I thought) was not what I was seeking.  And yet I pursued her with the utmost excitement and care.  And even though she told me on one of our first dates that she would never get married, certainly would never have children and had lofty  goals of her own, I never lost faith.

And, of course, you have to run the risk of people assuming you suffer from delusions.  You must walk through persecution if you are to share the good news of the great things God has done in your life with the world.  Thirteen years ago, I would have cared what people thought about me.  Even strangers on the internet who are meaningless in my life.  Now I don't care.  Thirteen years of proof is enough to build such a solid foundation of faith that verbal persecution about this topic simply makes me laugh.

I am not special.  I am only obedient and faithful.

Perhaps you just aren't interested in the answer He gives you. Or perhaps you haven't received your answer yet.  After all, I didn't ask for a wife when I made that prayer.  And as previously stated, she's not what I would have envisioned even if I had asked for a wife.  And it took two years for me to get my answer.