Over a decade ago, I was an early-twenty-something minister with a Pentecostal denomination, working with university students. One summer day, I was strolling through my city’s downtown, feeling discouraged about conflicts on the ministry team, the seeming lack of success of some of our work, and the imminent departure of a close friend. As I walked, a sudden, almost imperative sentence crossed my mind: “You’re going to see Chris tonight.” Chris was one of many students with whom I’d regularly been spending time that summer, discussing many of the problems which often loom large to young adults: what they wanted do with their lives, their relational difficulties, existential questions related to faith and the nature of reality, and more. I hadn’t been thinking about or praying for Chris on that day in particular, so this interruption surprised me. However, like the Pentecostal I was, I quickly began to consider whether this thought might have been the voice of God.
