by Tina Martin

Created on: April 28, 2009   Last Updated: May 11, 2009

Growing up I learned that each of us has a spirit inside of us. And as I got older, a deeper meaning to this emerged. We are not a body with a spirit, but a spirit within a body. Same thing? Not as I have come to understand.

A body is the shell that houses our spirit, which is our true being. The spirit is our connection to our Creator. Once I began to grasp the full meaning of this, my relationship with the Lord grew even more. I learned to recognize that those "gut feelings", or as some of my friends refer to them "spidey senses", were actually the Spirit of the Lord communicating with me. It is called discernment, or "your spiritual antenna".

As I discovered this method of communication, I realized that in the past I had been having those moments of truth but often ignored them. Such as meeting someone and having a not so good feeling inside, sometimes even a sick feeling. I would often brush it off after having a good conversation with the person and seeing the good side of them for a few weeks, discovering later that my first instinct had been correct. These people proved to be unkind, malicious, liars, or even a thief.

A lesson that really taught me to pay attention to my spiritual antenna was sobering. One man, although he represented himself well on the outside for several months, made my skin crawl but I kept ignoring that feeling because he was so kind and sweet to all those around. When I explained my weird feelings to my fiance, he shushed me and said I was overreacting and that I should get to know him better. After several months, he began acting strange, causing people to start to wonder about him. It was revealed from someone in his past that he had been charged with offenses against women. He moved away shortly after.

Then there was the time I was very pregnant with my first child and had decided to walk to the convenience store 3 blocks away. Half way there, I had this very uneasy feeling inside and felt I was to turn back and head home. Just as I was getting to the corner of my street, police cars flew by me in the direction of the store. The next day I found out that if i had continued to the store, I would have arrived at the time of a shooting. Two people died in that incident, I could have been the third (and fourth).

It is not always bad things that I pick up. Sometimes I get a sense that there issomethingspecial about certain people that others do not see. My antenna picks up on the redeemable qualities that the Lord sees in a person and I get a sense of how to reveal them to the person. This happens quite often when working with youth. Whether it is at a youth group, hanging out at someone's home, or other random times together, the Lord will sometimes give my spirit a word to give to one of them. Sometimes it is an issue they have been struggling with but been afraid to tell anyone. Often it is a word of reassurance for something they are going through. Other times, it is something that has been holding them back, yet they did not have a clue. It is so great to see these kids get freedom from these struggles in their lives. Yet, if I was not linked into my spiritual side and willing to be obedient in releasing these words to them, my antenna would be useless and these situations would go undone.

Some people are afraid or uncomfortable when these things happen to them. I used to be. I thought I was weird. As I learn more about it I feel even closer to my Creator. I love that He created a way to communicate with us, even though it is rare to hear an audible voice, our spiritual antenna hears what we need to hear. When it is used in a respectful manner and not for personal gain, it is the most beautiful and valuable asset a person can have.

Learn more about this author, Tina Martin.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.