Have you ever heard someone say you must take inspired action, especially in law of attraction circles, and wondered just what it meant? Inspired action means that it is action that is directed by your higher self, God, the universe or whatever you want to call the super intelligence, which knows all things and can do all things.
But what makes inspired action different from just taking action, and how will someone who wants to manifest his desires know the difference, especially if you have been taking action for as long as you know and have nothing to show for it, except frustration?
Let me take you to the following a story in the Bible, which will illustrate, better than I can, the difference between normal "action" and "inspired action."
Luke chapter 5 verses 1 – 7
One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the people crowding around him and listening to the word of God, he saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon,
"Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch."
Simon answered, "Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets." When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.
The story above is about a group of men who have been trying to catch fish all night. This is something they have been doing all their lives, because they were fishermen. Now if you have been catching fish yourself you will know that sometimes you may catch more fish than other times, and there are times when you may catch nothing at all. In other words, catching fish is very unpredictable much like life itself, I suppose. Sometimes people all around you may be catching fish except you.
Getting back to the story, we see that the fishermen have been trying to catch fish all night and didn’t succeed. So they gave up and came to shore, no doubt disappointed that they were unable to catch any fish.
According to the Bible, Jesus found them while they were busy cleaning their nets. Now here comes the interesting part, Jesus instructs them to go back in the water and cast their nets. They did as they were instructed, and lo and behold, they caught so much fish that, "their nets began to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink."
Now I don’t know why they couldn’t catch fish the first time, even though they may have been at the exact spot, yet were able to do so the second time around, and that’s not really the point of the article.
But the important point I want to make here is that the first action was their own and didn’t result in anything except disappointment. However the second action was directed by someone higher than them. Someone who knew, that if they go for the second time they would catch fish. In this instance, that higher person was Jesus. In the case of you and me, we will say it is the higher self, God or the universe.
Now what would have happened if they had said, we have tried all night and got nothing so it’s no use trying again? Would they still have caught fish if they for some reason had decided to wait until the next day? They, in all likelihood, would not have caught anything, or at least not as much as they caught this time.
Inspired action is directed or instructed by a higher intelligence for a specific person, situation and place at a specific time. Wait too long or choose the wrong place and you may miss the blessing that you were meant to receive altogether.
So how will you know that you are receiving inspired direction or if it is just you who is perhaps doing something out of habit or because you think it is the right thing to do?
You may not always know when you are receiving higher guidance, so the best advice is to just do whatever you feel guided to do, especially when it doesn’t seem to make sense, as in the story I related to you. The men had just returned from the lake, where they had caught nothing and here comes Jesus telling them to go back in there and try again. Most people would dismiss this, and that’s exactly where they miss their blessing.
