Consulting With Psychics: What Does Scripture Say?
I just read in the news an Associated Press story: "A New York man who sought help from a fortuneteller to fix a romantic relationship says she scammed him out of more than $700,000."
How could someone spend that kind of money to try to get "help" from a psychic? The psychic storefronts I see claim you can get readings for $10.00---to me, that's $10.00 too much. But $700,000? According to the story, the psychic and an accomplice are now in prison.
It's easy to poke fun at psychics. The wry comedian Steven Wright said: "I almost had a psychic girlfriend but she left me before we met." I've seen a memo circulating the Internet with a potpourri of funny questions, one of which reads, "Why don't you ever see the headline 'Psychic Wins Lottery'?"
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I remember my long-time pastor, Dr. D. James Kennedy, joked that he wanted to call the psychic hotline and when they asked him for his credit card, he would respond: "You're a psychic; you're supposed to know my credit card number already."
But on a serious note, people seeking answers from psychics should know something: There is a God who knows the beginning from the end, and He has spoken. And these truths are demonstrable. You risk turning to the dark side of supernatural forces by dealing with psychics, tarot cards, fortune tellers, and the like---or even more likely just dealing with scammers.
As America gets more secular, I've noticed the rise of psychics. Churches are out; fortune tellers are in. The Bible is out; crystals are in. That's a sad state of affairs, especially because what people are seeking through the psychics, they can find in truth through the Bible.
This does not contradict the fact that some people may have special perceptions others do not. There are stories of supernatural encounters that abound, which comport with the biblical worldview. I know at least a handful of people who have their own stories of God's supernatural intervention. Some people perhaps are more spiritually sensitive than others.
But what is it people seek when they go to a psychic? They want guidance. They want advice. All of these and more are found in the Bible, the Word of God.
Why do supposedly intelligent people plunk down hard earned money so that maybe---just maybe---they can get some supernatural advice?
How does God speak today? Primarily the answer would be through His Word and through prayer.
What do you need? Guidance? God promises to be our shepherd. Jesus said He is the Good Shepherd who lay down His life for the sheep. How much more will He then guide us?
Financial help? God promises to meet all our needs in Christ Jesus. Plus, the book of Proverbs is filled with practical advice on making wealth and avoiding poverty.
Help with relationships? God places the lonely in families.
How about personal peace? God promises to never leave us nor forsake us. He promises to give to those who trust in Him peace that passes understanding, even in the midst of great turbulence.
But how do we know we can trust the Bible? For me there are two objective anchors I keep returning to.
The first is that Jesus Christ historically walked out of the tomb. He rose from the dead and changed all of history because of it. By Jesus rising from the dead, He put His seal of approval on the Bible as the Word of God.
A second reason I believe the Judeo-Christian Scriptures are the gospel truth is because hundreds of years before Jesus came the first time, the Hebrew prophets foretold all sorts of specific aspects of His ancestry, birth, life, death, and resurrection.
Canon Dyson Hague once put it this way: "Who could draw a picture of a man not yet born? Surely God, and God alone. Nobody knew over 500 years ago that Shakespeare was going to be born; or over 250 years ago that Napoleon was to be born. Yet here in the Bible we have the most striking and unmistakable likeness of a Man portrayed, not by one, but by twenty or twenty-five artists, none of whom had ever seen the Man they were painting."
Only God knows the future. Only God could have written the Bible. We have psychics today who make all sorts of predictions about the future. But drill down, and you see they have a terrible track record. Not so with the Bible.
We all need guidance, including the gentleman that lost nearly a million dollars on a psychic scam. But why listen to a psychic? Why not listen to the One who made all people, including psychics? He who formed us is ready to assist us.
