ARTICLES

DISCERNING TRUE SUPERNATURAL EXPERIENCES FROM FALSE

by Lyn Packer

Over the last decade there has been an increase of people placing emphasis on seeing angels and supernatural realities, as well as an increase in authentic instances of this happening. However simultaneously there has been an increase of something else – a thing called pareidolia – people seeing things that aren’t actually there. How can you tell the difference between those two – the real and the false? In this article I’m going to give you some tests you can do to help weigh them as Scripture tells us to do.

Sometimes, on social media sites, I see people posting pictures of clouds, reflections on windows or orbs of light caught in photos and calling them angels or heavenly hosts. Are they really seeing something supernatural such as authentic angels or are they experiencing pareidolia? To be honest, I don’t actually know for sure; they may very well be seeing something authentic from God that I’m not seeing in the photos they post, but I have to admit, the photos they post don’t seem to show anything supernatural in them at all and they concern me rather than convince me.

Does God show people supernatural realities such as angels, heavens realities, demons, visions, divinely inspired dreams, and more? Yes! I have personally experienced seeing visions, angels, and having supernatural experiences, and they have had profound long-lasting effects on my life. I’m thankful for them but I don’t base my life on them alone, and I have learnt how to discern between what is authentically from God and what is not.

How do you tell the difference between experiencing something supernatural that is really there and something that’s not actually there? Before we get to that let’s lay a bit of a foundation in how our sight and brain actually function together to help us see things.

Humans are predisposed to believe

We were created with an instinctive knowing that there is a God and that He does supernatural things; Scripture shows us that.

“For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.” Romans 1:19-21.

“In him we live and move and have our being; as even some of your own poets have said, “‘For we are indeed his offspring”. Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man.” Acts 17:28,29.

“But ask the beasts, and they will teach you; the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you; or the bushes of the earth, and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you. Who among all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind.” Job 12:7-10.

“God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” Genesis 1:27. 

Your imagination is powerful 

Part of our created makeup as humans is that God gave us an imagination – an internal vision centre in which we can see things. It is a place where we can see existing eternal realities, dream up possible new realities, or use it to fantasise, if we choose to use it for that. Our imagination works in tandem with the rest of our mind/ brain’s vision faculties in acts of seeing.

The power of belief, expectation and desire

Culture and beliefs play a big part in how we perceive what we see. They can predispose us to expecting, or desiring, to see certain things and draw our focus toward anything that may fit in with that desire. While this works well in our favour when the supernatural is really happening – we may recognise it more easily – it can also work against us as we may project a false supernatural explanation onto something that happens. This can make us project the things we hope to see onto actual objects when they are actually not there.

The supernatural can be dangerous

What’s wrong with just believing that everything you see or hear is an authentic spiritual encounter and God speaking to you? Scripture says that we should test the prophetic revelation we have, as there are some very real dangers we can face in encountering spiritual realities.

“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God.” 1 John 4:1-3.

“Do not despise prophecies, 21 but test everything; hold fast what is good.” 1 Thess 5:20,21.

“Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others weigh what is said.” 1 Cor 14:29.

“Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons.” 1 Tim 4:1.

There are some dangers associated with believing that everything you see is an authentic spiritual happening from God.

• The danger of elevating the unusual above the ordinary – there is a real danger that you may fall into the trap of believing that the supernatural things you experience have more importance than the things you believe are natural. Yet Christ valued the humans He’d created, and the reality of their normal human life, so much that He became human and experienced the normal things of everyday life as one of us. In fact, being born and experiencing life is one of the most profound supernatural experiences anyone can have! Value it, in all its glorious supernatural ordinariness.
  

• There is the danger of elevating your personal experience over the Word of God. Don’t make the mistake of valuing some mystical experience you had more than what God has said in the Bible. Any experiences we have must be weighed against what we see in Scripture.
  

• There is a very great possibility that you will actually miss God’s guidance because you are focusing on looking for the spectacular and unusual, when God usually leads us through the ordinary circumstances of life.
  

• There is the danger that you will become super-spiritual, weird or flaky, and in doing so attract other weird flaky people to your life, thereby compounding the problem, or you could easily become someone who turns people away from Christ because of your weirdness. There are some people I don’t associate with, or take seriously, because of their weirdness.
  

• Another danger is that you may fall into the trap of pride, believing that you have some supernatural ability and connection that is somehow special to you, or that you are somehow better, or closer to God, than others who don’t see what you see.
  

• There is the a very real danger of being drawn into a place of deception. While you may see authentic supernatural events, not all of them will be from God; some may be from the kingdom of darkness, disguised as an event from God; as Scripture tells us “Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light” 2 Cor 11:14. Believing that you are seeing things from God that are not actually authentically from Him is deception.

How to test your experiences

How do you know if what you’re seeing or experiencing is real? Is there any way you can test its authenticity and whether it’s actually from God? Here are four tests you can apply to check out the things you see, or experience, that appear to be a supernatural message from God to you.

• Test it against Scripture. Test what you see, experience, and hear, by the Word of God; for example in Scripture we don’t see angels manifesting as wispy clouds, however it does tell us that they can sometimes manifest in human form. Ask these questions of your experience.

  • Is it consistent with what God has said in His Word, with how angels and other supernatural things are described there?

  • Does it reflect the nature and character of Jesus Christ? Does it reveal Christ the living Word to me in some way?

  • Will it lead me to a closer walk with the Trinity?

  • What will be the fruit of this in my life?

• Give it the test of time. If what you are seeing, hearing or experiencing really is from God then it will stand the test of time. Don’t make major decisions quickly based on some spiritual experience you’ve had.  Wait! Wait a day, a week, a month or even more; if it’s from God then it will stand the scrutiny you give it over that time of waiting. If it’s truly from God, it will still be from God a month from now.

• Test it with feedback from spiritually mature counsellors. Scripture tells us that “In the multitude of counsellors there is safety” (Prov 11:14; 15:22; 24:6). Don’t be afraid to submit what you’ve seen to the testing of wise, mature spiritual men or women. This is something I do often with things I am sensing, or prophetic words I receive. We’ve already seen that Scripture recommends that others weigh what we receive prophetically. If it’s truly a sign from God then spiritually mature men and women normally will recognize it as that as well. Also check out and test it against what trustworthy prophetic ministers say angels or supernatural encounters look like, and the effect those encounters had on their life.

• Ask for confirmation from God. There is nothing wrong with asking God to confirm whether what you’ve seen is from Him or not. Ask Him to confirm it in a non-supernatural way; if you ask Him to confirm it by supernatural means you will be more likely to read what you want to see into anything that happens. Ask for confirmation through godly mature people. Asking for confirmation is not a sign of not having enough faith, it’s a part of walking in wisdom and maturity. All supernatural events need confirmation by testing and weighing them up, such as using the tests listed above. If the event is from God, He will be glad to confirm that for you.

In conclusion

God can and does speak in many different ways, that’s one of the delightful things about Him; He isn’t boring! But be careful that you don’t project your desire to have spiritual experiences onto ordinary natural occurrences.

Don’t think that your works can make God give you supernatural experiences. Things like fasting, and prayer, or trying to whip up some sort of spiritual hunger, will not cause God to respond how you want Him to. He is God and He is sovereign. God will show you things when He wants to.

Don’t make the mistake of building your spiritual life on signs and wonders. God does not intend your life to be based on rushing from one spiritual sign to another. Base your life on the Word of God and relationship with Christ and enjoy the spiritual experiences when, and if, they happen, but they are not the foundation you are meant to build your life on.  

If you do truly see authentic angels where others see clouds then don’t just post a picture of a cloud on social media, saying “look at the angel”. Give some explanation as to why you believe it is an angel, how you saw it, etc. Educate us, don’t just leave us to think you are seeing things that aren’t there, otherwise you’ll just end up getting a name for yourself as being weird and flaky.

We are in an age where more and more supernatural occurrences are happening for people, and I love that, but let’s be wise and mature in how we interpret them and present them to others.

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