Engage

That Old Familiar Feeling

Ladies, I’m sure you’ve said this at least once: "Something about that just isn’t clicking with me. I’m getting a bad feeling about it."

The conversation continues: "A bad feeling? Like about what exactly?"

Your response: "I can’t really say for sure. Something’s just not right."

You may or may not be taken seriously. You may or may not take yourself seriously. But you’ve just run into that interesting little thing called "women’s intuition."

Ladies, I’m sure you’ve said this at least once: "Something about that just isn’t clicking with me. I’m getting a bad feeling about it."

The conversation continues: "A bad feeling? Like about what exactly?"

Your response: "I can’t really say for sure. Something’s just not right."

You may or may not be taken seriously. You may or may not take yourself seriously. But you’ve just run into that interesting little thing called "women’s intuition."

Ah, women’s intuition. Is it real? Is it just for women? What should we do with that gut reaction, especially as Christians?

Well, intuition is considered to be the use of the subconscious rather than the conscious when reacting to something. You’re not thinking it through in a way that you are aware of, yet your brain is woking through the signals and making sense of them at the same time. So yes, there is something real going on there, just something inexplicable.

And this whole "women’s" intuition thing seems not just to be for women. According to recent studies, there is no difference between men’s and women’s ability to intuit things. That is, until the particpants of said studies were told they were trying to be intuitive. Then the women excelled. It seemed it wasn’t a gender issue, but a gender expectation issue. Another study went so far as to compensate participants for right intuitive answers, and the gender gap equalized again.

So, it turns out that intuition just may be something that is more expected and/or acceptable for women to bring into a conversation–therefore, "women’s" intuition. In a group of women, if I say I have a funny feelling about something, it’s delved into to find what could be making that feeling and how it might impact life. But I’ve had experience saying this to men, and without rationale to back up my feeling, it’s sometimes dismissed before there’s time to dissect that gut feeling.

As one author stated,  part of the problem is in how we set emotion and logic as opposites: "The opposite of ‘rational’ is not, then, ’emotional’ but ‘irrational.’ If we set up a pair of opposites, rational/emotional, we are likely to make the assumption that women are more emotional and therefore irrational, which is a polite way of saying that women are stupid. While having strong emotions can sometimes interfere with your thought processes, this is not automatically the case."

Then, what should we do with these gut feelings that we’ve got? As a community of Christians, we should take care to help each person express his or her voice, whether it is backed up with an empirical list of reasons or not. Culturally, we have set up a dichotomy that can discourage a woman to speak up if she has no  hard facts to back up this feeling. Intuition isn’t turning off the brain, just using it differently. And yes, it is harder to follow someone else’s subconscious, but it isn’t hard to give time to hearing that out, or allowing time for that person to figure out what may be beneath that gut reaction.

As followers of Christ, we are to be aware of our interactions with others and the impact those have. Lifting one another up, seeing dissimilarities as gifts that can strenghten, and being careful with the polarities we have drawn. Logic is not the opposite of feeling. Intuition is not the opposite of intelligence. Diffrence is not the oppostite of community.

So next time you (male or female) get that sinking feeling, take some time to listen and not dismiss it, whether it’s your own intuition or someone else’s. We, if no one else, should be comfortable with holding the tension that comes with exploring the inexplicable.

Jamie Lath is a middle child that has no baby picture without her older sister in it. Even with only two siblings, she grew up with family everywhere because all her aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins, and even second-cousins lived in her hometown. With forty people at her birthday parties (all relatives) and her sister in every picture, she knows a little about community, and it's everlastingness. This has brought most of her ministry focus into meeting people where they're at, listening closely (especially to those who feel voiceless and like no one is listening), and helping them find God's voice in the mix. Jamie graduated with a BA in Communication Studies from the University of North Texas. Following a year of teaching English in China, she returned to the states to attend Dallas Theological Seminary. She received a Th.M. with a focus on Media Arts. Her background in the arts (ballet, writing, and acting) has given her an understanding of how creative expressions can give people a safe place to begin exploring how to use their voice and how it can touch hearts to hear God’s voice. She also blogs at I just called to say "Olive Juice."

3 Comments

  • Julianna

    I enjoyed this one, Jamie. I
    I enjoyed this one, Jamie. I have pushed aside my intuition on several things and wished I hadn’t. I definitely believe there is a (prayerful) place to listen to it and speak up or make a change. Liked the last sentence too… Thanks!

    • Jamie Lath

      prayerful
      I love the "prayerful" place for intuition. I think with prayer it’s got just as much a place in our lives as the "prayerful" place for logic.

  • Clover and Co.

    Thankful

    Thank you for this. I have always had a strong intuition throughout my life even as a child. For several months now i've had overwhelmingly strong and persistant gut feelings concerning someone I'm close to but I wasn't sure if a christian should react to such things as intuition, so I chose to push it out of my mind but it relentlessly comes back to the point where I become physically ill. I believe it is time to start listening to my inner self and find out what it is that I need to know.