Answer: Concerning the “false” positives,  I will say, when it comes to directive guidance I also get a LOT of false positives.

The Lord always wants us to have faith and believe, as that opens up the way for the miracle of His perfect will being released into the situation. However, at the same time, this is not a guarantee of the miracle or the solution happening. It is just that by us walking forward in faith (believing, speaking and acting in faith), it gives others the maximum opportunity to cooperate with God on the project by fully releasing the convicting power of the Holy Spirit into the situation. And yet God will never remove one’s free will and force them to do the “right” thing. He is just maximizing the opportunity for them to do the right thing by having you stand, speak and act in faith.

I would not necessarily say that your earlier leadings are wrong, but that God was opening a door of possibility to someone, and they chose not to properly walk through it.

Would you say that these journal entries were wrong?

The nation of Israel is an example of a “false” positive. God declared that He had given them the Promised Land long before they ever set foot in it (Ex. 12:25). However, only two of the millions He spoke this promise to ever set foot in that Land (Num. 14:16; Deut. 19:8). The rest died in the wilderness, having failed to experience God’s perfect will in their lives. 

Nineveh is an example of a “false” negative. God declared they would be destroyed in 40 days, and yet they weren’t because they made the right choice and repented, and so God “relented and did not bring on them the destruction He had threatened” (Jonah 3:4,10;4:1).

Would you say the future is in flux or nailed down? 

When I say to the righteous that he shall surely live, but he trusts in his own righteousness and commits iniquity, none of his righteous works shall be remembered; but because of the iniquity that he has committed, he shall die. Again, when I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ if he turns from his sin and does what is lawful and right, if the wicked restores the pledge, gives back what he has stolen, and walks in the statutes of life without committing iniquity, he shall surely live; he shall not die. None of his sins which he has committed shall be remembered against him; he has done what is lawful and right; he shall surely live (Ezek. 33:13-16).

Principle: All prophecy is conditional, based on man’s response. The future is always in “flux” based on people’s responses to God’s declared word. (Ezek. 33:13-16; Jer. 18:7-10).

Restricting journaling so it does not include predictive guidance

I suggest you restrict your journaling to the three primary areas stated in 1 Cor. 14:3: edification, exhortation and comfort (1 Cor. 14:3), as this builds faith, hope and love, which is the fuel we are designed to run on (1 Cor. 13:13). Predictive guidance is NONE of these three areas.

Do not shipwreck your faith!

Paul talks of some who, “suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith” (1 Tim. 1:19). I have seen people suffer shipwreck in regards to their faith over a journal entry which did not come out as they believed it would.

God’s promise to bless the world through Abraham’s seed occurred about 1500 years after he died! Heb. 11 tells us of heroes of faith who died in faith, not seeing the promise they believed for.

And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised (Heb. 11:39).

We must remember that our faith is not in God doing a specific thing in the way we want at the time we want. Instead, our faith is in a God of Love Who is working everything out for our good as we trust and obey Him (Rom. 8:28). What God is looking for is our attitude of steadfast faith.

God asks us to die in faith, if necessary, not seeing the fulfillment of what we were told to believe for. If we do die in faith, we qualify to be included as a “hero in faith.”

I remember complaining to God that I may not see the fulfillment in my lifetime of His promised word to me that we would saturate the world with communion with God, and I would look like a fool when I died as I have been confessing that we will saturate the world with communion with God. The Lord spoke back and said, “No mark, you will not be a fool, you will be a hero in faith, for you died believing.” 

Wow, right there He changed the picture in my mind of me looking like a fool, to me looking like a hero. One more time, I have picked up His perspective. Thank you Lord!

For major decisions

For decisions, I use “The Leader’s Paradigm” which involves confirming a decision through six different ways which God speaks. Although this is still not a guarantee that everything will go perfectly (or at least what I think would be perfect!) this approach does appear to give me wiser decisions and better results. You can learn more about The Leader’s Paradigm here.