Divine Guidance

by R.C. Jones, Aberkenfig | Category: General | May 1975

The Christian believes that God in heaven is controlling everything throughout the whole universe and working out His purposes in His own time. This means that nothing can happen by chance and that luck - good or bad - does not exist. All things are controlled by the hand of God in heaven and while things appear to follow a natural order, it is God who has set that order and it is God who controls it exactly as He wills. The believer knows God as Father and relies on Him to guide his life; he does not regard fortune-telling as worth anything, and he has no place for life predictions based on the signs of the zodiac, etc., because his faith is in One who has supreme sway. This brings peace to his heart; he is able to avoid anxiety in life and to commit his way unto the Lord, knowing the peace of God which passes all understanding.

As the child of God rests upon the sovereign will of his Father to work out His purpose in his life, he also has some responsibility himself so that he may allow God to order his life. The purp6se of this article is to examine the ways in which a believer might be guided by God so that he is able to carry out God's will in his life.

First of all, Is there any evidence in the Scriptures to show that God is interested enough in men for Him to direct their lives? The universe is so large and the God who created it is greater than His universe. How then can He be interested in the lives of such puny creatures as we are? When Solomon built God's house he had thoughts like this, and said in his prayer, "Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain Thee (literally 'keep Thee in'); how much less this house which I have builded!" (2 Chron. 6:18). Did God come to dwell in Solomon's temple? The answer is clear in the next chapter for there we read that the glory of the Lord filled the house. It is clear therefore that God is prepared to live amongst His people in a house they build for Him; this is certainly not too mean for the Lord. We search for more evidence and we find that God is prepared to be even more deeply involved than this. In Isaiah 57:15 we read, "For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy: I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit". It is clear that the Lord is not only interested in man but is ready to come and dwell with such as are humble and contrite. If He is prepared to go as far as this with the creature of His hand it is obvious that He is sufficiently interested in him to plan his destiny in life. The Lord Jesus assured His disciples that their heavenly Father was most intimately concerned about their welfare even to the extent of noting such details as the hairs of their head (Luke 12:7). The case is proved that God is interested in man to guide his way, but what of man? Is there a need for man to subscribe to some condition so that he might know this direction? I think there is.

The matter of humility has already been before us in the passage from Isaiah quoted above. We read in Psalm 25:g, "The meek will He guide in judgement". It is those who are meek that are going to know the guidance of the Lord. Let us note this carefully as a very important condition to be fulfilled by us. Pride and arrogance have no place with God; He even resists the proud (1 Pet. 5:5). How gracious God is! He does not lay down a condition that only some can attain - His condition is one that all men can reach and satisfy. The beggar and the rich man are equal in this condition for the direction of God. All that is needed is meekness-not a commodity that is plentiful but one that is easy to obtain. We read further in Proverbs 3:6, "In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths". This is another consideration. A man must be prepared to acknowledge the Lord in his life before he can know the Lord's direction. How easy it is to come to the Lord when things are difficult and seek His guidance then, but when life is easy and going well we forget to seek the Lord's help and direction. The condition is, "in all thy ways acknowledge Him". Perhaps this is one of the reasons why we do not know more of the Lord guiding us in our lives. We are too content to keep parts of our lives to ourselves-spheres of our thoughts and actions where we do not want the Lord. Can we expect Him then to come in to our rescue when we want Him? Too often the Lord's will, rather than being our purpose in life, we regard as a kind of 'insurance policy' to save us when we are in trouble.

A question that is often asked by believers is, How can I discern the guidance of God in my life? This is not an easy question to answer in a general way because the will of God may at times affect us very personally. One thing I am sure of is that it is those who are prepared to carry out that will who are going to know it. Did not the Lord Jesus say, "If any man willeth to do His will, he shall know of the teaching" (John 7:17)? From this we see that God does not satisfy idle curiosity. There must be a readiness to do His will. Obedience is one of the important instruments in determining what is the will of God in our lives. The Perfect Servant learned obedience in His life here on earth and it is sufficient for us to be as He was. It was a lack of obedience that was the downfall of Saul and has doubtless caused many a fall since. His namesake Saul of Tarsus learned that he must subject himself to the will of the Almighty and we find him saying, "What shall I do, Lord?" and throughout his life from then on he lived by the will of God. This is the secret of knowing the will of God.

How then do we put this into effect in our lives? F. B. Meyer tells a story of how he was crossing on the boat from Dublin to Holyhead on a dark night. The master of the ship was able to steer his craft safely into Holyhead harbour even though there were no stars to guide him. Dr Meyer asked him how he was able to find his way on such a dark night. The captain explained that there were three navigation lights and he had to keep those three lights in line in order to dock safely. In a sermon later Dr Meyer used these lights to illustrate the way that the Christian may be guided. The three lights he said stood for the Word of God, the inner conviction to the believer of the Holy Spirit and the third light he likened to circumstances in our lives. These are ways in which we might know God's will for us. When we come to those times in our lives when we feel we must know the guidance of our God then the three means referred to by F. B. Meyer can be of great assistance. There is the Word of God; how often in our daily reading do we find that the Lord speaks to us. The Scriptures are living and are able to solve our problems in 1 g75 as much as they were in olden times. I, and many others as well, have often found great assistance in the daily scripture portions on the Golden Bells calendar. This is God speaking to us from the Bible. I hope the daily tear-off calendar is finding a place in the homes of the saints today as much as it did years ago. The second light stood for the Holy Spirit's voice to the believer. How vital this is! I feel that we can listen for Him to speak to us as we are meditating in the Lord's presence. When there is an important decision to be taken in life then the believer needs to spend time in God's presence waiting what He has to say. It is not sufficient to commit the matter in prayer to the Lord; we ought to expect His answer. This He might graciously give us by directing our mind to some scripture or some happening in our life. This brings us to the third of F. B. Meyer's lights, circumstances in our lives. The Lord can indicate His will to us by the various things which happen to us. Sometimes He closes doors before we are able to enter them and we know that His will is better for us. At other times He places opportunities before us which we obviously must take. A person once said to a friend, "I am quite at loss to know which way to turn". "Then don't turn at all", was the friend's reply. Rather negative advice perhaps, but if we are not sure that God is in something it is just as well to leave it alone.

A very important scripture on this topic is Romans 8:28, "We know that to them that love God all things work together for good, even to them that

are called according to His purpose". We can see clearly the meaning of this scripture. Circumstances in our lives-whether great or small-are directed by our heavenly Father. He is ordering things so that they are for our good. His purpose in us is an eternal purpose for we have been chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4), and His purpose is that we might be glorified with Him (John 17:22,24). If God has cared for us so much outside the period of time, it is no wonder that He has a concern for us during this brief interval between. The child of God can confidently look to God for direction in his life and accept the way that things turn out as being his Father's will.

Disappointment, His appointment

Change one letter then I see,

That the thwarting of my purpose,

Is God's better way for me.

R.C. Jones, Aberkenfig | May 1975
General