GUIDANCE AND GOD'S WILL

By Graham Reid

1. INTRODUCTION

We all want to do what pleases the Lord, we all want to do God's will. Has God got a detailed plan for my life: who to marry, where to live, what job to do, how to spend my money? Is this the will of God for my life? Is God somehow hiding this behind his back and are the occasional hints his guidance?

There is often a lot of anxiety among Christians about such questions as "What if I miss the will of God?" or alternatively a lack of action because "I'm waiting for the Lord to show me..." There are three important questions we need to consider:

• What is the will of God?

• What is guidance?

• How do we make decisions?

2. THE WILL OF GOD

The will of God, according to scripture is God's pattern for righteous living, the moral standards he wants us to follow, the attitudes he wants us to have, the priorities to adopt. Not individual instructions for personal decisions.

"It is God's will that you should be sanctified....." ie. holiness instead of immorality. (1 Thess 4.3-7)

"Be joyful always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." (1 Thess 5.16)

(To the Jews) "..if you know his will and approve what is superior because you are instructed by the law..." ie. the law shows God's will (Rom 2.18).

"..by their fruit you will recognise them. Not everyone who says to me 'Lord, Lord' will enter the kingdom of heaven but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven." (Matt 7.20-21) Context is the discussion of good fruit and bad fruit ie. good living and bad living.

"..he does not spend the rest of his life for evil human desires but rather for the will of God...." 1 Pet 4.2

Read Psalm 25.4-5, 8-9

The will of God is not expressed in terms of where I am meant to live, who I should marry, what job I should have, but God's values and standards for the kind of life I should live.

If you want to know the will of God, read the Bible.

3. WHAT IS GUIDANCE?

What is guidance? God is certainly interested in all that we do, our job, where we live, what we do with our money and other details of our life. However in scripture the emphasis is not on seeking guidance but rather on the assurance that God does in fact guide us. Guidance is not a cause for anxiety, something we have to figure out like a puzzle. It is a promise to depend on.

Read Psalm 23.1-4, 37.3-6, 48.14, 73.23-24

God guides us all through our life in many ways that we are not aware of. This is wonderfully illustrated in the following extract from C S Lewis' book "The Horse and His Boy" pages 138-140. Shasta, the boy, in his travels to Narnia, becomes aware of a Thing (unless it was a person) travelling beside him:

Once more he felt the warm breath of the Thing on his hand and face. "There," it said, "that is not the breath of a ghost. Tell me your sorrows."

Shasta was a little reassured by the breath: so he told how he had never known his real father or mother and had been brought up sternly by the fisherman. And then he told the story of his escape and how they were chased by lions and forced to swim for their lives; and of all their dangers in Tashbaan and about his night among the Tombs and how the beast howled at him out of the desert. And he told about the heat and thirst of their desert journey and how they were almost at their goal when another lion chased them and wounded Aravis. And also, how very long it was since he had anything to eat.

"I do not call you unfortunate," said the Large Voice.

"Don't you think it was bad luck to meet so many lions?" said Shasta.

"There was only one lion," said the Voice.

"What on earth do you mean? I've just told you there were at least two the first night, and -"

"There was only one: but he was swift of foot."

"How do you know?"

"I was the lion." And as Shasta gaped with open mouth and said nothing, the Voice continued. "I was the lion who forced you to go with Aravis. I was the cat who comforted you among the houses of the dead. I was the lion who gave the horses the new strength of fear for the last mile so that your should reach King Lune in time. And I was the lion you do not remember who pushed the boat in which you lay, a child near death, so that it came to shore where a man sat, wakeful at midnight, to receive you."

"Then it was you who wounded Aravis?"

"It was I."

"But what for?"

"Child," said the Voice, "I am telling you your story, not hers. I tell no one any story but his own."

This is a picture of God's guiding hand at work in our lives. Occasionally God's guidance breaks the surface: Read Acts 16.9, 13.2, 20.22

These incidents occurred while the apostles were involved in living the way they believed God wanted them to do, they didn't appear to be seeking them.

God's guidance is a source of comfort, whether backstage or breaking the surface. Are you anxious about what to do? "Cast all your anxiety on God for he cares for you." 1 Pet 5.7.

4. HOW DO WE MAKE DECISIONS?

How do we make decisions then? Lets look at some apostolic decisions recorded in the New Testament.

1 Thess 3.1 "..we thought it best "

Phil 2.25 "..but I think it necessary"

Acts 15.36 "..let us go back"

Acts 19.21 "..Paul decided to go"

Acts 6.2 "..It would not be right "

Acts 6.5 "..This proposal pleased the whole group"

James 15.19 "..It is my judgement"

The decision making was not particularly spiritualised "God told me to.."

Three suggestions for making decisions:

(i) Think - use the mind God has given you, analyse the situation, apply Biblical principals. Rom 12.2 "..be transformed by the renewing of your mind, then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is."

(ii) Talk to others - seek advice from more mature Christians or close friends. Prov 12.15 "a wise man listens to advice". This does not mean getting others to make decisions for you.

(iii) Pray - confess your dependence on God, your desire to please him. Ask for his wisdom. Jas 1.5 "If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God and it will be given to him."

5. CONCLUSION

God does not have a secret plan for our lives that we have to figure out like a puzzle. He wants us to have a relationship with him like a parent with a child - "Dad what do you think about this? Dad I would like to...Dad what did you say about ?..." We need to live our lives in the confidence that God cares and will guide us.

What if we make a wrong decision? It's not the end of the world! Rom 8.28 "and we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose"

Acknowledgement: The outline and background for this sermon came from a talk given at L'Abri, UK, by Barry Seagren.

Based on a sermon by Graham Reid April 14,1991

Readings Matt 7.21-23, 12.46-50, 1 Thess 4.1-12, 5.16-24