A. According to Romans 12:3, God has given every man “the” measure of faith—a capacity to receive the Lord. Once you are saved, you can grow that measure of faith up: first, by accepting the Bible as a revelation of God’s Word and the divine and final authority in your life, and secondly, by hearing the Word of God over and over (Romans 10:17).
B. You hear the Word over and over again by going to church, listening to CDs and podcasts, surrounding yourself with godly friends, and confessing the Word over yourself. You then take that a step further and do the Word that you’ve heard.
C. The Bible is God’s written Word and the general will of God for all believers, but it is only part of the will of God for your life. There’s a specific will of God for each one of us that has to do with where we live, where we go to school, vocational endeavors, etc.
D. According to 1 Corinthians 2:9, “Eye hasn’t seen, ear hasn’t heard, neither has entered the heart of man the things that God has prepared for them that love him.” That’s good news. God has a plan for you that is eye popping and mind boggling, but you’re only going to get it from one place. Verse 10 says that God has revealed it to us by the Holy Spirit.
E. Here comes the challenge. God speaks to your heart about where to work, where to live, where to go to school, and other issues of your life. Once you’ve matured enough to be basing your life on what you know of the written Word, God’s spoken word to you becomes a major target for the enemy because you can’t go to the Bible and confirm the specifics. You are more vulnerable to the enemy planting questions in your mind such as, Did I really hear from the Lord?
F. If the enemy can cause you to question God’s word to you, he can cause you to back away from the revelation of that will. He’s now altering your belief system and moving you away from the will and blessing of God.
G. What is God telling you to do with your life and how can you become so grounded in it that the enemy can’t bring enough adversity to move you off of it?
H. First, remember that we always measure any word or direction we think we get from God by the principle of God’s Word. He will never tell you to do something that runs counter to the principle of the Bible.
I. Second, be serious enough about your walk with God that you don’t make any major decisions without seeking God for His direction. Jesus said that His sheep will know His voice (John 10:4). God will never put you in neutral. You will become progressively more convicted as you pray about the direction to take because He said you would know His voice, and He always answers you.
J. Realize that God never deals with you in questions. Only the enemy is going to question you: “Did the Lord really say that to you?” and then contradict what the Lord said, “That won’t really happen!”. That contradiction is called a “second word.”
K. Take, for example, Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. What happened after God directed Adam and Eve not to partake of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? Satan asked Eve a question: “Hath God said…?” and then contradicted God’s Word with a second word (Genesis 3:1–5).
L. Second words are subtle. First Kings chapter 13 tells us another story that illustrates it well. After reading through it, you will see that young prophet obeyed the word of the Lord to a certain point, but disobeyed the word of the Lord when he listened to the older prophet. I have to think the older prophet lied to the younger one because he was a bit jealous that God had used this young prophet in such a mighty way. Perhaps the younger prophet listened to the older one out of respect for the older man’s office, but it was his choice to disobey the direction of the Lord to him. God didn’t have a lion waiting to slay him since he disobeyed, but disobedience always moves you out from the umbrella of God’s protection and blessing and it always leads to death.
M. God never deals in second words. He is immutable and unchangeable. He has the best idea right out of the box and won’t change His mind and give you a second word.
N. Second words make you question the initial word of God. The enemy may use people you respect and have been a blessing to you previously just as with this young prophet, but for individual matters of your life that are unique to you, you don’t go to a prophet somewhere to find out who to marry. You have no need that any man should teach you about these things (1 John 2:27). God will deal with you personally about the unique path He wants your life to take. God may use someone to confirm something you already knew, but it won’t be news to you.
O. For example, imagine God wants you to start a new business. You step out in faith and get the business going. A year down the road, it’s harder than you ever imagined. You’re facing all kinds of employee problems and financial adversity and you’re on the verge of throwing up your hands and saying, “Did the Lord really tell me to do this?” You’re in a place now where you may be more susceptible to listen to a second word from the enemy. He will bring somebody to you who will say, “You shouldn’t have done this. You need to go back to square one.” If you do, you’ve just missed God because God doesn’t deal in second words.
P. When you’ve prayed about something and have become convicted that you need to do it, do it and never look back. Be ruthlessly committed to whatever God told you to do.
Q. When you don’t back off direction God has given you, one of two things will happen. At some point, you will know if you need to change something. There will be no question marks. You’ll know what turn to make because God doesn’t deal in questions; He deals in conviction. Otherwise, you press on and you’re going to come to the point where God has fulfilled His word to your life.
R. Another principle important in following the word of the Lord to our lives is found in Mark 4:16–17: “And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness; and have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word’s sake, immediately they are offended.” The implication is that these people believed, but they had no root in themselves and so endure but for a time. Why? Because affliction and persecution arose for the sake of the word they received by faith.
S. Adversity came to put to proof the word these people heard and were rejoicing about just a few moments ago. When that adversity came, they were immediately offended and backed off from the Word. They changed what they believe because of adversity.
T. The word rendered “affliction” here is the Greek word thlipsis, which is translated many different things in the Greek New Testament including “trouble, burden, hardship, tribulation, anguish, persecution.” In other words, it’s a general term for adversity. The Strong’s Concordance gives it a one-word definition: pressure. Adversity always puts you under pressure.
U. If you make a decision designed primarily to get you out from under the pressure or to relieve the pressure, you’ve moved your life away from the will of God and put yourself firmly on the Devil’s ground. Never make decisions to relieve pressure. Now some of the godly decisions you make will in the long run have that effect. You’ll need to take a look at your heart motive. If your heart motive is that you can’t take this pressure any longer, then you’ll do something to relieve the pressure.
V. A good example of this is bankruptcy. Bankruptcy is an escape from the pressure of not having enough money to pay all your bills and deal with the creditors who are constantly calling. Is bankruptcy a sin? No. It’s just not the perfect will of God. (If you’ve ever declared bankruptcy, I don’t want you to feel bad. This is being used just as an example of something that primarily is a mechanism to allow us to escape pressure and takes you out of the will of God.)
W. Don’t ever make a decision to relieve the pressure, because you’ve just succumbed to the enemy. Pressure always comes from adversity and adversity always comes from the kingdom of darkness. Now I didn’t say you wouldn’t make decisions under pressure. I’m talking about decisions designed to relieve the pressure because you can’t stand it anymore. You put yourself on the Devil’s territory. You will not in that area walk out the will of God in that condition. (Nothing is ever an eternal dead end with God. You can always repent, make the changes, and get back on track.)
X. Don’t confuse pressure with the conviction that the Word of God will bring. They’re two different things. Conviction will sometimes produce an uncomfortable feeling because your flesh doesn’t like to do the Word. Pressure always comes from circumstantial adversity and is intended to get you to back away from the Word. Conviction always comes from the Word. Make that distinction.
Y. So we’re always going to experience the pressure that comes from circumstantial adversity because it’s the only way Satan can move you off the Word of God, the will of God, and out of the blessing of God. If he can’t do something to change your faith, then you’re moving down the path of God’s destiny for your life.
