“Finding the Path”
A minister was asked to conduct a service at a mental institution. Things went well until the sermon. He began his message with a rhetorical question: “Why are we here?” A patient responded, “Because we’re not all there!”
Purpose in life is a challenge for most of us. Whatever we do, we’re tempted to ask “So what? What does it all really mean? Is this what I’m really supposed to be doing with my life?” I recently had to fill out one of those military surveys. One of the questions asked why I joined the Army, and listed at least a dozen reasons, yet not mine. Travel, education, medical benefits, and pay were among the reasons. But there was nothing about a sense of calling, a sense that this was the will of God.
In Louis Carrol’s book Alice in Wonderland, Alice comes to a fork in the road and doesn’t know which way to turn. She sees the grinning Cheshire Cat and asks which direction she should take. The cat replies, “That depends a good deal on where you want to get to.” My aim is to assure us that those who walk with God always reach their destination.
Paul urges us in Ephesians to “walk worthy of the calling we’ve received” (4:1). Have you been called? A friend of mine understood that we’re all subject to a divine call. He called himself an “ordained plumber.” This self-concept reveals some faulty thinking by some Christians, who figure that God calls pastors, teachers, and doctors, leaving the rest of us free to choose whatever pleases us. Someone even wrote a book about this phenomenon. On the cover is a cartoon of a little guy standing next to a church with a smile on his face. The title says it all: “Thank God—I Don’t Feel Called”.
All of us come face-to-face with some pretty significant decisions in life: our education, vocation, marriage, and (most importantly) salvation. The greatest peace is being able to say, “I know this is God’s will for me.” Yet like Alice, we’ve all been in the unpleasant place of indecision, with no assurance of which way to turn; frustrated and worried. What’s worse is when we just plow ahead, going our own way with no thought of consulting God. We end up making hasty decisions that include God only as an afterthought. We “acknowledge” God “in all our ways” by seeking Him first. When we trust Him, He makes our paths straight.
When we’re struggling with indecision, we need to realize that God knows us better than we know ourselves; He knows everything about us, even things we’ll never understand. And He is in control of our lives, our “circumstances”. He wants to help us and He will provide all we need for this life and the life to come.
Too often we foolishly think we’re competent enough to make choices without God’s help. As one who does a fair amount of pre-marital counseling (“preventive maintenance”), I’ve seen a lot of soldiers jump into marriage. A guy called my office on a Monday asking if I could conduct his wedding that Friday. I told him I require 2 months notice and he said, “I couldn’t have done that—we just met 2 weeks ago.” People marry in haste and repent at leisure. Some seem to have spent more time selecting their car than their lifetime companion.
There are two aspects of God’s will:
That which applies to every believer; things we don’t need to even pray about—we already know that it’s God’s will that we all share our faith, that we should forgive others, that we should have fellowship with other believers, that we should tell the truth, and so on.
Then there are decisions for which God has not given specific guidance: what school we should attend, how we should invest our money, where we should go on vacation. Yet God can lead us even in these “grey areas”.
So how do we determine God’s will?
>There are 3 sources of light: from within, without, and above.
Light from within is our reason, common sense, and experience.
Light from without is the help and counsel we receive from others. The person who refuses advice refuses to be helped. Light from without includes what we read and who we go to for advice. Guidance can come from parents, teachers, pastors, friends, even our chain-of-command! For example, if you feel led to teach, and everyone is telling you you’d make a lousy teacher, this may be God’s way of telling you to consider other options! Or let’s put it another way: If you think you’d be a lousy teacher and everyone says you’d be a good one, this may be God telling you to reconsider. It is important that we verify our impressions by insuring that that other believers concur. We’re not “lone rangers” in life—we need to be spiritually accountable to others, who in turn offer guidance as we struggle with the path ahead.
Light from above comes from God. When we pray, we speak to God; when we read the Bible, God speaks to us. Our quest for God’s guidance may need to include fasting. Then the Holy Spirit impresses us with wisdom, insight, understanding, discernment, as He applies the principles of Scripture to our daily living. He also gives us inner peace about our decisions. God is in control, and is able to change us and our circumstance. Jesus says in Rev. 3:8 (my career verse), “I have set before you an open door which no one can shut.”
God always gives us enough light to take the next step…but He doesn’t give us the entire plan. Wouldn’t it be nice if the moment you became a Christian, you received a book with your whole life spelled out! But then there’d be no need for faith. God’s will is more like a scroll that unrolls a day at a time. Finding the path is an on-going experience.
If you didn’t know how to play a board game like Monopoly or Risk, Chess or Backgammon, how would you learn? You could try to figure it out on your own, or ask someone to explain the game to you, or you might want to read the rulebook yourself. We need to trust the One who wrote the rulebook for life.
It’s important to be tuned into God, to be sensitive to His subtle messages, nudges, and situations….
Several people were waiting to be interviewed for a job as a wireless operator. They sat around talking to each other, and were oblivious to faint sounds coming from a speaker. But then suddenly one of them stood up and walked right into the employer’s office. In a few minutes he returned and announced, “You can all go home; I got the job!” As they began to complain, he explained, “None of you noticed the Morse Code being tapped into the waiting room. The message said, “The person I hire must always be alert. The first one who interprets this and comes directly into my private office will be hired.” The lesson is clear—we need to be tuned into God’s channel, and respond to His leading.
As we are seeking God’s will, we need to keep in mind that God has our best interests at heart. Faith means we trust God in spite of unanswered questions, in spite of an uncertain future, knowing that God knows what we need even more than we do. He also knows just how much light we really need for the path ahead. Sometimes we have to patiently wait for His will.
When I came on active duty in 1978, it was after years of agonizing over God’s will. In college one day I went to chapel but couldn’t concentrate on the service; all I could think of was how I wanted to be an Army Chaplain, but I didn’t know the first thing to do. I prayed, then felt impressed to ask one of my professors to pray. After chapel I went to his office, knocked on the door thinking he probably wasn’t there…but he was. I walked in, and there stood an Army Chaplain in his dress greens. I was so overwhelmed I could barely speak. This Chaplain answered all my questions. Back in those days the Army had a quota system, limiting who could become a chaplain. Even though my denomination was at their quota, the Chief of Chaplains office called one day saying that, in spite of no openings, they were going to put me on active duty! Now that I’m nearing the end of my military career, I need to have the same faith that God will lead me to the right place, the place of His choice, according to His timing.
A seasoned Army chaplain once told me that it’s easy to fall into the trap of trusting the Army rather than the Lord for our next assignment. We know that in a few years someone in the Pentagon will decide where we’ll go next and what we’ll be doing. We can get comfortable letting the branch bureaucracy plan out our lives. We can even forget to pray. God can and will work through our branch personnel managers, and can even overrule their decisions.
As we seek the will of God, it would be wise to ask ourselves some questions:
• Have I asked for God’s help?
• Am I trusting God with every area of my life?
• Am I obeying God’s revealed will?
• Am I being led too much by my feelings?
• Am I studying God’s Word so that my mind is being transformed?
• Are there Biblical principles that apply to my specific situation?
• What course of action will help me spiritually, and help others?
• Have I sought out worthy advisors and carefully considered their counsel?
• Would waiting be profitable or detrimental?
• Do I have peace that my decision is correct?
• Am I determined to obey, please, and glorify God?
We may have no idea where God wants us to be ten years from now, and from His viewpoint, we probably don’t need to know. Be assured that God doesn’t intend for us to be perpetually frustrated or defeated. When God is silent, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to form plans or consider options; what it does mean is that we should always rely on our 3 sources of light—from within, without, and above--confident that God will provide enough light for the next step.
Prayer: Sovereign Lord, lead us as we rely on You. Help us to see that the greatest knowledge is to know Your will, and the greatest success is to do it. May the light You provide guide us through our decisions and transitions, our plans, goals, and hopes. May we seek You every step of our journey, and may our pilgrimage bring You glory. We ask this in our Savior’s Name, Amen.
