This afternoon is the baccalaureate service at the high school. I have been privileged to work with several members of the class of 2003 in helping them plan the service.
The other day, as we walked to the auditorium during one of the planning meetings, I engaged some of them in conversation about the events of the next few weeks. They admitted to being overwhelmed and nervous.
As I began to work on this sermon about responding to God’s leading, I thought about the major decision of my senior year of high school – college or work?
I really did not want to stay in Dayton. The automobile industry that was the mainstay of the Dayton economy was in shambles in the mid-1970’s. I saw many of my neighbors go through the cycle of work, layoff, work, layoff, work, layoff and said to myself, “I can’t do that. I can’t live that way.”
I also wanted to get away from home. I wanted to spread my wings. I was ready to move on. But, where?
And how?
I had taken the ACT; one of two main tests that students take for college admission, and on the basis of my scores had gained automatic entrance to a college in Kentucky. But, there was also a stack of college catalogs on my dresser and I would go through them and look and think and dream and pray.
Well one day an admissions representative from Greenville College came to my high school. I cannot remember now filling out a card for information to be sent to me but I do remember that visit. Now GC was unknown to me because one of my cousins attended and graduated there in the early 70’s.
Well, this admission representative knew my cousin, and his wife, and his wife’s sister. He had dated them both!
Well to my high school way of thinking this man was living dangerously dating sisters and in proximity to my cousin! (In two short years from that meeting, I would live dangerously too by dating sisters.)
But, it also impressed me that he had knowledge of these people. And that prompted me to apply to Greenville and go there sight unseen.
Now you might ask this morning, how did you know that going to Greenville was what God wanted? Good question!
I first purposed in my heart to do what God wanted me to do. I wanted to obey God. I wanted to live in a right relationship with Him.
Second I had to do my part in discerning God’s leading through investigating the various possibilities and praying about them. Then I had to make a decision based on what I believed God wanted me to do.
I believe that I followed the Lord’s leading in this matter and while there were moments of difficulty and uncertainty, I kept walking by faith and trust that God’s will would be done.
How do we follow God’s leading? How should we follow God’s leading?
The text read earlier in the service, Proverbs 3:5-6, contains two important ways of following God’s leaning:
•Trust in the Lord with all your heart
•Seek His will in all you do
Our heart denotes our values, passions, and beliefs that we dearly hold. When our hearts are broken, our trust is broken: when trust is strong, our hearts our strong. What we treasure and believe in our hearts influences the choices we make.
To trust in the Lord with all of our heart is to passionately believe that God is trustworthy and that we can follow His leading because it is good and trustworthy and right. This means that in our hearts we must purpose, if we are going to properly respond to God’s leading, to trust in the Lord.
Now having make the internal decision to trust the rightness of God’s leading, we move to the second step – seeking His will in all we do – the action step. Sometimes we freeze when we come to a place of decision. Our options are not clear. We do not immediately sense that God is leading us in a particular direction. What do we do then?
Several years ago, prominent members of San Francisco Society gathered at Saints Peter and Paul Church for a wedding.
At the appropriate moment the bride was asked, “Do you take this man for your lawfully wedded husband?” “I don’t know,” she murmured to the priest. “I just can’t make up my mind.” He waited a moment and then said to the audience, “The wedding is off.”
The reception was canceled and thousands of dollars of food was given away. However, a week later the bride asked for the wedding to proceed, “I was just nervous,” she said. “My mind is made up now. I do take the groom as my husband.”
If we have made the decision to trust in the Lord with all of our heart, then try to seek His will in all that we do, I believe that we can be assured of His leading even when we are nervous and unsure if the decision is the correct one. The critical choice at this point is seeking God’s will.
Now in seeking God’s will a whole host of other options are taken off the table. The Bible is clear about what God’s will truly is, and what it truly is not. When we make the choice to understand and follow God’s will, then we are better able to follow God’s leadings because God’s leadings are the paths to the avenues of God’s will.
This two-step process is shown in Acts 8:26-40 where Philip is led by God in a new direction. (Read the passage).
Now we read of Philip earlier in the chapter beginning in verse 5 where we read that he had gone to the city of Samaria and told them about Jesus the Messiah.
But at verse 26 an angel said to him, “Go south.” And Philip went south as directed.
Now I do not know why God told Philip to go south. He seemed to be having success in Samaria. But, God lead him in a different direction.
And Philip went. Now maybe he was puzzled as to the direction he was told to go. Maybe he had a question about the timing of the directive. We don’t know. But what we do know is that when the angel said, “Go south,” Philip did what he was told.
Now as he went south, he encounters this Ethiopian official who had been to Jerusalem to worship and was now reading the account out of Isaiah about the Messiah. And again God spoke through the Holy Spirit and said to Philip, “Go over and walk along beside the carriage.” And Philip did what he was asked to do.
As a result of following God’s leading, a person of great power and influence from another country, culture, and race became a true follower of God. The Spirit was at work in the Ethiopian’s life but an obedient follower of God, namely Philip, followed God’s leading, and helped the official to make the commitment to Christ. Then, God moved Philip on to another area to preach the good news.
What can learn about following God’s leading from this passage?
1. God’s leading will come in various ways and through various circumstances.
2. God’s leading will often come out of the blue like it seemed to do with Philip.
3. God’s leading will always have God’s purposes in mind. In this passage it was the salvation of a seeker.
4. We don’t know how God will lead, only that He does lead.
5. There are two responses to God’s leading– either we follow God’s leading or we don’t.
How should we follow God’s leadings? Confidently. God acts within His purposes and character. This should give us the confidence to step forward as we follow His leading.
God does not misrepresent Himself. As the wonderful hymn, “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” says, “There is no shadow of turning with thee.” There is no duplicity or deception with God. James 1:17 says, “Whatever is good and perfect comes to us from God above, who created all heaven’s lights. Unlike them, he never changes or casts shifting shadows.” We can be confident in God’s leading. (NLT)
Willingly. As I studied our text for this morning, I came to the belief that God’s leading of Philip to “go south” came as Philip willingly did his work where he was.
The chapter opens with the seriousness of persecution that caused believers, including Philip, to head to Judea and Samaria. But, Philip continued to willingly serve the Lord as he preached in Samaria. He did not seem to wish for something else. He kept doing the simple tasks of following the Lord’s leading that included the conversion of a sorcerer named Simon.
This time of year is a time in which we celebrate life in both times of joy such as graduation and mother’s day as well as times of mourning and remembrance as we (will do/have done) with Bob. The following poem speaks to the quality of life that we have the opportunity to have as we follow the Lord’s leadings:
(The Dash, a copy writed poem read here)
This poem is going to be read during this afternoon’s baccalaureate service because it speaks to the service’s theme of the seasons of life. The question at the end is an important question.
And in conclusion I ask all of us here this morning, “Will we have spent our dash confidently, willingly, and obediently following the Lord’s leading in our lives?”
I pray that it be so. Amen.
