Guidance. WBC 10 July 2005 pm. Ps 32:6-9
A man lived in a very low-lying area near a river. A man in a jeep drove up one day and said, "This area is about to be flooded. You need to get out of here!" The man replied, "I’ll just stay here and trust the Lord to take care of me." And very soon the water was swirling around his front porch as he sat in his rocking chair.
Soon after that, a man came by in a boat, saying, "You need to get out of here. The water is getting higher and higher." The man replied, "I’ll be okay. I’m just going to trust the Lord."
Finally, the man ended up on his roof because of the rising water. It had already flooded his house. Suddenly, a helicopter appeared overhead and lowered a chair so he could be taken to safety. He shouted back, "It’s okay. I’ll stay here. I’m trusting the Lord to take care of me."
Well, the man drowned and in heaven, he complained to the Lord that He hadn’t take care of him. And the Lord said, "Hey! I sent you a jeep, a boat and a helicopter. WHAT ELSE DID YOU WANT ME TO DO?"
MATURITY
You know- I believe this is an issue we get far too uptight about as Christians!
- because we want to please God, of course
But I just wonder if we
- have far too small a picture of God
- have been bred to be far too insecure or paranoid (rather than being secure in Him like we should be)
o so, we call it ’faith’ and determination to know God’s will
o but actually it can be more like ’fear’
" we are frightened things will go desperately wrong
" that God is there waiting to catch us out… punish us
What loving Father is wanting to do that?
- with my dear kids, I’m not looking to punish them! On the contrary! And really there are no such things as mistakes, rather: opportunities to learn!
Illustr: Remember being struck by one of my early chats with Robert Teare. I suggested we prayed before a joint funeral, and just launched in (sensitive like). He said- that was good, young man- but remember: I committed my day to the Lord this morning and I am walking as though He is with me. (like ’talisman’, ’touch wood’ prayers weren’t needed)
When it comes to the issue of guidance, you have to think about the general picture of what God wants for people in the Bible
- one of the questions people ask is ’why didn’t God create people so all these atrocities wouldn’t/couldn’t happen’
- the answer to that is: God wanted beings with free will, not automata
o (and He made people like this having planned from the start that HE would pay the price)
So- over the HUGE issue like suffering God planned for free will…not automatons
- how much more so over the smaller issue of guidance
Consider another picture: the one of creation and the animals
- GE 2:19 Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name.
- Even with regard to Adam’s wife. One verse on
22 Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.
GE 2:23 The man said,
"This is now bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called `woman,’
for she was taken out of man."
Do you get the overall picture of scripture?
- it’s not one of God dictating minutiae (from our perspective). He does work in all things- but He’s not overruling in all things
- look at the general sweep of scripture. God DOES intervene sometimes, direct, give a sign- but it’s really not all the time. It’s a few crucial times over decades of ’Acts’.
o (be cautious! Some will try and make out that this happens all the time and God tells them what shoes to wear, but it’s not born out by the weight of scripture)
No- what God wants is real, live, loving, free, obedient people! Secure people! Mature people
- he wants people who learn to make good, right, mature decisions
o (how else can we judge angels?!)
- people who have the ’mind of Christ’. 1 Cor 2:16
o who have been ’transformed by the renewing of their minds’ Roms 12.
o who know the word of God
" as it is the vocab of God and shows the moral will of God
- I remember one woman was praying, seeking God for guidance. Getting no clear answer. She decided God was saying "It’s in the Bible and you should have read it!"
So- what God is seeking in you is maturity. It’s immaturity and fear that makes us want God to take responsibility for everything (so we can blame Him)
MORALITY
God does have a specific will and things that He wants done. However- how I most often understand that is in terms of His ’sovereign will’
- in other words: He sovereignly gets His way.
- God’s sovereign will is: ’what He wants to happen will happen’
o And He can bridle us, if He wants (if we are willing) to make sure it happens
The good news is- His will can’t be avoided by us missing the plot!
No- the Bible makes clear that the concern from OUR side should centre on His ’moral will’
- which IS clear and in the Bible. Generally
- in other words, not so specifically WHAT we do, but HOW we do it
The Bible does not tell you where you should work or who you should marry
- but it does tell you HOW you should work, and lays down the principles for your choices:
o is this going to take me away from God? Wreck my kids? Make me materialistic? Hurt anyone? Be morally right?
" Break these at your peril! Even if you get pink pigs flying backwards across the sky!
- The person you are courting: are they going to encourage your faith… coming to church. Do they treat you with respect? Can you be yourself around them? Do you share the same interests?
But I have to say- even then you take a gamble (no: step of faith!) and rely that God has led you and WILL be your strength
- so maybe the principle there is ’are you both committed to making it work in/through God as the years go by’…. rather than convinced He has supernaturally joined you now?’
So- use your head. Pray. Know the principles of the Bible. Ask the wisdom of others (folks who love you enough to be truthful!). Look for a number of green lights to line up.
MULTIPLE
And remember- God’s will might just be a whole lot more flexible than you think. It might even be multiple
- -Illustr: taking kids around lake. God got Abraham and Joseph to His will via a very circuitous route. A route that would have been a whole lot less painful had they obeyed the moral law of fidelity and humility (His specific will/path wasn’t revealed)
- Illustr: those who said to me ’you’ve missed God’s perfect path’
So- ask yourself: "what would I do if I couldn’t fail?" What would bring the most glory to God, build Jesus’ kingdom the most. Enrich our and everyone’s lives the most.
- know the Bible. Make plans. Use your mind. Pray
MIRACULOUS
But I say ’pray first’- as this is not only right for us- it shows
- we are putting God first
- giving Him the right of veto, miraculous guidance if He wants it
I think God needs to be a whole lot bigger in our minds and understanding- and we need to know that
- He can lead, guide, intervene
- He is not in the business of keeping His will hidden if it is something that really matters
o He can open/shut a door
o Get someone to give you a word (’Lord, if this really matters to you speak to me in the next two weeks or I will proceed)
o Speak through a donkey if He must! Numbers 22:20 ff
" God wants to stop Balaam. He won’t listen- so He opens the mouth of his donkey!
" "thy rod and thy staff they comfort me" (sense of guiding the silly sheep!)
- If it’s something that really matters to Him. If we genuinely ask.
Do you see- doesn’t that make you have confidence- not fear, indecision or analysis-paralysis?!
God can supernaturally intervene through
- others (Kathy & picture for me)
- a dream
o -Acts 16:6- you see the many factors of guidance. Paul wants to preach in Asia. He is practically stopped from doing so. He still keeps at it. God gives him a dream of a man from Macedonia- and Paul says ’that’s it!’ He concludes God wants the gospel in Europe
- So, you see- He’s 1) seeking God’s highest. The KOG. 2) Moving as fast as possible 3) using his noggin 4) working with others 5) open to the miraculous
- A general sense of "this is/isn’t right!"
…. But that’s not fear!
So- it’s not wrong to pray and ask God for guidance- in fact it’s right! It is wrong, however, not to be able to make any move without a ’sign’. (it’s a sign of immaturity)
And in the end God can guide very clearly through circumstances
- and this is what we must submit to, in the end
- what He opens no one can shut and what He shuts no one can open
- and He only closes one door to open another, in time
o Here’s a testimony I read: Paul Fritz Wallace Johnson, a builder of numerous Holiday Inn Motels and convalescent hospitals, said, "When I was forty years old, I worked in a sawmill. One morning the boss told me, ’You’re fired!’ Depressed and discouraged, I felt like the world had caved in on me. It was during the depression and my wife and I greatly needed the small wages I had been earning."
o "When I went home, I told my wife what happened. She asked, ’What are you going to do now?’ I replied, ’I’m going to mortgage our little home, and go into the building business.’
o "My first venture was the construction of two small buildings. And within five years I was a multi-millionaire!"
o "Today, if I could find the man who fired me, I would sincerely thank him for what he did. At the time it happened, I didn’t understand why I was fired. Later, I saw that it was God’s unerring and wondrous plan."
