CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW? Part II: Discovering the Will of God
Proverbs 3.5-7
Introduction
For two years I’ve been prom-ising this message. How can I tell what God wants me to do? How does a Christian make decisions? How does God direct us? What’s the secret? What’s the magic for-mula?
Last week on "How God Speaks Today"
„« Creation
„« Events "be more sensitized to the work of God in our lives"
„« Blessing "when something good happens, we need to train ourselves to go to God and say, (1) "Thank you", (2) "What do you want me to do with this?"
„« Trials "it takes a lot of molding and shaping to make us look like Jesus Christ"
„« Pain "God sometimes has to go to extreme measures to get our attention¡K ’what Lord’?"
„« Stillness "God sometimes speaks softly so we have to listen intently"
„« His Word "God has spoken" This is critical to what we’re going to look at this morning
„« His Son "God is driving eve-rything to eventually be under the Lordship of His Son"
What we want to look at this morning are the steps to take in Christian decision making. How do I decide? There are 8 steps in this process, but first a caveat: You are about to receive a loaded gun. You are about to receive in-formation that if not taken as a whole, you’re asking for trouble. You are about to receive infor-mation that can be misused.
But it can be liberating, it can be freeing, and it can add or re-store joy to your life as a disciple and follower of Jesus Christ.
First, Two meanings of "God’s Will"
1. God’s secret will: Found in newspapers
2. God’s revealed will: Found in His Word
STEP 1: KEEP A SPIRITUAL PERSPECTIVE
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart¡K in all your ways ac-knowledge Him"
A. As Christians, we can never divorce our spiritual side from our physical or secular side
1. People watch us
2. The Holy Spirit is in us
3. There is no such thing as a part-time Christian
B. The decisions we make have a spiritual dimension to them
1. God cares about what you do
2. God cares about where you go
3. God cares about how you live
C. We need to learn to "think like a Christian"
1. TableTalk June 26th
2. The problem is, we’ve let the world squeeze us into its mold!
3. Our faith works outside these walls, folks!
"We acknowledge God when we demonstrate trust, practice submission, give ourselves to prayer, and live in obedience to Him." -- "How Can I Know What God Wants Me To Do?" (Radio Bible Class book-let)
STEP 2: REFERENCE GOD’S WORD
"and lean not on your own un-derstanding"
A. God’s Word is His revealed will
1. This is where and how God tells us what He thinks on things
2. It is our owners manual for living on planet Earth
3. Ephesians 5.15-17
B. The problem is, we don’t know enough about God’s Word to use it as a compass!
1. That’s why we’re reading it together
2. That’s why we study it to-gether
3. That’s why AWANA learns to "handle accu-rately the Word of truth"
C. Specifics vs. Principles
1. The Bible has some spe-cifics
„« Worship God not idols
„« Honor your parents
„« Don’t murder
„« Don’t commit adultery
„« Don’t lie
„« Don’t covet
„« Don’t take a Christian to court
„« Don’t steal
„« Tell the truth
2. The Bible more generally uses principles
„« that’s why it’s stood the test of time
„« The better we learn the principles, the con-cepts, the strategies God has given us, the better we can use and apply His Word to our particular, peculiar situation!
3. This bothers a lot of peo-ple. Some prefer strict guidelines.
„« But the Spirit of God takes the Word of God and applies it to the Child of God
„« And in Christ, we have freedom!
So, we want to apply Biblical principles to our decisions (see 2 Corinthians 10.5 on outline)
How does this work? Is God go-ing to call you to become a ciga-rette tester? How about a whiskey tester? How about a bartender in a strip club? How about a loan shark?
Sometimes, God gives specific direction on specific issues, and we must follow His Word, or be prepared to suffer the conse-quences!
STEP 3: EXAMINE THE CONSEQUENCES OR RE-SULTS
"in all your ways acknowledge Him"
A. We don’t make decisions in a vacuum¡K they impact our lives and the lives of others!
1. Example: drugs - college - student loans
2. Example: can’t go to Can-ada because of bad choices they made when they were younger
3. We need to think past the immediate and look ahead, then look far ahead
B. Matthew 6.33
1. You know what question influenced my decisions in the past? "How will this impact my career?"
2. AAAH. Wrong Answer (question)
C. How will this impact my¡K
1. spiritual life
a. spiritual health
b. gifts
c. fulfilling my purpose
2. family
a. I sacrificed this
b. I worked for "my ca-reer"
3. finances
a. Does God care of you buy a Dodge Neon or a Cadillac Escalade?
„« if it impacts your ability to give
b. We don’t "count the cost"¡K the hidden cost
c. Too often we are strapped financially because of bad deci-sions we’ve made in the past
4. health
a. mental health
b. emotional health (leading actress who left NCIS program be-cause she "didn’t have the stamina to do it anymore" in TV Guide 6/12/05 Sasha Alexan-der)
c. physical health
„« that will put a crimp in your ca-reer path!
Let’s bring that spiritual impact up front and center and give it more weight!
Parents: Be concerned about your kids spiritual develop-ment!
STEP 4: DON’T KEEP TO YOURSELF
"Do not be wise in your own eyes" or "Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom" (NLT)
A. Proverbs 12.15
1. me and conferences
2. me and elders
3. We need the input of oth-ers!
4. And not fishing around until we find someone to give us the answer or ad-vice we want!
B. What kind of person?
1. Psalm 1.1-2
2. A godly one. A mature one. A faith-filled one
3. Will and his teacher
C. Listening to others carefully can open up new ways of thinking
1. The beauty of a consultant
2. Fresh eyes
3. Can’t see the forest for the trees
STEP 5: CONSIDER YOUR DESIRES
A. See Psalm 37.4-5 on outline
1. What is the criteria or perquisite for God to give us the desires of our heart? Delight in the Lord
2. I missed that part. I wanted God to give me the desires of my heart, but I wasn’t delighting in the Lord!
3. And here’s something else: God will change your desires
a. Phoenix
b. Coming here
B. It’s a matter of trust, isn’t it?
1. I want what you want for me, Lord!
2. That’s dangerous and scary
3. But God isn’t a killjoy!
4. Two equal choices¡K which one do you want?
STEP 6: REMEMBER GOD’S VETO POWER
"and HE will make your paths straight"
A. The best example of this step is Paul and his desire to go to Rome
1. He wanted to go. He planned to go.
2. Romans 1.13 and chapter 16, he says over and over, "I’m coming"
3. But he didn’t. At least not the way he planned
B. Another example is also found with Paul and his "thorn in the flesh"
1. Look at verse on outline
2. God said, "NO"
C. Sometimes we make the best decision possible with the in-formation we have, follow all the steps, and start going down the path¡K
1. God say, "uh-huh"
2. "In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps." -- Proverbs 16.9
3. Ultimately, God is in con-trol and we live our lives with our ways subject to His ways
STEP 7: SUBMIT YOUR-SELF TO GOD
"in all your ways acknowledge Him"
A. Romans 12.1-2
1. What is the requirement? Submission to God!
2. Jonah running from God
B. Listen. Don’t expect God to show you His will; don’t ex-pect God to honor your deci-sions; don’t expect God to bless your life,
1. If we aren’t committed to Him with our heart and soul and mind.
2. He wants us all!
3. God is the placement king¡K He says, "I know what I’m doing here, you know!"
STEP 8: STEP OUT IN FAITH
"Trust in the Lord¡K" (trust = faith)
A. After you’ve done the home-work, do it.
1. Too often we sit and wait for something to happen¡K some mystical way God is going to reveal His plan for us
2. Story of guy on roof
„« police car
„« row boat
„« helicopter
3. Inaction is a decision!
4. "¡Keverything that does not come from faith is sin" -- Romans 14.23
B. Packer quote
Conclusion
We see these elements of decision making throughout the New Tes-tament (there was some really weird ways in the OT).
„« 1 Thess 3.1 "we thought it best"
„« Acts 15.22 "it seemed good to the apostles"
„« Acts 16.16 "And it hap-pened¡K"
„« Acts 20.13 "he had arranged it, intending¡K"
„« Acts 20.16 "Paul had de-cided"
„« 1 Corinthians 7.37 "But the man who has settled the mat-ter in his own mind, who is under no compulsion but has control over his own will, and who has made up his mind not to marry the virgin-- this man also does the right thing."
Folks, we don’t need to be crippled in decision making as believers. If anything, we can be liberated by it! God allows us great freedom, and steps in to fine-tune His direction of our steps.
Serve God. Seek God. Put God first in your life and live for Him in freedom, in fullness, in faith.
