In Your Right Mind

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us.

Romans 12:2-6a

God has a plan and a purpose for your life (Ephesians 2:10). He created you and outfitted you with life experiences and spiritual gifts specifically for this purpose. You have a part to play, a role to fill in the great unfolding drama of God's plan for His church. But how do you know what part is yours? How do you know what God's will for your life is? It can seem very difficult to know. But as always, God's Word is here to help.

To know God's will for your life you must first be in your right mind. The Scriptures tell us that Satan is the "Father of Lies" (John 8:44) and that he gleefully blinds the minds of all unbelievers so that they cannot see the light of the gospel (2 Corinthians 4:4). As a Christian, you must think differently than those who are under this delusion. You are called to have a transformed and renewed mind, one that has been set free from deception by the truths of the gospel.

Once your mind has been transformed by the gospel, you must exercise discipline to "not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment." Oh, how many believers fail at this point! How much better our lives would be if we could only think of ourselves as we ought to instead of wasting time trying to convince ourselves and the world that we are something bigger or better than what we actually are. It is exhausting work to try to deny reality in this way. So, look at yourself honestly. What gifts has God given you? What makes you different from everyone else?

Once you see yourself as you really are, as God made you to be, then you can find how you fit into His plan for the church. It is exhausting work trying to become something you aren't. So, quit it! Instead, spend your time sharpening the gifts God has given you and looking for ways to serve His church through them. Then you can serve the church in your own unique way, as only you can do. Surely, this is God's will for your life. 

I just don't feel close to God like I thought I would...

Come near to God and he will come near to you.

James 4:8

 

 

As a youth pastor I sometimes have teenagers come up to me and say something like, "You know Lance, I just don't feel as close to God as I thought I would. I got saved a few months back (or a few years back) and I just don't feel any closer to God." Generally, I respond by asking the student if he is spending regular time with the Lord. Is he reading his Bible and praying everyday? Almost always the answer is no.

 

Scripture gives us a very clear teaching on this matter. If we come near (approach, draw near, pursue) God, then He will draw near to us as well. I don't know why this is so difficult for us to grasp. It isn't just teenagers that struggle with this; many adults, including myself, continue to struggle to have regular quiet times and then wonder why we aren't closer to God. Somehow we think that a close relationship with God just happens without any hard work. We don't expect this to happen in any other area of life. We don't expect relationships to just blossom without  ever spending time with the person. We don't expect to have increased knowledge of math without studying. We don't expect to suddenly acquire better basketball skills without practicing. And yet, once we become a Christian we somehow think that we are going to experience a deep relationship with God, knowledge of God, and skill at discerning His will without ever investing any time or energy developing them. It is absurd and frankly angering.

 

There are some parts of the Christian life that are automatic. The Bible tells us that when we become a Christian we become a new creation (II Corinthians 5:17). The Holy Spirit comes to reside in us (Ephesians 1:13) and we are given a new heart (Ezekiel 36:26-27). Most new Christians sense a greater intimacy with the Lord at this time. But as Christians we have a responsibility to develop this new relationship with the Lord, our knowledge of Him, and our skill at handling His Word over time. In fact, when we stop to think of just how much God has pursued us, it is embarrassing that we should struggle so much to simply spend time with Him.

 

Scripture tells us that before the foundation of the world God was working out His plan to pursue and save us from our sin (Ephesians 1:4-5). He took on flesh and suffered and died the worst imaginable death for us, even when we were opposed to Him. Over the course of thousands of years He carefully revealed His nature and His will to His prophets and apostles and had them write this revelation down. Then He raised up scribes to painstakingly copy and preserve this revelation for future generations. The Bible was copied by hand for thousands of years before the printing press was invented. Because this process was so slow and costly, it was very rare for individuals to personally own any of the books of the Bible. Churches had Bibles, but generally individuals didn't. Then when the Roman emperor Diocletian decided to wipe out Christianity by destroying all the Bibles in the whole world, many Christians chose imprisonment, torture and even death rather than reveal where Bibles were hidden. Much later, more Christians were martyred for translating the Bible into English. The Roman Catholic church didn't want the Bible to be translated into the common language but men like John Wycliffe and William Tyndale wanted every poor farmer in England to be able to read the Bible in their own language.

 

Today, we have this precious book, this love letter, that God has so providentially worked through the lives and deaths of His saints to put into our hands. Most of us have two or three or more, and we completely ignore the great privilege we have to read it on our own. We don't read it every day or even every week. Instead, we wait for Sunday so the preacher can tell us what it says. We take God's self-revelation for granted. We take the blood of His saints for granted. We ignore the amazing right we have to approach the throne of grace in prayer won for us by Christ on His cross, and then we dare to question why we don't feel closer to God.

 

The answer is simple. You don't feel close to God, because you aren't. You aren't close to God because you aren't pursuing Him. And it seems pretty clear to me why we aren't doing these things...it's because we don't want to. I think it can be said that according to the above verse, you are as close to God as you want to be. The truth is that we would rather watch TV, and listen to music, go on Facebook, and do whatever else we spend all of our time doing, than spend time with God. No wonder we don't know Him. No wonder we aren't close to Him. This isn't rocket science. God has promised that if you draw near to Him, He will reciprocate. It isn't always easy. You can't do it for five minutes and expect earth shattering results. You have to persevere and spend time with God even when it doesn't feel like He is there. Trust His promise. Keep at it. Read your Bible, pray, study with other Christians, and sing His praises. Come near to God and He will come near to you.

 

 

For further reading...

• Spend 10 minutes alone with God. Just you, Him, and your Bible. If you don't know where to start reading. Try Psalms or any of the four gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John).

Knowing God's Will: Practical Steps to Discerning God's Will

Your Word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.

Psalm 119:105 

For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Ephesians 2:10 

When I first began this series I told you that there was no easy mathematical equation to discerning God's will, but that there were some practical helps. In keeping with that, I offer the following as a summary of the best ways that I know to find God's will for your life.

1. Go to the Bible.* God's Word is a "light unto your path," and as such it helps you stay on the path He has laid out for you. God is not a God of confusion. He lights the way for His children. Most of the time when you need guidance you will find that the Bible has some to offer. But even in those instances when Scripture does not contain all the specific guidance you need, it is still of primary importance because it forms the boundaries within which the rest of your discernment process can safely take place. At times discerning God's will for your life can be very subjective. Knowing what Scripture has to say about your situation tells you very clearly what is in and what is out of bounds. In other words, Scripture acts as an anchor. As you move through the steps below, it ensures that you do not end up in major theological error.
2. Know God. Like Scripture, knowing God acts as a sort of boundary maker. The better you know God the better you have a general idea what would be consistent with His character. In any given situation you can have some idea of what God might ask you to do and what God would never ask you to do. If you begin to think God is calling you to do something that is completely out of line with His revealed character, then you know you are on the wrong track. You need to start over. Plus, you have to remember that our Lord is infinitely more interested in having an intimate relationship with you than He is in giving you quick and easy answers. Often times He will allow you to go through difficult and uncertain times so He can teach you about Himself. Actively seeking to know Him just may prompt Him to reveal His will sooner. 
3. Pay attention. You should prayerfully consider any situations or circumstances the Lord might be using to reveal His will to you. Pay special attention to open and closed doors (opportunities) in your life. Seek the advice of wiser, older Christians and weigh that advice against both Scripture and what you feel the Lord leading you to do.
4. Pray! Throughout this whole process you should be praying and asking God to show you His will. Pray with an expectant heart. Remember that James says any man who asks God for something with a doubting heart should "not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways" (James 1:7). Too many of us pray like James's double-minded man. Expect your Father in heaven to answer your pleas for guidance. Wait in silent anticipation after you pray in order to give the Holy Spirit inside of you a chance to reveal God's will to you. Very often He will do so.

You may be disappointed to find that, even after you have done all of this, there still may be some measure of uncertainty regarding what God is calling you to do. Remember that God works on His own timetable, not yours. And rarely does He give His children a detailed outline of the next 10 years of their lives. Normally, you can expect to receive enough light for the next step. This means that you must obey the will you know. Why would God show you new levels of His will until you obey what He has already revealed? As you step out on faith to obey the Lord continue to pray and check your heart for any impure or selfish motives. Pay attention to any closed doors you may run into. And note whether your step of faith is met with the peace that passes understanding that is promised to God's children or not. If you sense something is wrong in any of these areas, you may be on the wrong path.

If you look at the two Scriptures quoted above you'll notice that as a Christian you have every reason to feel a strong sense of destiny. God has a definite plan and path for your life. He has prepared good works in advance for you to do and He has placed them in the path that He laid out before you. The only questions are: Will you choose to walk in His path for your life? and Will you ask for His help in finding that path? I pray that you will.

 

For further reading...

• Acts 2:23- Consider the path God had laid out before Jesus.
• James 1:5-7- Don't be double-minded.
• Matthew 7:7-8- Ask, seek, and knock.

*I am indebted to J.I. Packer's wonderful book Knowing God for some of my thoughts on discerning God's will. Specifically chapter twenty entitled "Thou Our Guide" helped to shape my thinking on going first to God's Word to seek His guidance.  

Knowing God's Will: A Peace that Passes Understanding

You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.

Isaiah 26:3

We are slowly working through the question, "How do I know God's will for my life?" We have talked generally about the fact that discerning God's will begins with laying a firm foundation of knowing Scripture, knowing God, and practicing the skill/spiritual gift of listening prayer. Currently we are looking at some of the more practical guidance God sometimes uses to reveal His will to us. Namely, we have looked at how He uses open and closed doors and advice from wise counselors. This week we turn to consider a sign that helps confirm that we have in fact heard God's will correctly.

All throughout Scripture we find that whenever and however God reveals His will to His people they always know what He is telling them. Nowhere in Scripture do we find stories of believers doubting what God has commanded them to do. I believe that God works the same way today. Though He may make us wait for weeks on end before He reveals His will, once He has told us what to do we know in our hearts what He has commanded. We are often like Gideon however, who, though he never doubted what God asked him to do, did doubt the sanity of God's plan and His ability to accomplish it. So too with us, it is often the case that we know God's will in our hearts but our minds are slow to trust and obey this knowledge.

When you are caught in this cycle of knowing but not trusting, one sure sign that your heart has in fact rightly discerned God's will is that the more you pray about it and surrender yourself to obey it, the more at peace with it you will be. Consider the verse above. It says that God keeps in perfect peace those whose minds are stayed on Him. The verse makes clear that "staying" your mind on God means to trust Him. Looking at other translations of the Bible we see that this trust is steadfast in nature, for other translations render this verse as saying that God keeps in perfect peace he whose mind is "steadfast." So we know that when our mind is steadfastly trusting God that He will keep us in perfect peace, but what does that have to do with discerning God's will?

When you know God's will and you fix your heart and mind on doing that which He has told you to do then you are really fixing your heart and mind on God Himself in steadfast trust, thus the peace of God will follow close behind. If you have a wrong idea about what God has called you to do and you fix your heart and mind on that, then your mind is not fixed on God but on some other plan and the peace of God will not attend it.

Simply put, peace often acts as a confirmation that we are on the right track in responding to what we believe God's revealed will to be. This confirmation is made even more certain when there is no logical reason for us to be filled with such peace. Philippians 4:7 describes God's peace as passing all understanding. So when you have peace that passes all understanding it should be clear that you received it from God. For example, consider a missionary who feels called to minister in a dangerous area. Though they have a healthy concern for their own wellfare, those who are truly called will minister in that area while filled with an inexpressible peace. For Christians the most dangerous situation that is in God's will holds more peace than the most comfortable station outside of it.

Consider now the biblical example of Gideon which we have already looked at in recent weeks. Scripture records that Gideon lacked faith initially. He asked God for several proofs before he chose to trust. He knew in his heart what God's will was but his mind was unwilling to trust and obey that will. One can understand why Gideon struggled though. Scripture records that the Midianite army God sent him to fight consisted of 135,000 soldiers. Once Gideon chose to obey God, he had 32,000. He was outnumbered by more than 4 to 1. Then the Lord pared Gideon's army down to 10,000 which meant he was outnumbered by more than 13 to 1. Finally God removes even more men from Gideon's army until Gideon has only 300 men left. Amazingly God is sending Gideon into battle outnumbered by 450 to 1! Knowing that Gideon would be scared the Lord gives him one last encouraging proof that it is in fact His will for him to fight (see Judges 7:9-14). After that last encouragement we don't find Gideon wringing his hands and worrying about what He should do, because he is finally convinced that this is God's will and that God will give him the victory. Notice Gideon's boldness as he heads to the battle lines.

"When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he bowed down and worshipped. He returned to the camp of Israel and called out, 'Get up! The LORD has given the Midianite camp into your hands.' Dividing the three hundred men into three companies, he placed trumpets and empty jars in the hands of all of them, with torches inside." (Judges 7:15-16) 

In spite of overwhelming odds and a battle plan that must have seemed ridiculous, we see Gideon (who up to this point has been really lacking in both courage and faith) now fully convinced of God's will and moving to the battle line with great peace and courage. His mind was fixed on God, and God was keeping Him in perfect peace. This same peace works as a confirmation in our lives as well. This doesn't mean that obeying God's will should be easy for you or even that you will have no fear. It simply means that you will be filled with a peace concerning it that passes your understanding.

For further reading...

• John 14:27- Christ gives us a peace that can't be taken away.
• Philippians 4:4-7- A peace that passes understanding.
• Colossians 1:19-22- Peace is our birthright.
• Judges 6-8- Check out the whole story of Gideon. It's is filled with biblical treasures.

Knowing God's Will: Good Advice Goes a Long Way

Where there is strife, there is pride, but wisdom is found in those who take advice.

Proverbs 13:10

Listen to advice and accept discipline, and at the end you will be counted among the wise.

Proverbs 19:20

When we are seeking to know God's will and having a hard time hearing it straight from His lips, He sometimes gives us help from more commonplace sources. Last week we talked about open and closed doors and how a change in circumstances may help point us towards God's will for our future. This week we consider what Scripture has to say about asking other people for advice.

It turns out that Scripture puts a lot of credence in seeking counsel from multiple sources before making plans. Proverbs speaks most powerfully to this fact, not only in the passages above but also in passages like Proverbs 12:15, 15:22, & 20:18. I felt the passages above, however, to be especially meaningful to our topic. Look at Proverbs 13:10, "Where there is strife, there is pride, but wisdom is found in those who seek advice." When you are faced with a major life decision, there is usually someone trying to give you advice. You can tune this out or even get angry at them for trying to tell you what to do. (Many of us respond this way when our parents give us advice- no matter how old we are.) But these responses spring from a heart of pride, and, as the verse says, they lead to strife in your relationship. Instead you should humble yourself under the advice of wise counselors and carefully consider what they say.

Now, there are two very important qualifications that you need to consider when accepting advice from other people on what God's will for your life is. First, nowhere does the Bible assume that all advice is equal. Check out Proverbs 9 where Wisdom is personified as a woman trying to lead the people toward understanding and long life while Folly, also personified as a woman, tries to lead them to death. So too there are wise counselors and foolish ones. The advice you are given is only as sound as the judgment of the person from whom you receive it. (For a classic Biblical example of this, check out how Rehoboam's poor choice of advisors led to the Kingdom of Israel being split in two - I Kings 12 and II Chronicles 10.) So choose carefully who you listen to. Have a discerning ear. Seek out the instruction of wise men and women who know the Lord well, who know you well, and who have had a chance to see His work in your life. This gives them some perspective on what He might be up to in your life now.

Second, don't follow other people's advice blindly, no matter how wise they are. Scripture never suggests that you should blindly follow other people's advice instead of doing the hard work of seeking to know God's will on your own. Consider what it is that they have to say. Take it to the Lord in prayer, but don't assume that they speak for God. At the end of the day discerning God's will for your situation is between you and your Father in heaven. The advice of others is one factor to consider, but it is not everything. Avoid the temptation to take the easy way out and have someone else tell you what the right answer is. To do so is cowardly and it robs you of new depths in your relationship with God.

So the next time you are having trouble figuring out what you should do, remember to humble yourself under the advice of wiser men and women. They may just be able to shed some light on your situation, and as Proverbs 19:20 says, "at the end you will be counted among the wise."


For further reading...

• Proverbs 12:15, 15:22, & 20:18: See what else Proverbs has to say about seeking wise counsel.
• Proverbs 9: What a wonderful allegory for our world> People either chose to listen to Maiden Wisdom or to Mistress Folly. 
• I Kings 12: Consider Rehoboam's folly and its repercussions. 
• Galatians 2:1-10: Doesn't Paul serve as an example of seeking wise counsel when he visits with the elders in Jerusalem?

Knowing God's Will: Open and Closed Doors

Gideon said to God, “If you will save Israel by my hand as you have promised—look, I will place a wool fleece on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the fleece and all the ground is dry, then I will know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you said.” And that is what happened. Gideon rose early the next day; he squeezed the fleece and wrung out the dew—a bowlful of water.

Then Gideon said to God, “Do not be angry with me. Let me make just one more request. Allow me one more test with the fleece, but this time make the fleece dry and let the ground be covered with dew.” That night God did so. Only the fleece was dry; all the ground was covered with dew. 

Judges 6:36-40

Who among us hasn't been like Gideon? Who hasn't asked God to work through a Magic 8 Ball we had lying next to our bed or asked Him to send a total stranger to tell us what to do or, my personal favorite, who hasn't blindly opened their Bible and stabbed at a verse to see if it would reveal God's will for their situation? How has that worked out for you? If you are like me, it hasn't worked too well. There may have been times when God showed us extra grace by stooping to our level and playing our childish game; but all in all these aren't what I would call tried and true methods for discerning God's will.

Ironically enough, when we do these things we really aren't behaving that differently from Gideon or from the people of Israel in the Old Testament. This may sound crazy but the Israelites actually had a special set of dice that they called lots. They sometimes cast these lots (or threw the dice) to discern God's will in specific situations. (See the further reading at the end of this post for Scripture references.) So why don't we throw dice in the church anymore? And why don't the methods I mentioned above work better? It is interesting to note that the Bible does not record anyone "fleecing" (asking for signs like Gideon did) or "casting lots" after the day of Pentecost. (That's the day that Jesus gave the Holy Spirit to all of His followers.) It would seem that once God's people had the Holy Spirit living inside of them these other methods of discerning God's will became outdated and obsolete. But sometimes we just need some direction from the Lord that is more concrete. 

Thankfully our God is good and does sometimes use real world, concrete signs to help reveal His will to His children. Over the next few weeks, we are going to look at some of these ways that God helps us. This week we consider open and closed doors, but first a disclaimer. Generally speaking, none of these signs in and of itself definitively reveals God's will for your life with 100% certainty. When several signs point in the same direction, you can gain a sense of God's probable leading. But only when these signs are taken together with much prayer and listening for God's voice, can they really give a believer strong confidence in what God is leading them to do. All of that to say, these are not the end all in knowing God's will for your life. They are helpful, but they should always be considered carefully and with much prayer.

Open and Closed Doors:

The rationale here is that God will make it possible for you to do His will and perhaps even impossible to avoid it. There are times when God legitimately uses this method of revealing/confirming His will to His children. However, I think out of all of the ways that God helps us, this one is the easiest to misread. Sometimes an open door is just an open door. Sometimes God is testing to you to see if you will have the faith to walk away from an opportunity. And although He does sometime stop us from form doing things (see Acts 16:6-10), nowhere in the Bible does it say that God will always prevent you from missing His will. So you need to be careful when weighing open or closed doors as signs of God's will for your life. 

Here are some helpful hints for using this method of discernment. First, an open door is most convincing when you sense God is calling you to do something that is legitimately out of your grasp. Although you sense it His will for you to do it, you are incapable of obeying because some obstacle or closed door prevents you from it. If after you surrender to His leading the closed door suddenly opens, then you may be correctly understanding what He is calling you to do. For example, say that you sense God is calling you to attend a certain college but the college has already rejected your application and didn't even put you on the wait-list. Yet, you can't shake the feeling that God wants you there, so you surrender to attending that college if He will make it possible. Maybe you even take a step of faith and contact the admissions department and ask them to reconsider your application. If within a few weeks you are accepted to that school, then it would certainly seem to be a confirmation that you are on the right track.

I am less convinced when you are looking at a number of options and one door opens before the others. For example, say that you have applied to three colleges and you ask God to reveal His will. One of the three colleges calls you and tells you that you have been accepted. They even offer you a scholarship. This very well may mean that it is God's will for you to go to this school, but it is just as likely that it means the college had a lower number of applicants this year and they are trying to scoop you up before the other colleges take you. Thus, an open door can be a powerful tool that God uses to either reveal or confirm His will for you. But in order to know for sure if this open door is in fact God showing you His will or if it is merely circumstantial, you must turn to prayer. 

Closed doors can be a little harder to read. But certainly anytime you believe you are taking steps of faith toward what God has for you and a door gets shut in your face, it is a good time to reconsider what you think God is telling you. It may be that you are headed in the wrong direction or it may be that God is teaching you perseverance. Again prayer and listening for His guidance will clarify the matter.

For further reading this week...

• Judges 6-8: Read all of Gideon's story
• Leviticus 16:8-10, Proverbs 16:33, Luke 1:9, & Acts 1:15-26: Check out how lots were used in the Old and even in the New Testament.
• Revelation 3:7-11: Jesus places an open door before the church of Philadelphia.
• Colossians 4:3: Paul asks for an open door for the message of the Gospel.
• Acts 16:6-10: God prevents Paul from going to one area to minister so that he will be free to go to another.

Knowing God's Will: A Real Life Example

The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

Psalm 23

Up to this point in this series of posts you may feel like all I have given you is vague generalities. The truth is I wish I could be more specific. I wish that there was a neat mathematical equation for knowing God's will. There simply isn't. Knowing God's will is a spiritual gift and an acquired skill. It is a gift that only God can give and only you can learn to perfect for yourself as you walk through the valleys of life hand-in-hand with your Savior. One thing that may be helpful however, before we move on to some of the more concrete ways God sometimes uses to give us direction, is for us to pause to look at a real life example of how someone has discerned the Lord's will. Since my knowledge of the intimate inner workings of a person's decision making is limited to myself and my wife, I will have to resort to a personal story. It is somewhat fitting however as this post will serve as a sort of review of the journey the Lord has taken my wife and I on over the last year.

Towards the end of 2009 my wife and I felt led to resign our positions at the church where we were both employed at the time. December 31st of 2009 was our last day of work for the first church we had ever served in full-time ministry. We started 2010 unemployed, with no immediate job prospects. Unemployment was at the highest rate it had been in our lifetime, and I was scared. I had felt led by the Lord to resign, but even I had my doubts about the intelligence of doing so. But discerning God's will isn't always about being certain. In fact, I believe that it will always require a step of faith. At its core it is about wholly accepting as true the fact that God knows better than you what you should do in a given situation.

So I started 2010 on a job search that would last six months. At the time it felt like an eternity. In retrospect I can see how blessed I was to find a job so quickly. I applied to churches all across the nation. In total I believe I applied to more than 75 total. I was desperate for a job. A few months into the search a church in rural Georgia began to show interest. After several phone interviews and even one face-to-face meeting the church told us that we were their top choice. They wanted to move forward and have us come down and meet the people. This will sound crazy but almost immediately I wished I wasn't their first choice. Although we lacked any really clear direction from the Lord, Stacy and I both had an uneasy feeling about this position. I couldn't imagine walking away from what looked like a solid job offer, the only thing resembling a job offer we had received in months, but we simply didn't have a peace about moving forward either. One thing I have learned is that part of discerning God's will is listening to the counsel of wise people in your life. I value my wife's opinion and when she validated the uneasy feeling I already had, it was a big red flag to me. Add to that the fact that God had not indicated to us in any way that He was calling us to go to this church, and Stacy and I felt like we had no choice. We hesitantly walked away. I wasn´t 100% sure it was the right decision when we made it. At the time it was a step of faith, but within a very short period of time Stacy and I were both very confident with the decision. This leads to another important point: Sometimes silence is God's means of showing His will.

After we turned down the opportunity to move forward with the church in Georgia, there was a long drought in our job search. After several months, in order to bring in some money for the family, I took a job as a teller at a bank more than 30 minutes away from our house. I felt like I was on a spiritual island. The Lord was strangely silent. The clear direction that He had given me so freely in the past now seemed absent. In this time I learned that discerning the Lord's will often begins with silence. This silence may seem to drag on forever, but we serve a God who doesn't leave His children in silence forever. He will speak in His time.

Finally about four months into the job search things started to heat up. After several rounds of phone interviews there were two churches near Washington D.C. and one in Nashville that were still interested in us. I was on an airplane returning from an all day face-to-face interview with one of the churches near D.C. when I began once again to plead with God for some direction. I was asking God simple questions and hoping for some sort of an answer. "Lord do you want me to work at this job in Northern Virginia? Do you want us to take this position in Maryland? God is it your will for me to work at Haywood Hills Baptist Church in Nashville?" As I sat in the plane and prayed, God finally gave me that moment of clarity I had been seeking after for so many months. No hoopla or fanfare, just quiet assurance and confidence that I was being called to serve at Haywood Hills. It was hard to believe at first. I hadn't even met anyone from the church. I was set to have my first face-to-face interview with them in just a few days, and I hardly knew anything about the church. Over and over again I repeated that question to the Lord for weeks. Consistently and patiently He gave me the same answer every time. A quiet assurance in my gut, in my heart, and in my mind that this was what He was calling me to do.

The problem now was timing. Haywood Hills was still at a fairly early stage in their hiring process. I was one of three candidates with no guarantee that they would pick me. In the meantime two of the churches I had been interviewing with told me that I was their number one choice and they wanted to move forward. Stacy and I knew that God had called us to Haywood Hills, but what if the church didn't get the same direction? These other churches wanted an answer from us now, and we weren't going to hear back from Haywood Hills for a few more weeks. Again, with some fear, Stacy and I took a step of faith. We told the other churches that although we did not have any desire to shut the door on them completely, we did finally feel that God had revealed His will to us and that He was leading us in another direction. We didn't feel that it would be right to allow them to fly us out for further interviews and meetings without them knowing our hearts were elsewhere. The churches chose to wait, Stacy and I waited, and I am sure that Haywood Hills also waited for our sovereign Lord to work everything out in His timing.

Waiting is an apt characterization of discerning God's will. This spiritual discipline often involves much waiting. It involves acknowledging that we are not in control and that He is. That we do not know what is best for us, and that He does. That we are completely dependent upon Him for our every need, and that we will continue to wait until He chooses to light our path in His timing.

In the end, God proved faithful. Haywood Hills also felt the Lord's leading and the church voted almost unanimously to call me to serve as their Minister to Youth and Children. And because of the long process that our Lord took us through, Stacy and I know for absolute certain that this is where we have been called to serve which brings us real peace. In the end what started as perhaps the most difficult thing that Stacy and I had ever experienced became our greatest blessing. Walking through this storm with our Savior taught us so much more about God's goodness and trustworthiness than we ever would have learned otherwise. There are some things you just can't learn by reading about them. I believe that the full magnitude of God's faithfulness is one of those things. I hope that you get the chance to experience that goodness in real life ways just like I did, even if it involves walking with Him and discerning His will through difficult situations.

Knowing God's Will: Hearing God's Voice

"So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

"Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"

Luke 11:9-13

I have spent two weeks trying to convince you that when you are seeking God's will it is best to begin not with trying to hear voices from heaven but rather by digging into God's Word and trying to get to know Him better. We tend to skip over these steps in the discernment process, but I think that we can determine God's answer for 80-90% of our questions just by doing these two things. It's that other 10-20% that causes us anxiety, however; because it often includes some of our biggest life decisions. So how do you know God's will when the Bible doesn't give you an answer?

Well first, we must ask ourselves this question, "Does God still give direct guidance/leading to His people?" Some would say no, but let’s look at what the Bible has to say. If you search the Scriptures you will find plenty of evidence that God does in fact speak to his people (Matt 4:1, Luke 2:26-27, John 16:13, Acts 8:29, Acts 9:10-12, Acts 10:19, Acts 13:4, Acts 16:6-7, Acts 20:23, Romans 8:14, I Corinthians 2:9-16) and no evidence that His interaction with His people has changed. But how do you know God's will? Do you hear an audible voice? Do you feel it your gut? How do you know?

I believe that hearing God’s voice is both a gift from the Holy Spirit and an acquired skill. I Corinthians 12:4-10 contains a list of spiritual gifts and in this list is a gift referred to as “distinguishing between spirits.” Think about it. Anytime you are trying to make a decision, you have to distinguish between a number of voices (spirits) that weigh in on the matter. You have your own voice (your desires on the issue), the voices of your friends and loved ones, the voice of God, and Satan is surely trying to influence you as well. I believe that this passage indicates that the ability to distinguish between these voices and specifically to identify what God is saying is a spiritual gift.

Now there are many spiritual gifts, and we do not possess them all. Therefore, if you haven’t heard God “speak” to you, you don’t need to feel like you are a second class Christian in God's eyes. You just may not have this spiritual gift yet. However, Paul does tell us to “eagerly desire the gifts of the Spirit” (I Corinthians 14:1). So the ability to know and discern the voice of God in your life is a gift to be desired and sought after. 

But knowing God’s will is also an acquired skill. Let me explain. When I was in college I was discipled by a man who told me how he had learned to better hear God’s voice. During a time in his life when he felt disconnected from God and was longing to know His will for his life, he decided to set aside one day a week to have a doubly long quiet time. For him this meant having an hour quiet time on Saturdays. During that hour on Saturdays, he got alone with the Lord and prayed a simple prayer. He asked the Lord to let him hear His voice, and then he sat silently. He didn’t pray very much or even read his Bible, he just sat and listened for what God might have to say. At first, his mind was full of thoughts and busyness, but after about 3 or 4 weeks of setting aside one extra long quiet time of just sitting and listening, he began to hear the Lord speak. Over time he got better and better at discerning God's will.

Some of you may be thinking, "That's great but how will I know when I hear His voice!?" If you look at the Bible stories in which people receive direction from God you will find that when God speaks to His people, they always know  two things: 1) that God spoke to them and 2) what He told them to do. Our God doesn't mince words. He gives clear guidance. Nowhere in the Bible will you find people questioning whether or not God led them to do something. When God leads, you know it. You may not like it, but you know it. This has proven true in my own experience and in the experiences that others have shared with me. When God speaks you do not hear an audible voice (although this is not beyond Him), it doesn’t register with your ears—it registers in your soul. You probably won’t be able to explain how God spoke to you but you will know that He spoke and you will know His will. 

That may not seem very helpful. It isn't the easy answer that you may have wanted. But the fact of the matter is that until you experience receiving guidance from the Holy Spirit that God has placed inside of you as a Christian, you probably won't understand. Here's some god news though. In Luke 11:9-13 God gives you an open door. He says “Ask me and I’ll give it to you. Knock and I’ll open the door for you. Search for it and you will find it!” Then He goes on to specifically promise that He will give the Holy Spirit to anyone who asks for it. This is a promise that God has made to you. Ask Him for His Holy Spirit. Ask Him to reveal His will to you. Ask Him to help you hear His voice, and trust Him to do so. I challenge you this week to ask God to reveal Himself to you in a new way. Sit and listen expectantly. You might be surprised at what you hear. 

For further reading this week…

• I Corinthians 12:4-10: Check out this list of spiritual gifts.
• Matt 4:1, Luke 2:26-27, John 16:13, Acts 8:29, Acts 9:10-12, Acts 10:19, Acts 13:4, Acts 16:6-7, Acts 20:23, Romans 8:14, I Corinthians 2:9-16: Does God still give direct guidance to His people?
• Genesis 12:1-4 & Genesis 22:1-8: Notice how Abraham never questions God's will once he has spoken. He wasn't confused when God called him to leave his family and country. He didn't even seem unsure of what God had said when He commanded him to sacrifice his son. 

Knowing God's Will Starts with Knowing God

"Show me your ways, LORD, teach me your paths."

 Psalm 25:4

We are taking a few weeks to look at how a person can know what God's will for their life is. Unfortunately, there are no easy answers to this question; there are, however, some general guidelines that have proven helpful in my own life. Last week I shared one of those with you, namely that we have a tendency to look to God for some special revelation when we really don't need one. Our first stop in determining God's will for our lives should be to look at what His revealed will (that is the Word of God) has to say about it. If He has already told us in Scripture, then we don't need any further revelation.

Scripture does not give us every answer to every question though. Last week I used the example of who you're supposed to marry. The Bible won't tell you your future spouse's name, or which college to attend, or which job to take. When you find yourself in one of these situations - where Scripture really doesn't give you a clear answer - there are a few principles that can be helpful in determining the Lord's will. We'll spend the next few weeks looking at these. Today I want to focus in on just one that I believe is the most important, and I want to start by telling you a story.

 Last year at youth camp some of the counselors were giving the kids mohawks. A few of the boys in my group wanted to get them, and I told them it was between them and their parents. It wasn't until I was on my way home with two teenage boys with less than perfectly straight mohawks that one of the teenagers, Phil, told me that he hadn't actually called his mom and asked permission. He and I talked about what his mom's response might be when she came to pick her son up from youth camp and he had a mohawk. We both agreed that his mom was different than most moms and would probably think it was pretty cool. If I remember correctly her exact words were, "That's pretty rad!" 

Obviously, Phil should have asked his mom for permission and he shouldn't have lied to me about it. But forget all of that for minute and focus in on the fact that he didn't need to ask his mom for permission because  he knew her well enough to know what she would say. My mom and dad would have been furious, but not Phil's. And in the same way that I wouldn't have bothered to ask my mom for permission to get a mohawk (because I know what her answer would have been), so too Phil didn't bother because he knew what his mom's answer would be. 

I believe that the same is true of God... to a certain extent. The more you know Him, the more you get a sense of what His will is. This doesn't mean that you are always right or that you don't need to ask God. Sometimes, our Lord will flat out surprise you, but it is a good starting place. The more you know God, the more you can get a general feel for what His will might be, and that's a good place to start asking for more specific guidance.

So how do you go about getting to know a God who at one and the same time both desires to be known by you (Jer 9:23-24) and is so far beyond you (Is 55:8-9) that you could never know Him perfectly? By attentively seeking knowledge at the hands of the only One who has it and is capable of giving it away: the Lord Himself. Seek this knowledge wherever God offers it: in the Bible, in His creation, in prayer. 

I know that this probably isn't what you wanted to hear. If you are like me you want to know how to get immediate answers to your problems and questions because that is what is important to you. But God isn't a big Coke machine in the sky. You can't just insert a certain number of "prayer quarters" and push the desired request button and expect an answer to pop out all cool and refreshing everytime. People wouldn't allow themselves to be used that way and neither does God.

You see God has different priorities than you do. You may be completely focused on getting the answer to your question, but God isn't. What is most important to God - what has always been most important to Him- is not quick and definite answers but relationship. Yes, I believe God does want us to know His will, but He is most concerned with giving us His answers in a way and in a time that maximizes growth in our relationship with Him. In other words, if you want to know His will on these more difficult questions, the best place to start is by getting to know Him. 

For further reading this week…

• Colossians 1:15-20, Hebrews 1:1-3, & John 14:6-14: The only perfect way to know God.
• Isaiah 55:8-9 & Romans 11:33-34: To a certain extent, God is unknowable.
• Jeremiah 9:23-24 & Revelation 21:1-4: Yet He desires to be known by you.

The Big Red Phone

 "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--His good, pleasing and perfect will."

Romans 12:2

Do you remember the big red phone that would show up in old TV shows and movies? Whenever there was a major crisis, they would cut to a shot of the main character sitting by a big red phone. This phone was a direct line to the President, and the main character was waiting to receive a call. The phone would ring and everyone would fall silent. This was the moment! The main character would slowly pick up the phone and receive instructions that would save the world.

Well, I wish talking to God was like that. I want a big red phone that gives me a direct line to Him. When I have a big decision to make, I want to simply send my question up in a prayer and then wait for His call- God's will for my life delivered nice and neat and in a heavenly voice. No doubts. No second-guessing. Just clear direction. Unfortunately, that’s not how God works.

Don't get me wrong. I don't believe that our heavenly Father wants to keep us guessing. But it does seem like either God doesn't communicate with His followers as clearly as He used to or we seriously need a lesson in how to tune our ears to His frequency. I think it's the latter. In fact, I think that numerous Bible passages (like the one above) promise that if we truly seek God's will, He will reveal it to us. It isn't always in our timing, but doesn't it make sense that if we want to do what God wants us to do that He would show us what that is?   

Yet, there seems to be confusion surrounding this issue on all sides. During my time in ministry, I have been asked more questions about knowing God’s will than almost any thing else. Many people I encounter feel like maybe they are less than good Christians because they haven't heard God speak to them in some amazing way. Other people, seem to find divine messages everywhere. They praise God for supplying them with a parking spot at the mall. They even tell of how He spoke directly to them while they were eating their lunch. Then there are those who seem convinced that God has told them to do awful things. They blow up buildings and murder abortionists because they heard "a voice from heaven". All of this leaves us very confused. Certainly, it would be easier if there were a “God” phone, but there isn’t. So how can we know when God is talking to us?

I wish that there were an easy answer to this question. There simply isn’t, but there are some Biblical guidelines that are very helpful. They have proven true in my own life and in the lives of those around me. I want to spend a few weeks detailing these for you. I hope they will illuminate your path to knowing God's will as well. 

This week I want to say that many of us rely way too much on asking God what His will is. We want some spiritual version of the magic eight ball that constantly tells us what to do. God doesn’t work this way. He has given us the Bible to guide and direct our lives; He wants us to use it. Many of the answers to our questions can be found in the Bible, and it should always be our first step in trying to figure out what God wants us to do. If you have a big decision to make, go find out what the Bible has to say about it first, before you do anything else. If the Bible deals specifically with it, then you already know God’s will. You don’t have to ask for some special revelation. He’s already told you what to do.

As we all know, there are times when the Bible just doesn’t seem to address our specific problem. The Bible can’t tell us who to marry for instance. It tells us what type of person we should marry; it does not tell us what their first and last name will be or when and where we will meet them. It is in these circumstances that we begin to seek God’s face for specific guidance. And it is in these circumstances that we most want a big red phone. But we must always start by being faithful with what the Lord has already given us.

Have you been faithful to search out God's Word for what it does reveal about His will? Maybe it doesn't give you specific direction about whether or not you should accept that job, but what does it reveal about Christians and work? What does it say about making decisions? Being faithful in this regard goes way beyond merely going to the Bible when we have questions. We must learn to feed ourselves a steady diet of God's revealed will from His word so that we will be prepared ahead of time for what He has in store for us. Romans 12:2 tells us that if we are transformed by the renewing of our mind, then we will know God's will. I believe that the way to renew our mind is to fill it with the truth of God's Word. If it is true that consistently studying God's Word renews our mind and transforms us into His image, then according to this promise, doing so will also enable us to know God's will. Stop and feed on God's precious Word today. "Taste and see that the Lord is good" (Psalm 34:8).


For further reading this week…

• Luke 11:1-13: Is God asking us to pester Him?
• Luke 18:1-8: It really sounds like He doesn't wants us to give up.
• James 1:5: Isn't knowing God's will a type of wisdom?
• II Tim 3:16-17: Scripture is useful.