Discerning Direction - God's Word and Will

 

 (Arvind Balaraman - FreeDigitalPhotos.net)

(Please see Henry Blackaby's book Experiencing God for the original collection of the 4 ways God often communicates His will to us). 

In discerning God's will for an area of one's life, there are many subjective arenas to consider. Did I correctly hear God in that still small voice?  Was the occurrence today God trying to speak to me?  The list of gray areas may be many, but there is a foundation, a grid through which we should view the uncertain or unclear ways in which God is trying to communicate to us.  That grid is the Word of God, The Bible.

In a situation where we are unclear, it is always best to start with what we know.  If I were to receive a phone call from my wife that our daughter is sick, I would begin the process of discussion by framing what we know and what we don't know.  "Is she sleeping a lot?  Is she breathing?  Is she coughing?"  As I gained information and eliminated the more serious maladies, I would start to hone in on what our next step might be - I might conclude that a visit to the emergency room is not necessary and that we can wait until tomorrow to see the pediatrician.  We start with what we know, we gain what insights on what we can be sure of and thus we begin to build a framework from which we can move forward.

So it is with the Bible.  Though there can be uncertainty in discerning God's will, what we can stand on is the certainty of God's Word.  (The objective strength of the Bible can verified by many researchers, theologians, and historians, so we will leave that area of discussion for other and another day.  If you are interested, you can view the video at the bottom of this post).  The revealed will of God is multi-faceted but all of the Bible describes this will.  Does God want me to be sexually pure?   Thessalonians 4:3 reads, "It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality."  Does God want me to help people come to follow Jesus and His ways?  Matthew 28:18-20 reads, "Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." 

If we are unsure of God's will for our life, we can find His revealed will explained to us in The Bible.  It's also interesting to note two things here.  First, I'd note that much of God's will for His people is less concerned with the "what" they do and much more focused around the "who" that they are (and are becoming, which is to look like Christ [Galatians 4:19]).  Secondly, it's interesting to see how much of God's will for us is actually explained in His Word.  More times than not, God has spoken (whether directly or indirectly) about the issue on which we are seeking direction.

God's will is best understood in God's Word. 

- tC