God Shows Us the Way

Chuckle: A boy thought this line in the Lord's Prayer was, "Lead a snot into temptation," and meant he was praying for his little sister to get into trouble.

Quote: "Seek in reading and thou shalt find in meditation; knock in prayer and it shall be opened to thee in contemplation." --St John of the Cross

Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it" (Isaiah 30:21 NIV).

How can I know for certain what God's will is for my life? I'm pretty sure you have asked a similar question at some time in your life. As Christians, knowing and obeying God's will should be our primary focus in everything we do. Our passage tells us that God will make His will known to us if we are listening for His voice. There have been times in my life when I was focused on doing what I thought was best while hoping God would agree with me. What a terrible mistake it is to decide on a course of action and then ask God to bless you in that decision.

If you are seeking to know God's will for your life, you must listen for His voice before you decide which way you will go, not afterwards. For us to hear God's guiding voice, we must be listening. We must have our hands cupping our spiritual ears, so to speak, for fear that we might miss something God is saying to us. The secret is walking so close to our Lord each day that his guiding us is a foregone conclusion. But, let's face it, sometimes we don't want to hear God's voice because we know He will tell us to do something we really don't want to do. This is when our total devotion to Him becomes suspect.

God's voice comes to us in many ways if we are really listening: through His written Word; through His indwelling Holy Spirit; through prayer; through other people; and even through circumstances He allows, or causes, us to experience. Sometimes God's voice is muffled by our lack of attention and we find ourselves confused and uncertain about which path to take. But, often it isn't that God's will is obscure, but that we are unwilling to hear and obey. I think it was Mark Twain who said something like this: "It isn't what I don't understand in the Bible that gives me the most trouble, but rather it's what I do understand."

One thing is certain, God's voice will never tell us to do something that is contrary to the written instructions in His Word. Like Mark Twain, we often understand a lot more about God's will than we are willing to admit and follow. Complete surrender of our wills to God will cure our spiritual deafness and allow us to hear more clearly the guiding voice of God.

"I guide you in the way of wisdom and lead you along straight paths. When you walk, your steps will not be hampered; when you run, you will not stumble" (Proverbs 4:11-12 NIV).

Love, Jerry & Dotse