A little over a year ago, life was somewhat interesting. We were living in a camper, I had an office job in a Factory in Mexico, Missouri, but we knew things were about to change. I had two churches that were seriously considering hiring me, and I was torn as to where I was supposed to go. At the time neither had offered me a job, but I wanted to hear from God just to be prepared. My favorite saying at the time was: “I wish God would just send me a text, but He never does.” And I was right, but that doesn’t mean that He didn’t speak.
The problem is not that God doesn’t speak, it’s usually more of a problem of us listening. God had given me all types of information; I just wasn’t paying nearly as much attention as I should have been, or even thought I was. I just wanted to be told what to do, and not have to make a decision.
Maybe it’s just me, but what I’ve noticed is that If I don’t hear what I want to hear, then I believe “obviously I didn’t hear from God.” We tend to only listen when we believe that it is God, and He is telling us exactly what we want to hear. Other than that, we are content to wait until God gives us the answer that we do want. The real question though is: How do we know what God is saying? Or a better question might be: How does God speak to us today?
Whenever we ask for something specific, we see three answers in Scripture, “Yes” (John 15:7, 1 John 5:14-15), “No” (2 Corinthians 12:7-9, Matthew 26:39) or “Wait” (Psalms 27:14, Psalms 40:1, Abraham had to wait 25 years for Isaac). And when He say’s “No” it tends to be clear. If it’s not, we keep praying until it is. But when it comes to trying to decipher God’s will when we have choices to make, that’s when it gets tougher.
While I believe that I see this pattern in Scripture, it might just be my understanding, but often times, there is more than one “acceptable” choice. God has a preferred direction for us, but other choices aren’t necessarily wrong. I truly believe God brought us to Pleasant Grove, however had we chosen the other church, I don’t know that it would have been wrong, and I believe God would have blessed the ministry there as well. Obviously, God’s preferred choice should be our goal, and it’s what is likely the choice that will bless us the most, but that doesn’t make other options wrong.
When it comes to seeking God’s preferred choice, how do we know what that is? I want to look at five standards that should help up in making those determinations.
- God is never going to tell us anything that is contrary to His established Word
John 1:1 says “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” Making it clear that what Scripture says is the equivalent to God Himself. That’s just a different way of saying that if you want to know what God is saying, open His Word and listen. God will never tell you anything that is contrary to what His Word already says. So, the first place to go for answers is always God’s Word. If you are making a decision that clearly goes against God’s Word, you know that is a decision that did not come from God.
- We need to be willing to surrender personal desires in order to truly hear God’s plan.
We always need to keep in mind that as believers, our choices should be about His glory and not our own personal preferences, so when it comes to listening to God to make choices, we need to set our own preferences aside. The fact of the matter is, God has better plans for us than we can likely even dream and we miss out on them because we want our way. Jesus Himself when faced with his personal preferences over what God’s will was, flat out said, “Not my will, but yours, be done” (Luke 22:42b). Jesus set the example that we need to follow when we pray.
- God’s voice, when followed, will bring peace, not confusion
Often times when we are making a decision, we know that one will create way more stress than the other. (Of course, that is usually the choice that we wanting to make.) but that is not what God wants for us. 1 Corinthians 14:33 tells us “For God is not a God of confusion but of peace.” That was actually one of the deciding factors on our church decision. While we felt a lot of positive from one of the churches, we sensed that the search committee was not on the same page about what they were looking for, which gave an indication that the church might not be united. A church divided has internal battles to overcome before they can ever expect to be successful in reaching outsiders. We’ll never know the headaches that we may have avoided, by making the choice that we made.
- Obedience to His voice will produce Godly behavior, not worldly actions.
When we are seeking God for guidance with a decision, we really need to think through what we are praying for. When we consider our options, what is the Godlier choice? Are we seeking His will, or our own? While it’s not wrong to ask for personal preferences, God actually encourages it, it would be wrong to ask for something that is clearly against God’s written Word. This is basically what James tells us in James 4:2-3 “You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.” So if we are asking God’s will trying to decern what He is telling us, it’s a safe bet that the option that glorifies Him more, or the one that draws us closer to Him would be the one that is His will.
- God will usually back up what He is telling you through Godly counsel.
One of the ways that we can discern God’s will is through Godly people. Proverbs 11:14 tells us, “Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety.”
That tells me, that it never hurts to get other people’s views. Of course, they are not God, so they may not be right, but if you have four or five Godly people telling you the same thing, there is a good chance that that is the direction that God wants you to go.
The enemy will try to twist things and confuse you, but if you are diligent in prayer, God tends to make it clear. When we were trying to figure out which church God wanted for us, we went back and forth, based on all the information that we were given, and we were given some false information. I was told by one source some information that made it clear that we didn’t want to come to Pleasant Grove, and that the other church was the best option. The more research that I did, the more people that I talked to, the more I realized how unlikely it was that what I was told was true. Ultimately between that, the wavering search committee from the other church, and lots of prayer, God made it clear that Pleasant Grove was where he wanted us. He even confirmed that for us with a unanimous vote.
Scripture is clear James 1:5 says “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given to him.” So when you’re truly seeking God’s guidance on a decision, keep these things in mind, but be sure to spend lots of time in prayer as well, and He will make it clear for you.
Thank you for reading this, as always, I would encourage you to spend time in His Word, in prayer and in the fellowship of other believers. And if you haven’t visited already, I would encourage you to come visit our little church on the hill, it’s worth the drive.
Bro. Jason
❤️