God doesn’t hide His will.
I love my son. I’m not indifferent to the choices he makes. But I care much more about our relationship than him simply doing the specific things that I think are best.
God’s first concerns aren’t usually the same as ours.
No matter what “it” is, it’s not as important as the overall character of your life. God is more concerned with your character than your success. While we tend to focus on the “what” and “where” questions, God draws us back to the “who” and “why” questions.
Intimacy with God leads to faith in God.
-Intimacy creates knowledge.
-Intimacy comes through prayer.
-Knowledge leads to faith.
There are different forms of knowledge. To know God’s will is to hear God’s voice (‘vocation’ comes from Latin vocare meaning ‘voice’). Intimacy creates knowledge.
“The word ‘obedience’ comes from the Latin word ob-audire, which means to listen with great attentiveness. Without listening, we become ‘deaf’ to the voice of love. The Latin word for deaf is surdus. To be completely deaf is to be absurdus, yes, absurd. When we no longer pray, no longer listen to the voice of love that speaks to us in the moment, our lives become absurd lives in which we are thrown back and forth between the past and the future.” -Henri Nouwen, Here and Now
Without faith it’s impossible to please God.
Why? God gives us promptings, never proof. Doubts aren’t the opposite of faith, in fact, they usually co-exist. You just need more faith than doubt to keep moving forward.
“Don’t’ go with the flow. Flow with the go.” Go where you see God’s blessing.
The vast majority of God’s will for your life is laid out in Scripture.
Embody the counter-cultural virtues in Scripture that reflect the character of God (simplicity, purity, selflessness). God’s version of a blessed life is not a baptized version of the American Dream.
Small steps of obedience lead to larger steps.
Faith is like a muscle and needs to be exercised.
God will meet all of your needs according to His riches in glory. (Phil. 4:19)
“God’s work done God’s way will never lack God’s supply!” –Hudson Taylor
The principle of multiplication, as found in Jesus’ feeding of the 5,000:
1) God must bless something before it can multiply.
2) It must be given away before it can multiply.
God will never lead you to do something that contradicts the Bible.
Make sure “it” doesn’t contradict Scripture.
There’s great wisdom in a multitude of counselors. (Proverbs 15:22)
Seek the counsel of people who have deep and consistent prayer lives.
Start reading great biographies. Such books help reorient our perspective to God’s kingdom. We’re influenced by our culture in so many ways that we’re unaware of. Such stories provide a beautiful prophetic critique and encouragement to our faith.
Some of the one’s I’ve enjoyed lately:
Hudson Taylor’s Spiritual Secret
“Protestant Saints” by Ernest Gordan.
Once you’ve sought God’s leading in prayer, searched the Scriptures, and laid out your question/hope/dream before wise counsel, feel released to “go unless you get a no,” trusting that “whether you turn left or right, you will hear God’s voice behind you saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it!'” (Isaiah 30:21)
