Before I Guide You . . .
Making the right decision can be very difficult. It becomes increasingly difficult when you have two or three good options from which to choose. The questions that seemingly cause me the most stresses are the ones where the Bible does not specifically address: Where should I live? What should be my life’s work/career? Who should I marry? How many children should we have? Who should I hire? Should I take the job in Texas or the one in Minnesota? We have a heavenly Father who loves us, knows the future, and desires to give us the best he has for us. But, before we receive guidance from God for our lives, there are some things that should be true of us. Over the next few days, I will be posting a limited list of prerequisites in the form of questions. Here is the first question:
1. Have I chosen to follow Jesus and let him reign in my life? Matthew 6:31-33
God will guide us when we have chosen to submit to the reign and leadership of Jesus. If we have not made the decision to follow him in the most important area, that is, to love him and seek his kingdom values, then why should he give us guidance/direction in other areas in our lives?
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Tags: Calling, God's Will, Guidance, Priorities
August 19th, 2010 at 1:25 am
Great post. I agree decisions are hard. I was struggling with a decision a while ago and just felt stuck. I knew I should have been praying about it but I have to say that I was nervous about what God was going to tell me. I was seeking advise everywhere, but then finally I just prayed and made a decision. I know the Lord wants the best for me so the best things was to let him guide me.
August 19th, 2010 at 12:17 pm
I love these questions that make you think! What I struggle with in addition to the letting go part, is the aftermath that sometimes I feel when I believe I did hear God and yet I feel now barraged with so many other issues that I did not anticipate or plan on. Then I start to doubt and then I sometimes giggle to think I hope no one can see inside my head because they would think I was nuts. There is a war inside my head and I am arguing with the doubt and with what I believe God had said to me and I am continually telling myself, you can trust God with the aftermath too. He has a plan and if I believe I did hear Him, I have to work then on not judging or doubting myself but taking a breath and believing…taking that next step of faith when I can't see the path!
August 19th, 2010 at 2:46 pm
Here is a perspective maybe over the course of this series maybe you can address. In an example like single moms or divorcees I believe that is not God’s will. However could it be said that initially we make mistakes but if we ask God to forgive us and truly repent although the initial act of premarital relations or the act of divorce for non-Biblical reasons is not His will. Through His forgiveness He can take that path we went outside His will and chose and use it to grow the person and show His glory through it. Inquiring minds want to know. I work with pre-teens/teens and although it has not come up yet, I would like to gather opinions and perspectives.
August 20th, 2010 at 9:19 am
[...] days I have introduced two questions to position us for God’s guidance. In addition to the first and second question, here is a third question I think is extremely important for us to ask if we [...]
August 20th, 2010 at 11:26 pm
@ Lowell
I have been a single mom, and a divorcee, and I can tell you that God can take our mistakes and use them, not only for His glory, but to bring about blessing to us when we do choose to obey. Now, does that mean 'sin all the more that Grace may abound"? You'd have to decide that for yourself, but I know I wish I didn't have to learn how to bring about God's glory and recieve blessing after repentence! Someday, I hope to just live in the obedience=blessing zone…but I'm a slow learner. I am so glad I have a patient Abba.
August 21st, 2010 at 8:03 am
[...] (Where I should live, who I should marry, where should I work or attend school). I hope the first, second and third questions were helpful to you as you seek guidance from our heavenly Father. Here [...]
September 1st, 2010 at 2:00 pm
When you first posted this, I was not ready to respond. I was lost in my own selfishness, my own desires. Whenever I encountered what basically boils down to "submitting to Christ," I played dumb, reading the Bible daily acting like I didn't know what Christ's will was while indulging in sin.
There's a reason why Lecrae drops a reference to Luke 9 in practically all his albums. A key line reads, "Then he said to them all: 'If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me'" (23).
I have had to remember that submission is a daily thing. I have made the mistake of thinking I could take days off, submitting to Christ on Sunday through Tuesday, have my own day on Wednesday, then submit again Thursday through Friday, where we observe a Sabbath, and indulging in debauchery on Saturday.
Lord I am ready for you to take this sin out of me, or as they say in CR, for you to remove my character defects. I can only serve one master. You.
Amen.