How God speaks to us Talk 19 Other ways God guides us
In recent talks we have identified five ways in which God may speak to us directly without involving other people:
- By his audible voice
- By angels
- By dreams and visions
- By supernatural signs
- By promptings, the inner voice of his Spirit
Today we’re going to consider other ways in which God may guide us. Throughout this series we’ve been discussing ways in which God may speak to us. But he sometimes guides us without speaking at all. If we have learned to live by the principles taught in Scripture, we will be guided by them into the right paths. In fact, the more we live by those principles the less we will need the promptings we were talking about in the last talk.
But, of course, we need both. The principles of Scripture are the general guidelines by which we should live. The promptings of the Spirit are more specific, giving us direction as to what to do in any given situation, but of course they will never conflict with the principles taught in the Bible.
One of the questions that is often asked by young Christians is, How can I know the will of God? It’s a good question, because as Christians we should certainly want to do his will. In 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 Paul reminds us that we are not our own, we were bought at a price. We belong to God, and we are followers of Jesus who always did God’s will1, even when it meant dying on the cross to save us from our sins
So how can we find the will of God for our lives? Much of the answer to this question is to be found in some of the things we’ve already said. God’s will for our life is that we live in obedience to his word, which is a lamp for our feet and a light on our path (Psalm 119:105). And when we’re living in obedience to its teaching, we can expect God to guide us with regard to the specific details. This guidance may come through any of the ways we’ve already talked about, but the Lord may also be guiding us silently by:
- The trend of circumstances
- Open and closed doors
- The gifts and talents he has given us.
The trend of circumstances
God has a plan for our lives and is constantly working everything out in conformity with the purpose of his will (Ephesians 1:11). He is in complete control of all the circumstances that surround us, even when things appear to be going terribly wrong.
After Stephen was stoned in Acts 7 there was a great persecution of Christians, most of whom fled from Jerusalem and were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. Some even travelled as far as Antioch and Cyprus. But as a result there was a revival in Samaria (Acts 8) and a very large church was planted in Antioch (Acts 11:20).
Acts 16:6-10 might well be another example:
6 Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia.
7 When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to.
8 So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas.
9 During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.”
10 After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.
In obedience to the great commission and God’s call upon his life (Acts 9:15, 26:17-18) Paul is on his second missionary journey. So he is already doing the will of God, but he’s unsure of where he should go next. Verse 6 tells us that he was kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. We’re not told how, but it might well have been through the trend of circumstances.
Next, Paul tries to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit will not allow him to (v7). Then, in the night, he has a vision of a man from Macedonia saying, Come over to Macedonia and help us and Paul finally knows what he has to do. It seems that guidance possibly came in three different ways – the trend of circumstances (v6), a word from the Spirit (v7), and a vision in the night (v9).
But although it’s not entirely clear how the Holy Spirit told Paul not to go to Bithynia, what’s particularly significant in this passage is that Paul gets the guidance he needs while he’s already doing what he knows God has called him to do.
This reminds me of Eliezer, Abraham’s servant, who in Genesis 24 is sent to look for a wife for Isaac. He makes his way to the town of Nahor and comes to a well just outside the town. He gets his ten camels to kneel down and decides to ask the Lord for a sign. He will ask one of the young women who comes to draw water from the well to give him a drink. But if she’s the woman he’s looking for, she’s to offer to draw water for the camels as well! And, of course, that’s what happens!
The story is well-known. But notice what Eliezer says in verse 27. The Lord has led me on the journey. Undoubtedly the Lord was leading him throughout his journey, but the specific guidance he needed came well after Eliezer had set out on his journey. In the same way, it’s as we get on with the job that God has already given us to do, that we get the guidance we need.
Open and closed doors
Another thing that results from the fact that God is in complete control of circumstances is that he sometimes directs our steps by opening and closing doors. In Revelation 3:7-8 we read:
What he opens no-one can shut, and what he shuts no-one can open… See I have placed before you an open door.
In my final year at Oxford I was praying about what my next step should be. I had been studying for a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics and my plan was now to go to a Bible College to prepare for the ministry God had called me to. So I applied to London Bible College, fully anticipating that they would accept me for their course leading to the London University Bachelor of Divinity Degree.
On the application form, which required me to include a testimony of my Christian experience, I made reference to the baptism in the Holy Spirit. This led to a number of questions at the interview, and it became clear to me that they were suspicious of Pentecostals. So I wasn’t entirely surprised when, a few days later, I received a letter saying that they thought I would be happier at a Pentecostal Bible College2
Although I felt that their decision was unjust, I reminded myself of the injustice that Joseph had experienced at the hands of his brothers and his recognition later that God had intended it for good (Genesis 37 and 45). God, not the college faculty, had shut the door on LBC. So I considered applying to Kenley, the Assemblies of God Bible College, where Donald Gee, a world-renowned Bible teacher, was then the Principal. So I sent off for the application forms.
However, people were telling me that I didn’t need to go to Bible College. I had been preaching since I was fourteen years old, and the Holy Spirit was already using me in teaching and leading others into the experience of the baptism in the Holy Spirit. In those days Assemblies of God did not require any formal training or qualifications for a person to be recognised as a minister. The evidence of one’s calling and gifting was fruit from one’s ministry. So what should I do?
I decided that I would go to Kenley unless the Lord opened a door for me to minister in a Pentecostal church. But this seemed highly unlikely because, having grown up in a Baptist church, I was relatively unknown among the Pentecostals and the few churches I had preached in were mostly well provided for with regard to ministry. I told no-one about this decision and yet, a week after making it, I received a letter from the small Assemblies of God Church in Colchester, inviting me to take on the pastorate. And, as if to confirm it, the application form for Kenley that I had asked for never arrived.
Much more recently, my granddaughter Emily asked me to pray for her as she was considering applying to work for Youth for Christ in Birmingham. At the time she was living in London working full time for Alpha and she was uncertain what to do. I assured her that I would pray for her and reminded her of Revelation 3:7-8. I suggested that it might be a good idea to apply for the job and trust the Lord to close or open the door according to his will.
The next day, as Emily was walking in one of the London parks and praying about this, she looked up and saw something she had never seen before – AN OPEN DOOR! It was a piece of modern art, a sculpture of a doorframe with the door within it wide open. The Lord had literally placed before her an open door. Needless to say, she is now working for Youth for Christ in Birmingham.
The gifts and talents God has given us
Another thing that will help us discern the will of God for our lives is having a realistic understanding of the gifts and talents God has given us. In a passage where Paul mentions some of the gifts God has given to his people, he begins by saying:
For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgement, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you (Romans 12:3).
Here the emphasis is on not having an exaggerated sense of our own importance, but it’s just as important to recognise the gifts and abilities God has given us. Humility does not mean pretending that we’re no good at things which in fact we are good at! It means gratefully acknowledging that whatever gifts we do have come from the grace of God.
When Jeremiah protested that he was unsuited for the task God was calling to, God replied that before Jeremiah was born, he had formed him in his mother’s womb (Jeremiah 1:5). Generally speaking, God’s will for our lives will be very much in line with the talents he has given us. Those who have heard me sing know very well why I have concluded that it’s not God’s will for me to be a gospel singer!
Having said that, we know that God can equip a person with supernatural gifts beyond any natural talents they may possess. So, in seeking God’s will it’s good to ask ourselves what natural talents we have along with any spiritual gifts in which he is using us.
But finally, the great key to finding the will of God in our lives is found in Romans 12:1-2, where Paul says:
Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship.
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.
In these verses Paul shows us how to test what God’s perfect will for our lives is. He reminds us of God’s love in sending Jesus to die for us and, bearing that in mind, encourages us to live holy, sacrificial lives. We are not to behave as the world behaves or think as the world thinks. We are to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. We’re to learn to think like God thinks! We’re to find out what pleases the Lord (Ephesians 5:10).
If we are seeking to do this, we won’t have to worry about finding the will of God. God is perfectly capable of taking care of his own will! The only person or thing that can prevent God’s will being done in my life is me! God is all powerful and, by definition, he wants his will to be done.
So as long as I want it to be done, God will make sure that it happens. In short, if we’re determined to live all out for Jesus, God will take care of the rest. Sometimes we don’t need to know what God’s will is, but if we do, he will make it plain. And very often it’s as we look back over our lives that we see how God has been guiding us all the time, even at times when his voice is silent.