Many Times, Many Ways - Part 9

Part 1 – The character of our communicative God!

Part 2 – God’s good for us in silence or the quiet voice 

Part 3 – God is able and willing to speak over anxiety, one hindrance

Part 4 – What if we cease to pray? Can we thwart God’s will? The role of prayer in guidance

Part 5 – What if we cease to pray? The role of faith in guidance

Part 6 – Guidance, maturity, and dependence

Part 7 – Will God speak to me? Or only for kingdom purposes?

Part 8 – Our desires? Can we prevent guidance? 
To read previous posts, click here and for part 8, here. 

We look up at the sky, and see a beautiful, bright star! Then we realize it is a satellite. We think we see a shooting star and in excitement proclaim, only to realize it is a flashing plane. Disappointment. We feel deceived, even if it was our own mistake. Excitement collapses into confusion. Can we so mistake God’s voice? How do we know it is God speaking to us?

“Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord in the presence of Eli. And the word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision….And the Lord called again, ‘Samuel!’ and Samuel arose and went to Eli and said, ‘Here I am, for you called me.’ But he said, ‘I did not call, my son; lie down again.’ Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him” (1 Sam. 3:1, 6-7).

“But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ” (2 Cor. 11:3).

“…following their own sinful desires” (Jude 1:16).

Three voices come at us: Satan, self, God (attested throughout the Bible but most clearly in 1 Jn. 2:16). How do we know which is of self? Which is of Satan? Which is of God? Put the obvious aside—if it is against Scripture, of course we know where that comes from. But for matters of more personal guidance, on grey matters, how do we know? Aren’t there times we are all honestly confused, when we can’t quite tell if it is a star or a plane?

I’ve been there. I’ve cried out for clarity and confirmation—“Lord, I need to make a decision about a doctor. Who? Where? Which?” And no direct guidance, no supernatural clarification. Instead, it has all seemed random—go to one doctor, doesn’t know what to do; visit another who suddenly dies; hop to another and months and months later they give up with no referrals; move to Grand Rapids and see one doctor with no progress; visit another; and yet another. It seems random. Couldn’t God have confirmed “This one here!” Was all this bouncing around a mistake?

Often, we may read the Bible and think they had it easy—prophets, angels, audible voices. We read, “Therefore David inquired of the Lord, ‘Shall I go and attack these Philistines?’ And the Lord said to David, ‘Go and attack the Philistines and save Keilah’” (1 Sam. 23:2). Because of our English word “said,” I picture an audible voice. But really, there is no indication of how God responded. By the urim or thurim? By circumstances? A voice? Inner promptings? A prophet? Yet, God guided each of their steps and revealed with sufficient clarity. So, too, with us. Through story, familiarity, the Holy Spirit, and the very weight and spirit and content of God’s voice, we can move forward in wisdom and confidence, following the constellation of stars.

As a child, the great prophet Samuel wasn’t sure whose voice he heard. The voice of God was rare in those days. Thus, he wasn’t familiar with God’s voice. Guidance is just part of a bigger story, a bigger relationship with God. The goal of guidance, of God’s speaking to us, is not just to get an answer, it is to know God. As we know God through communal experience at church, through the Scripture, through the voice of other Christians, and through our own experience, we will become more trained to distinguish the voice of God. A lover learns to recognize the very feet patterns of his beloved. We learn to recognize patterns in the stars by deep searching. We learn God’s voice by growing in intimacy with him.

“When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers” (Jn. 10:4-5).

Familiarity comes from Scripture and others, but also from our own experience. As I dialogue with God, it helps me know which is his voice, which is mine. I ask him to search me—he knows my heart better than I do. And I ask him, “Is this from you? Does it line up with loving God and others? Is this fear? Pride? Self?” Slowly, things are often sifted and become more clear. The search for guidance helps us know him and know ourselves.

“But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil” (Heb. 5:14).

Moreover, we have help distinguishing. God himself will help us; the Holy Spirit will remind us of God’s voice. Does this sound like cheating—the voice of God helping us discern the voice of God? The Spirit can not only prompt us, remind us, but he also renews our mind to give us the mind of Christ (Rom. 12:1; 1 Cor. 2:16). A broken cell phone will have trouble picking up proper satellite reception, but one that is repaired and tuned will be much more apt to do so. So it is with our broken minds, noetically fallen. They are unable to pick up the “waves” of God’s voice until the Spirit regenerates our mind. Renewed, and being continually renewed, we are empowered to pick up his voice!

“For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God” (Rm. 8:14).

Dallas Willard helpfully mentions three distinct factors of the Word of God: weight, spirit, and content (1). Weight refers to a certain authority carried by God’s voice. He is the Lord. His Word is him, his expression of himself and his glory, kabod (the Hebrew carries the idea of weight).

Spirit refers to the tone, nature, the attributes reflected. It is not fearful, not condemning. It may convict—but if so, it is specific. It is not vague, condemning. The spirit of the voice would be consistent with God’s character, the fruit of the Spirit.

Content is what is actually said, if it aligns with Scripture and God’s character. What a gracious God, that he does not leave us guessing as to who he is and what he desires. There are ways to guide, judge. He is a revealing, communicative God. In the beginning, God spoke. Creation itself is a sign of his communication, so integral is it a part of his nature.

Some of this question of distinguishing comes from fear. We do not have to worry we will miss his perfect will—he is quite capable of making himself clear. He is quite capable of making sure we do not miss what he has ordained from the beginning. If you must distinguish now in a life and death matter, he will make it clear. Then. Very clear. If he has not chosen to do so, he is inviting you to see the bigger story. Each star is part of a pattern, a constellation. Each star is part of a gravity-dance with the cosmos. Each decision you make and every petition for guidance is part of a larger story, woven by him. Do not fear that if you follow what to the best of your knowledge is a star that it will turn out to be a satellite. Do not fear you will end up with Plan B.

Rather, confidence!!!! Search. Seek to distinguish. Sort. Sift. Pray. Look at the bigger story God has woven in your life, your familiar experience with him, ask the Holy Spirit, evaluate the weight and the spirit and the content. Then evaluate all by wisdom, make the wisest decision. Do not sit and sit and sit in fear, fearful that the star is actually a satellite. God has given wisdom; he is sovereign over steps; he is governor over decisions. As you move, he guides. As you move, he will clarify. The satellite waivers, flickers, disappears. His star is fixed; it will remain to guide as time moves, as you move forward in faith, trust, and wisdom.

“The steps of a man are established by the Lord, when he delights in his way” (Ps. 37:23).

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He [not self, not Satan] shall direct your paths" (Proverbs 3:5-6).

NOTE

Dallas Willard, In Search of Guidance: Developing a Conversational Relationship with God (New York: Harper Collins, 1993).