And God Said......
We all want to know what God's will is. There are all sorts of subjects we ask Him to provide input on, then we sit back and wait on a lightning bolt to provide all the answers we need for our present circumstance. But how do we really know IF God is answering, WHEN He will answer and HOW He will answer?
The First Baptist Chirch here in Aurora is just finishing up on a study by Henry and Richard Blackaby and Claude King entitled "Experiencing God". I had done this study many years ago, but really wanted to work through it again. Although I never made it to any of the sessions with them, I have been working through the book on my own. I have also had a recent struggle with understanding His will on something I was asked to do. I'd like to share a few observations from both of these experiences with you.
God has always "spoken" to His people throughout the course of history. Blackaby et.al remind us of the ways God spoke to His people in the Old Trstament. Hebrews 1:1 says, " In the past, God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways..." In the Old Testament, He spoke through angels, visions, dreams,a whisper, miraculous signs, and other ways. Even when He spoke through what we consider such obvious and dramatic ways, sometimes his people were still not sure it was Him. Consider Gideon for example. In the 6th chapter of Judges, the Israelites were under the domination of the Mideonites for 7 years. The Midianites were very oppressive, and every time the Israelites made a little progress with livestock and crops, the Midianites invaded and destroyed everything. Gideon was to save Israel from the Midianites, and God gave him various messengers to give him direction. First God sent a prophet, then an angel, and finally The Lord himself came to Gideon to let him know what he was to do. Even after hearing from the Lord himself, Gideon needed a further sign. He prepared an offering and laid it before the Angel of the Lord, and it was immediately consumed by fire. That gave Gideon some confidence for a while, but when things got a little tougher, Gideon became uncertain again. In the last of chapter 6 , Gideon put out the " fleece ", and gave God the conditions under which he ( Gideon) would believe it was really God giving him direction. That sounds a little scary to me....giving God "directions" so to speak . Gideon even did this twice, and both times God complied with his requests. Giddon's story is a good one. You might want to review it in Judges 6-8. It is a great example of what someone can do when they are operating within the will of God.
So how does all of this translate to the 21 st century? Does God still speak to His people today? If so, how can we be sure something comes from Him? What can we do to find the will of God in our own lives? In my experience, one thing I definitely feel we should NOT do is to put out a fleece. Many of us have done that. " God if you do this, this, and this then I will know you want me to do ________.". I have even seen this done when the thing we were looking for approval for was a direct contradiction to God' word. God will NEVER give the go-ahead for something we want to do that is going against what he teaches us in the Bible. No matter what fleece we et out, He won't give the o.k. to have an extra-marital affair or to take something that does not belong to us. Besides, this feels a lot like telling God what He is going to do, and I really don't want to go there. I'm not sure why He let Gideon get by with it twice, but I don't plan to push my luck with this activity!
Some people do not believe that God is in the business of giving us direction for our lives. Some say that may have been something He did in Bible times, but certainly not now. In the next post or two we will explore whether He does indeed speak to us now. We will look at the Word, the Blackaby/King work of "Experiencing God", and hopefully share some personal experiences about the way God speaks in the 21st century. Until then, talk WITH Him, listen FOR Him,and see WHAT happens........
God has always "spoken" to His people throughout the course of history. Blackaby et.al remind us of the ways God spoke to His people in the Old Trstament. Hebrews 1:1 says, " In the past, God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways..." In the Old Testament, He spoke through angels, visions, dreams,a whisper, miraculous signs, and other ways. Even when He spoke through what we consider such obvious and dramatic ways, sometimes his people were still not sure it was Him. Consider Gideon for example. In the 6th chapter of Judges, the Israelites were under the domination of the Mideonites for 7 years. The Midianites were very oppressive, and every time the Israelites made a little progress with livestock and crops, the Midianites invaded and destroyed everything. Gideon was to save Israel from the Midianites, and God gave him various messengers to give him direction. First God sent a prophet, then an angel, and finally The Lord himself came to Gideon to let him know what he was to do. Even after hearing from the Lord himself, Gideon needed a further sign. He prepared an offering and laid it before the Angel of the Lord, and it was immediately consumed by fire. That gave Gideon some confidence for a while, but when things got a little tougher, Gideon became uncertain again. In the last of chapter 6 , Gideon put out the " fleece ", and gave God the conditions under which he ( Gideon) would believe it was really God giving him direction. That sounds a little scary to me....giving God "directions" so to speak . Gideon even did this twice, and both times God complied with his requests. Giddon's story is a good one. You might want to review it in Judges 6-8. It is a great example of what someone can do when they are operating within the will of God.
So how does all of this translate to the 21 st century? Does God still speak to His people today? If so, how can we be sure something comes from Him? What can we do to find the will of God in our own lives? In my experience, one thing I definitely feel we should NOT do is to put out a fleece. Many of us have done that. " God if you do this, this, and this then I will know you want me to do ________.". I have even seen this done when the thing we were looking for approval for was a direct contradiction to God' word. God will NEVER give the go-ahead for something we want to do that is going against what he teaches us in the Bible. No matter what fleece we et out, He won't give the o.k. to have an extra-marital affair or to take something that does not belong to us. Besides, this feels a lot like telling God what He is going to do, and I really don't want to go there. I'm not sure why He let Gideon get by with it twice, but I don't plan to push my luck with this activity!
Some people do not believe that God is in the business of giving us direction for our lives. Some say that may have been something He did in Bible times, but certainly not now. In the next post or two we will explore whether He does indeed speak to us now. We will look at the Word, the Blackaby/King work of "Experiencing God", and hopefully share some personal experiences about the way God speaks in the 21st century. Until then, talk WITH Him, listen FOR Him,and see WHAT happens........
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