A lawyer prosecuting a controversial case asked the
witness: "Now, Mr. Jones did
you or did you not, on the date in question, or at any other time, previously
or subsequently, say or even intimate to the defendant or anyone else, whether
friend or acquaintance or in fact a stranger, that the statement imputed to
you, whether just or unjust, and denied by the plaintiff, was a matter of no
consequence or otherwise?
Answer! Did you or did you
not? The witness pondered for a little while and then said, "Did I or did
I not… WHAT!?
Asking a question can be a very important issue, if not done
properly more confusion may be the result.
As I close this discussion on God’s Will and God’s Direction, I desire
to leave you with two key verses and some practical thoughts.
Proverbs 3:5–6 Trust
in the Lord with all your heart;
do not depend on your own understanding.
Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.
If we believe in God the way He has revealed Himself to be,
trust will be the end result! No matter the circumstances, or what we see with
our eyes, we know that God can be trusted. That heart condition is exactly what
God honors. When God can trust us with His reputation, He is delighted to lead
us step by step.
Philippians 4:6–7
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with
thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God,
which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in
Christ Jesus.
Joining that trust with an honest prayer life, our heart will
be kept safe. To be totally honest though requires us to ask the right questions.
Here are some of the ones I ask:
·
What don’t I like about my life? If there are
things we want different, we need to talk honestly with our God. He has a very
open ear.
·
Where do I feel frustrated? Is there peace
lacking?
When an eagle makes her nest, she first places thorns,
jagged rocks and other sharp objects. She then places feathers, fur and wool,
making it very thick and very comfortable. After her chicks have grown she
stirs the nest up. This brings to the surface all the glass, rocks and other
sharp objects. The chicks become miserable and want to leave the nest. That is how she gets them to move and
learn to fly.
Frustration happens when God “stirs our nest!” He wants us to move,
this is healthy.
·
Am I content? Do I doubt God? Now we have moved
to questioning what God is doing or allowing. We are doubting His motives
·
What is the difference between contentment and
frustration? This is important to understand. God uses frustration to get us to
rethink, pray and move. Frustration is something never to fear, it is God’s way
of encouraging growth and movement in our life. Discontentment on the other
hand comes from the flesh rebelling for the circumstances it is in. This shows
a lack of trust in our Lord’s Sovereignty. With frustration I know that the
peace I have with God is not where it should be, and I need to seek His
direction in how to correct that. This is how God has led for all the years I
have walked with Him.
We tried to go to the mission field in 1987. It was not
the right time and God took Dee and I through some very important lessons. 7
years later I was Pastoring a church in Virginia. Dee and I loved that ministry
and loved our home. We were content in the Lord, yet both felt as though the
Lord had more from us. One step at a time God led us to the Philippines where we
have experienced a ministry we would never have dreamed of.
·
Every time I have been discontented it has
always been due to sin and refusal to yield to God’s control of my life. We can
be content, yet still feel frustrated. We acknowledge to God that we are where
we are as part of His sovereign plan, yet believe He is leading us to a change.
We are NOT demanding, we are seeking.
·
Am I thanking God for where I am right now? Here
is our authentic surrender to the Lord as Lord. If we are His child, there are no
accidents, God either caused or allowed our situation and we express our faith
and trust in Him by thanking Him, not FOR, but IN all circumstances. God meets
us in a special way when we praise Him.
Lastly – I have found it helpful in my walk to take important words in
my life and build thoughts from them, this enables me to understand what that
word means to me. I have done this often and found that when done, that word
now has a reality in my heart and mind. It communicates a clear picture to me
of what I mean when I use that word. I do this through an acrostic.
Here is my Acrostic for the word “direction” – These are my thoughts of what it takes to
have direction.
Determination
= I will settle for nothing less than His direction
Illumination = Time in the Word so He can
enlighten me to His thinking
Repentance - Humility as a priority due to sin of
wrong thinking so I will change direction
Evolving = Never the beginning and end all at
once – it is one step at a time
Creative = I may end up where I never thought I
would be or get there a way I never thought could happen
Timing = When I am where I should be,
circumstances are what they should be and God knows it will be best…it will happen
I = I alone am responsible and accountable for
where I am at. Nothing that has happened or where I am at, is an excuse
One = He has only one direction for each step,
not many - this includes after sin - each step consists
of only one step, not many
None = I will never have regret for following Him
- no matter what the Temporal outcome may appear to be, I am after the eternal perspective.
Why not try and make an acrostic for yourself that
will communicate to you what it means to have God’s direction!
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