This is excellent question. God has given us a great guidance system but it takes a little time and skill to use it with confidence. If you think about it, effective guidance systems use three points of reference to line up their pathway. I didn’t grow up on a farm but I married a woman who did. Her father taught me how to plow the first furrow of a field using three points of reference. The tractor was one, a fence-post at the end of the field was the second, and a tree or some landmark beyond the field as the third. He told me to align those three and keep my eye on that line and not the ground in front of me and I would make the first furrow very straight. Planting rows used the same system.
Later in life, I learned that guidance systems on aircraft use the same concept to land by instruments. The nose of the plane, the electronic beep marking the end of a runway, and a third the emits from those white cone-like things you see over the land.
The Christian has three things also: the Word of God, the inner urge, and the outward circumstances. If you line up all three, you can move with certainty that it’s the will of God. If the first two line up, one can proceed also, if for the third item you do not go against common sense or common duty. If there is a clear directive from the Lord, you can proceed without any other verification. This is the first and overriding principle in guidance. Many decisions do not have a corresponding directive from the Word of the Lord. In these instances, you look for precedents or examples in the Word. If there is nothing that seems to apply, then use the five filters that come from Romans 14 and are mentioned in an earlier entry.
The second point of guidance is the inner urge. This is where the Holy Spirit uses our trained consciences (Hebrews 5:14) as a second reference point to form a straight line with the Word of God. The Apostle Paul teaches that we can know God’s will through our consciences. He says in Romans 2:15, “they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.” It is important to remember that consciences can be cleansed and trained but also they can be damaged (I Timothy 4:2).
Thirdly, outward circumstances play a role in discerning what God wants you to do. Circumstances play a role in our understanding of law and grace (Romans 4:10). The Apostle Paul wanted the church in Colosse to know his circumstances (Colossians 4:8).
Some of the circumstances that are important in decision-making are: where you live, your family, your financial situation, and the influence your life can have. Again, God does not ask you to do anything that goes against common duty or common sense. He would not prompt you to run in a race, for example, if you have no legs. He would not ask you to forsake your family for some mission adventure. So these cautions are necessary.
Outward circumstances also include the advice of family, friends, counselors, pastors, etc. Proverbs 15:22 says, “Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.” Circumstances include even things such as personal likes (if the first two points are in alignment), financial considerations, etc.
When all three of these points line up, you can act in confidence that God is directing you. If just the first two line up, you may move with caution. If only one is the basis for action, wait.
There is not room here to explore all three items in detail, but let me suggest a great book that has been reprinted entitled Does God Still Guide? By J. Sidlow Baxter.
-David Corts
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