Have you ever been perplexed, distraught, confused--you didn’t know which way to go? You wish that the Lord would just simply tell you in so many words what to do, where to go.
Young people often feel this way when they graduate from high school or even college. Sometimes pastors have more than one invitation to come and be a church worker here or there, and they don’t know which “call” to accept.
And there is the problem of whom to marry? You wish the dear Lord would bring Rebekeh to you as He brought her to Isaac long ago (Genesis 24). (Or bring Isaac to you!)
If the Lord were to run a question and answer service in the newspapers, we would all become mere automatons, never learning to think for ourselves, and so we would miss one of the divine attributes the Lord wants to impart to us.
We are not machines to be run by a battery; we are sons and daughters of the living God, learning to become like Him in character. For this purpose we need freedom of will, and that requires clear thinking.
There are clear-cut principles we can rely on: (a) Just praying by itself is not good enough; we must learn how to understand the answers to prayer that the Lord gives us. (b) He always answers; He will give you a distinct conviction of what you ought to do. (c) But how can you know if the conviction is true? (d) Of the choices before you, which one is most pleasing to self, and most inclined to be running away from duty the Lord lays on you? You can be quite sure He would lead you in a path of service. (e) Friends who know you AND know the Lord can give you wise counsel.
Jonah was pondering a choice of careers: go to Tarshish, or go to Nineveh? He turned from the path of duty under God. Here’s a very fine prayer to pray for guidance: “Shew me Thy ways, O Lord; teach me Thy paths. Lead me in Thy truth, and teach me for Thou art the God of my salvation; on Thee do I wait all the day” (Psalm 25:4, 5). But if you want an answer, it helps to become committed. And if you want to learn how to be committed, it helps to “behold” Christ’s path of duty that led Him to His cross.
From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: June 28, 2004.
Copyright © 2010 by Robert J. Wieland.
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