God has a good plan for your life. But he doesn’t expect you to figure it out beforehand. In fact, he doesn’t want you to worry about the future; he wants you to seek first his kingdom and all that you need will be given to you (Matthew 6:25-34). God’s will for our lives is found in his word. Look again at 1 Thessalonians 4:3 “For this is the will of God, your sanctification.” God’s will for us is to live holy, set apart lives. So as DeYoung says, when it comes to making decisions, “God wants you to buy a house that will make you holy. If you get married he wants you to get married so you can be holy. He wants you to have a job that will help you grow in holiness.” God does not want you to delay making decisions because you are waiting for a sign from him to tell you what to do. This creates passivity. We float around never really taking risks or committing to anything, and we confuse this with being spiritual because we claim to be waiting to hear from God. Really God just wants you to get out there in the world and obey him.
The following are a few tools that aren’t necessarily wrong, but that people can misuse. The first is open doors. When we speak of God opening a door it means God has given us an opportunity. When we speak of God closing a door it means he has taken away an opportunity. This is fine when we see the open door as an opportunity to do something we already know is good such as sharing the gospel with a neighbor or taking a job to feed your family. But people can use this language of open doors to be lazy and take the easy way out. DeYoung uses the example of putting your resume on Monster.com but then when no one responds you say, “God just isn’t opening any doors.” My response to that person would be, “Maybe you need to knock.” In other words, instead of waiting for God to miraculously cause an employer to show up at your door, maybe you should take your resume to different places around town and make some phone calls. DeYoung also mentions a man who is having marriage troubles. He knows he should spend time with his wife to work out their problems, but God “opened a door” for him to take a job that requires a lot of traveling. DeYoung sums it up well: “If God opens the door for you to do something you know is good or necessary, be thankful for the opportunity. But other than that, don't assume that the relative ease or difficulty of a new situation is God's way of telling you to do one thing or the other. Remember, God's will for your life is your sanctification, and God tends to use discomfort and trials more than comfort and ease to make us holy.”
The next tool is fleece. This is in reference to the story of Gideon in the Bible who layed out a piece of fleece and asked God to give him a sign by making the fleece wet with dew. Now, just because Gideon did this doesn’t mean we should. For one, Gideon didn’t have a Bible. For another thing, in the book of Judges “everyone did what was right in their own eyes.” Not the best example for us today. Now I admit that I have been guilty of asking God to give some sort of sign. Someone might pray, “God, if none of my professors give me homework then I will know you are telling me to go on this date. But if they do give homework, I won’t go.” The problem is, this gets dangerously close to testing God which we are commanded not to do.
The next tool that can be dangerous is flipping to a random Bible verse. Now, God can and does direct us to verses that we need to hear. For example, maybe you are struggling with pornography and during your daily Bible reading you come across a verse about purity and you are convicted. Those are great moments. The problem comes when, for one, you put greater stock in the word when it is read randomly than when it is read chapter by chapter day by day, and two, when Bible verses are taken out of context just so they can be applied to your situation. This is when you make verses say things they were never intended to say. There is a joke about a man who is going through a hard time so he flips open his Bible and his eyes fall on Matthew 27:5 where it says Judas went and hanged himself. Not satisfied, the man randomly flips open to Luke 10:37. It says, “You go and do likewise.” Obviously we must look at verses in context and see if we can really apply them to our situation.
The next tool is impressions or gut feelings. Now we make decisions based on a feeling all the time and this is not wrong. In fact it can be very good if your gut is telling you to do something you know is right such as giving to a homeless person. However, we shouldn’t assume the gut feeling is from God. Impressions are impressions. If a thought or feeling pops into your head, even if it’s while you are reading Scripture, don’t assume it is a voice from heaven. Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t. How can you really know? The point is, listen to that gut feeling or don’t listen to it, but don’t make it an extra-special factor in your decision-making and don’t assume you have to have a peaceful, easy feeling before you can make up your mind. Decisions are often scary and you don’t have to feel an absolute calm in order to be making a good decision. Even if you pray about something you may still feel anxious about it because it is a difficult task but you know it is the right thing to do. Conversely, if you pray about something and then feel a sense of peace, it doesn’t necessarily mean you are making the right decision; it may mean you want something so badly you deceive yourself into thinking the Lord is answering you according to your wishes. You have to use sober judgment.
So how does God guide us? Can we look to him for help in decision-making? Of course. Hebrews 1:1-2 is a key text in understanding how God guides. It says, “In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe.” The first part of this passage explains that God can speak to people in many different ways. The second part says that today he speaks to us through his Son. How does he speak through his son? God speaks by his Son through his Spirit in the Scriptures. And the Bible is not dead. It is called the living word. That means that the Spirit continues to speak through it. So if we want to hear from God, we can look to the Scriptures where God’s Spirit is still actively speaking.
Now you may be asking, what about the book of Acts? There are many examples there where God shows up and tells people where to go and what to do by means other than the Scriptures. I wondered about this too and it’s true. God spoke to people through visions, angels, audible voices, and prophets predicting the future. What we need to understand though is that these examples are not meant to be the normal pattern for our lives. Yes, God did speak directly to Paul and tell him exactly what to do. But most of the time Paul made decisions like the rest of us. Look at just one example in Acts 20:16, “Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus to avoid spending time in the province of Asia, for he was in a hurry to reach Jerusalem, if possible, by the day of Pentecost.” Paul simply decided what to do.
Should we be suspicious when someone says God spoke to them? Not necessarily. God definitely has the power to do that. But it is an extraordinary experience and we shouldn’t consider it the norm. Special revelation was a rare and unique experience even for Paul and we cannot take special circumstances and make them the norm by which we live our lives.
I do want to mention that I believe fully that the Holy Spirit lives in us and helps teach us and direct us. I am simply pointing out that special revelation such as a voice from the heavens is an experience that is possible but not the normal way God guides us.
So how can we make a decision with God’s guidance? We must seek wisdom. The first step is to read God’s word. Now if you’re trying to figure out which job to take the Bible is obviously not going to say “Thou shall take the cashier position at King Soopers.” And it’s not going to tell you “Thou shall marry Susan Smith.” God doesn’t work that way. God gives us freedom. But the Bible does speak about working. It says to provide for your family and to work for God’s glory. And the Bible says a lot about marriage such as how we should marry another Christian.
The next step is to seek advice. We need other Christians. Ask your friends if the job or girl seems right for you. Ultimately the decision is yours but we should be willing to listen to others and be teachable (that means maybe changing your mind about something you thought to be true). God does speak through other people. Have you ever been struggling with something and then heard a sermon on that exact subject? If you seek wise counsel, you may hear God's voice speaking through them.
The next step is prayer. But instead of praying, “God tell me what do” ask God for things like the right motives, wisdom, and honesty. If you are going for a job interview ask God to show you what that work environment would really be like and ask him to show the employers what you are really like. If you are dating someone ask God to help you be in honest in who you are and for the ability to really get to know who the other person is.
If we are Christians who are continually immersing ourselves in Scripture, seeking advice, and praying, it is very likely that we will automatically make wise decisions. If we ask for wisdom and seek it, we will find it. Wisdom is not just little quips and advice. It is a way of life. It is living a God-fearing life. Conversely, a fool is not a moron. A fool is someone who follows his own ways instead of God’s ways.
The next step is to make the decision. Don’t be passive or paralyzed with indecision. Too many people are looking for that one job that will fulfill their life’s purpose rather than realizing we can find purpose in every kind of work. Too many are delaying marriage because “what if she’s not the one?” Yes, in God’s providence he has the right person already picked out for you. But don’t get paralyzed in fear searching for the one person in the world you’re supposed to be with. The truth is, there are many good Christian guys and gals out there that you could build a happy, successful marriage with. Marriage takes work no matter who you marry and it should be held together with commitment not with a sense that the person is your soul-mate because that sense could fall apart.
I hope this study has helped you think about some things like it has done for me. I recommend reading “Just Do Something” by Kevin DeYoung because he says it way better than me and goes into more depth. Questions and comments are welcome!
