Being Guided and trusting in God's leading (2)

I.THE FOUR BASIC PRINCIPLES

In the first area, there are four basic principles with which we need to be familiar in determining divine guidance.

A.Commitment to Obedience

The first basic principle is that divine guidance or leading is for those committed to do exactly as God chooses, no matter what the cost. God will not guide someone who does not want to be guided.

B.Consistent with Scripture

The second basic principle is that divine leading will only be according to Scripture; God will not lead you to do something that goes contrary to Scripture. A woman once told me that God had guided her to divorce her husband because her husband is an unbeliever. But this violates 1 Peter 3:1, which teaches that a believing wife must still remain in submission to an unbelieving husband; there is no grounds for divorcing a spouse simply because a spouse is an unbeliever. Divine leading will only be according to Scripture; it will never violate Scripture.

C.Absence of Set Rule

The third basic principle is that there is no set rule by which one can determine exactly the single will of God for every decision to be made, and so no two people are led exactly the same. When I was younger in my spiritual life, I pursued the issue of divine guidance and read this book and that book, which all had various “formulas” or various “steps” to follow.

When I followed these steps, they never produced a clear, divine leading in decision-making. It was then that I realized that these steps are not found anywhere in Scripture, and that they were made up by the writer of the pamphlet or book. The steps in finding God’s will are not found in Scripture. There is no set of rules by which a person can determine the particular will of God for every decision he must make in his life.

D.Components of Leading

The fourth basic principle is to understand the components of leading. There are seven components or facets of leading to keep in mind.

First, salvation; divine guidance is only for the believer, not for the unbeliever.

Secondly, providence; God providentially causes events to come to pass by which we are guided.

Thirdly, knowledge of the Word of God; what it teaches about specific areas for many things which God wants us to do is already spelled out in Scripture. We know it is not God’s will for us to commit adultery, murder, or stealing. We do not have to seek the Lord’s will on these matters, for God has already spoken on these matters. But to understand what He said, there must be a knowledge of the Word of God and what it teaches about specific areas.

Fourthly, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit; believers are indwelled by the Holy Spirit, and the indwelling Holy Spirit has a lot to do with divine guidance.

Fifth, prayer; pray about certain areas.

Sixth, our minds; God expects us to use our mind, our logic, to determine certain things in the way of decision-making.

Seventh, wisdom; wisdom to determine what is the proper decision to make.