Stopping For Directions

Scripture: Genesis 11:27-12:20

How do I find God’s will or His direction for my life?

Men have always been hesitant to stop and ask for directions.  They know where they are headed ultimately and that seems to be sufficient knowledge in their own estimation.  So they stumble through.  The damage that can be done, the wasted time and effort, the wrong turns that sometimes may lead us into jeopardy are the things that could be eliminated if we would understand that the will of God for our lives is in the journey not the destination.  It is in the knowledge of his heart that we gain when we choose to take our direction from him.

The destination is the same for all of us as far as God’s will is concerned.  There are no other alternative, eternal vacation options but heaven.

But he does have a different route for each of us to take and that has to do with our giftedness, our personality, the making of our character and others.

Top Ten Reasons That God Created Eve

10.God worried that Adam would always be lost in the garden because men hate to ask for directions.

9. God knew that Adam would one day need someone to hand him the TV remote. (Men don't want to see what's ON television, they want to see WHAT ELSE is on!)

8.  God knew that Adam would never buy a new fig leaf when his seat wore out and would therefore need Eve to get one for him.

7.  God knew that Adam would never make a doctor's appointment for himself.

6.  God knew that Adam would never remember which night was garbage night.

5.  God knew that if the world was to be populated, men would never be able to handle childbearing.

4.  As "Keeper of the Garden," Adam would never remember where he put his tools.

3.  The scripture account of creation indicates Adam needed someone to blame his troubles on when God caught him hiding in the garden.

2.  As the Bible says, "It is not good for man to be alone!"

1.  When God finished the creation of Adam, He stepped back, scratched His head and said, "I can do better than that.

1)       Providence.  God’s working beyond my knowledge of His guidance.

11:27 Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran. And Haran became the father of Lot. [28] While his father Terah was still alive, Haran died in Ur of the Chaldeans, in the land of his birth. [29] Abram and Nahor both married. The name of Abram's wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor's wife was Milcah; she was the daughter of Haran, the father of both Milcah and Iscah. [30] Now Sarai was barren; she had no children. 31 Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, the wife of his son Abram, and together they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. But when they came to Haran, they settled there. 32 Terah lived 205 years, and he died in Haran.

Did you ever wonder when God really begins to work in  person’s life?  I have a friend who holds a different concept of discipleship.  He maintains that God works even in the life of non-Christians to prepare them for their purpose as a child of God.

God worked in my own life in many ways prior to my knowledge.

o      My mother’s prayers

o      My grandmother’s prayers

o      My father’s disposition and core values

God began to work in Abram’s father’s life to move Abram closer to his destination.

a)     Grief can lessen a person’s attachments to their home. While his father Terah was still alive, Haran died in Ur of the Chaldeans.   There can be grief associated with death, divorce or a thousand other things that make us less attached tom the things that would have once held us in a given situation or location.  I was a Grand Manan boy.  Couldn’t imagine leaving.  (Pace of life)

b)     Without seeking guidance Terah was guided. - they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan.  God had directed Abram’s father even though he wasn’t looking for it to go to the destination that he ultimately had for his son.  I have told my father that I am a preacher because he wasn’t.

c)      We often settle short of or for something less than God ultimately has for us. - they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan

Probably the most significant work that God does in our lives when it comes to personal guidance happens without our knowledge.  He orchestrates the circumstances of our existence, grooming by experiences, redeeming the bad and turning it to good when we look to him in submission to His will.  I would change nothing in my life as I look back.  The most painful experiences have been as beneficial as the times of greatest blessing and I am somehow a better, more prepared and insightful and empathetic.  I am grateful and at home in my own “skin” because He has worked on me.

Jesus, the Carpenter

My house was falling apart...

I called upon the carpenter

Quickly he came

He looked the situation over

gave an estimated cost

I gave him the OK.

Speedily he went to work

He tore down pride and

ripped into conceit

I watched in horror with

many questions

He never answered, simply

stated, "Trust me."

I saw him pull those nails of malice

And remove selfish ambition

it seemed there was nothing left.

Then he began to build

He established faith where there was nothing

hope where once there was

helplessness

I saw humility where pride

once reigned.

Slowly and carefully now he began

 to build compassion and forgiveness.

Suddenly unsteadiness attacked!

He said, "Fear Not!" and with

patience and perseverance and

faith as the main support

He steadied my home.

He's still at work today

Jesus the carpenter at work in me.

2)     Promises.  God revealing His nature and character.  Most people live beneath their privilege as children of God.

12:1 The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. 2 "I will make you into a great nation I will bless you; I will make your name great, you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." 4 So Abram left, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Haran. [5] He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.

a)     We must personalize God’s promises in our own lives. 

b)     It requires that we step out by faith to follow. - , "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you

c)      God fulfills His promises.  Leave God’s part to God. – “I will . . “

Following His direction is our part. - they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.

d)      

3)     Presence Of God.  We must experience Him personally if we are to grasp His will for our lives.

6 Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. [7] The LORD appeared to Abram and said, "To your offspring I will give this land." So he built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him. 8 From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the LORD and called on the name of the LORD. [9] Then Abram set out and continued toward the Negev.

a)     God moves – Abram responds. “The LORD appeared to Abram” … So he built an altar there to the LORD

b)     Abram seeks God. . There he built an altar to the LORD and called on the name of the LORD

4)     Protection.  There are times when we fail to trust Him.  Still he remains trustworthy

10 Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe. [11] As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, "I know what a beautiful woman you are. [12] When the Egyptians see you, they will say, `This is his wife.' Then they will kill me but will let you live. [13] Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you." 14 When Abram came to Egypt, the Egyptians saw that she was a very beautiful woman. [15] And when Pharaoh's officials saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh, and she was taken into his palace. [16] He treated Abram well for her sake, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, menservants and maidservants, and camels. 17 But the LORD inflicted serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household because of Abram's wife Sarai. [18] So Pharaoh summoned Abram. "What have you done to me?" he said. "Why didn't you tell me she was your wife? [19] Why did you say, `She is my sister,' so that I took her to be my wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and go!" [20] Then Pharaoh gave orders about Abram to his men, and they sent him on his way, with his wife and everything he had.

a)     Abraham panics - . [13] Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you."

b)     Pharaoh provides - . [16] He treated Abram well for her sake, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, menservants and maidservants, and camels.

God protects - [20] Then Pharaoh gave orders about Abram to his men, and they sent him on his way, with his wife and everything he had.

c)