Psalm 139:23-24 ESV
“Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!”
Guidance is one of the biggest strongholds in the Christian faith. It requires submission to the ways of God and an acknowledgment of the sovereignty of God over your life. As theologian JI Packer said, “God seeks His glory in our lives, and He is glorified in us only when we obey His will” (233). However, the most troubling aspect of Guidance is waiting on God. Knowing God requires a full measure of patience, even in the moments when we feel like waiting takes us nowhere. We travel one-step ahead and we desire a revelation for three steps ahead of the journey. But what if God was more concerned about winning our “selves” completely, than the process itself of moving ahead? And if He was concerned about us personally, would we be willing to travel a trouble-full course in the Christian faith, knowing we have to ‘wait’?
Waiting on God seems to be the hardest process in the Christian faith, for an inner cry for a revelation is born out of patience. However, I often wonder if we get lost in the desire for a revelation and miss the fullness of God and His desires for us. We thrive in the business of hurrying our decisions and actions based on the thought that we need things right away. We buy and sell our desires on the speculation that if we do not receive what we desire right away, our course is derailed. Yet, the reality of the matter is that God “is not in such a hurry as we are, and it is not His way to give more light on the future than we need for action in the present, or to guide us more than one step at a time” (JI Packer). Guidance requires submission; submission calls for faith; faith breeds patience.
My challenge to you is this: Ask God to search you and know your heart. Do not become concerned by your desires, troubles, expectations and storms. Do not seek His word to justify your actions. Rather, align yourself to His ways. Allow Him to test and know your thoughts, for only He can perfect them. Knowing God calls for a submission to His ways and that means a complete abandonment to your ways. He will search you and ask you to consider Him leading you in the way everlasting. “Thus it appears that the right context for discussing guidance is one of confidence in the God who will not let us ruin our souls” (JI Packer 241).
You are good, You always have been
You are good, You always will be
How I love Your sanctuary
You are beautiful
Lifting my burdens, carry me home
Let me hear gladness, don’t leave me alone
I make room in my heart, God
Romans 8:28 NKJV
“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”
Malachi 3:10 NKJV
“Bring all the tithes into the storehouse,
That there may be food in My house,
And try Me now in this,”
Says the Lord of hosts,
“If I will not open for you the windows of heaven
And pour out for you such blessing
That there will not be room enough to receive it.”
1 Corinthians 10:13 NIV
“No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.”
