Knowing God’s will: the best place to start to know and understand God’s will for our lives is via the Scriptures.
In the previous post we looked in some detail at Psalm 119. Perhaps the best know passage dealing with the importance of knowing God’s word is 2 Timothy 3:16–17 (NAU): “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.”
Going back to Psalm 119, one of the points that Psalm makes is that there are times we need to wait patiently for God’s answer. Sometimes instead of waiting, we panic, or get impatient, make our own decision, and go off on our own. That doesn’t end well.
But that too can be tricky. Sometimes God gives us a great deal of freedom, many options to explore. This can be especially true when learning about one’s career choice. We can paralyze ourselves waiting for an answer with an nth degree of detail. We can in effect tell God, “Unless you answer me like this…”; that isn’t living by faith.
Abraham comes to mind, that he went forth without knowing where he was going. God had told him to go to a land that He (God) would show him (Abraham). Abraham went forth in obedience, but it was through the process of that journey that Abraham learned the details of what God would do.
Scripture tells us that we walk by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). Yet, even that is God’s direction, isn’t it? How am I to walk? By faith, by trusting in God, believing that He will show me what I need to know, when I need to know it. In terms of classical physics, it is much easier to direct an object that is moving than one that is stationary, at rest. Yet that too is a lesson we learn, at least in part, through reading Scripture.
Through reading Scripture, and following it, we can avoid many potential pitfalls. As Psalm 119 states, one of the benefits of knowing God’s word is that it can help keep us from sin. I can think of times in my own life where I was sorely tempted to sin, but God’s Word kept me from giving in to that temptation and from going down that path.
There is no substitute for reading Scripture, for staying immersed in God’s Word. Through reading God’s Word, through prayer, at times through godly human support and advice—advice that is in line with Scripture—it is possible to know God’s will. We can trust Him to direct our path, so that we will walk in a way that is pleasing to Him, not a life bound up and directed by self-will.
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Be It Resolved? Part 4
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What Is Heresy? Part 4
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What Is Heresy? Part 3
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What Is Heresy? Part 2
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