The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him and what came to my mind and heart in Philippians 1:9-11,
"This is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in
knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern
what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ,
filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus
Christ—to the glory and praise of God."
To be able to discern what is best is truly important and vital. Love
abounds "more and more in knowledge and depth of insight" according to
Paul here. Love is bound inexorably to knowing the things of God. To
have depth of insight into true spiritual things requires love. John
says, "Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love."
1 John 4:8. John also went on to say, "Whoever lives in love lives in
God, and God in them. This is how love is made complete among us so
that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we
are like Jesus." 1 John 4:16b-17.
Over the years one of the more frequent challenges I have seen
expressed in prayer meetings and church services is that God might
reveal his will in some decision that needs to be made. I can't begin
to count the occasions I have found myself with such concerns. And, I
think I may have seen more creativity in this endeavor than any other
within the church.
I have seen the "Bible roulette" approach employed, where someone
spins through the pages of their Bible, sticks a finger in somewhere
as the pages flip by to stab a verse. Whatever the verse says would
somehow be contorted to reveal the answer to God's will in the
question of the moment. "... all of you share in God's grace with me."
Philippians 1:7b, say, would be confirmation that we should
financially support the missionary in question. The folks may not
giving when the offering plate passes by and the balance sheet isn't
adding up at the end of the month, but no mind, "were going to take a
step of faith, that God will provide!"
Possibly a little less creative, but certainly just as entertaining,
is the "open door" approach. In an inability to make a wise choice and
looking to God for a "sign", folks look for that "open door", often
times a series of open doors. "It must be God's will! After all, look
at the doors that have opened!" Shear circumstance masquerades as a
divine sign. I think I have seen this utilized at times when
comfort/assurance is sought or given when the "fun" alternative or the
less painful alternative has already really been decided upon behind
closed doors. This provides the divine authority to reject what might
take more effort or is less attractive from a less than godly
perspective. I suspect we have all seen this kind of thing.
How about the more assertive approach of "putting out a fleece"? Just
as Gideon put out a fleece and asked God for the dew only on it in the
morning and vice versa, we stipulate if "such and such happens" we
will take that as a sign that God wants us to move ahead in a certain
direction, etc. Never mind that God already told Gideon what to do, so
he already knew God's will, and that his request of God was merely to
bolster his faith and nothing more, it is a method I have seen
employed on a number of occasions. "If it rains this week we will know
it is God's will we spend the money and pave the church parking lot."
In addition to the above, I'm sure you have seen some other
fascinating methods employed as well. One thought that dawned on me
sometime in the past is that there are times and circumstances God has
no interest in making a choice for us. Having endowed us with our own
free will, he watches what it is we decide to do. I realize this
concept leaves many feeling uncomfortable with their theology
challenged. Something they may consider is that the chair I chose to
sit in last night in the restaurant where we ate was a choice God may
have had little interest in making on my behalf. The chair against the
wall? Or the chair in the aisle? Which one is God's will? If I find I
need to seek God's will whether I use the blue pen or the black pen
today at work may indicate there are more serious things I need to be
seeking God for than the color of ink. Here is an example few today
would agree with Paul on: marriage. "If anyone is worried that he
might not be acting honorably toward the virgin he is engaged to, and
if his passions are too strong and he feels he ought to marry, he
should do as he wants. He is not sinning. They should get married. But
the man who has settled the matter in his own mind, who is under no
compulsion but has control over his own will, and who has made up his
mind not to marry the virgin—this man also does the right thing."
"He should do as he wants"? I am certain prayer and seeking God's
wisdom is vital in a decision such as marriage, but Paul seems to
indicate it is a decision left to us. Ask God for wisdom, what to look
for in a spouse, wisely assess the circumstances, but use the ability
to choose the Lord has given us. I have seen a number of decisions
"the Lord has made" based on the methodologies empolyed above that
have not gone well. Guess who gets blamed for it?
What I read in God's word relative to decision making is found in
Romans 12:2, "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be
transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to
test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect
will." And passages such as Philippians 1:9-10, "...this is my prayer:
that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of
insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be
pure and blameless..." If we participate in the work the Holy Spirit
seeks to do in our lives, by having our minds transformed and having
our love abound with knowledge and depth of insight, we might do much
better when it comes to decision making. It certainly has to be better
than Bible roulette, open doors and fleeces.
The beauty of God's word is he has revealed himself in its pages. It
is here we find what pleases the Lord, how to develop wisdom to make
good choices, and most of all - to know him better and to draw closer
to him. Clearly the wisest decision he points us to is found in John
1:12, "To all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name,
he gave the right to become children of God".
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share
what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to
hear from you!
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com
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