How
do you know the difference between ideas that come to your mind on the one hand
and direction from God on the other?
There is persistency to
direction.
It won’t go away; it shows up again and again.
The Bible says (Proverbs 19:21 NIV), “Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose
that prevails.” In Psalm 32:8 the Lord promises, “I will
instruct thee and teach thee in the way
which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eyes.”
Direction is a stream with blanks. When we know
what God wants us to do, we can have total confidence that what we are
attempting is right and that God is on our side. The most far-reaching,
challenging direction is the most significant because God is in it.
Direction
is a matter of fact; ideas are a matter of opinion. Direction from God is
impossible to follow without Him.
Direction is the mother of divine
discomfort, something we should have at all times. Divine discomfort is a
sensing that God is wanting to direct us, a stirring so that we are never
totally satisfied with where we are in God or what we’re doing for Him.
If you think you’ve arrived with God, beware. There is always room for
growth.
We
should be known as a people with a mission, not as a people just fishin’.
Evangelist R. W. Schambach puts it this way: “Be called
and sent, not up and went.” We are a people with a purpose,
not a problem.
In
Colossians 1:12-13, the apostle Paul wrote, “Giving thank unto the
Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the
saints in light: who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and
hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son.”
Be
sure to look for areas out of which God is calling you and unto which He is
calling you. There is a difference between God’s will in our lives and
God’s will for our lives. God’s will for our lives includes those things that He intends for
every person – salvation, strength, health, peace, joy. But God’s
will in our lives is unique to each individual. One person may be
called to live in one place for life while another is called to move six times
within ten years. Or one person may be called to be an evangelist or pastor,
while another is called to be a missionary.
Never
be afraid of the light of God’s direction. Maurice Freehill asked, “Who is
more foolish, a child afraid of the dark or the man afraid of the light?”
Wherever God guides, He provides. And whom God calls,
He appoints and anoints to do the work. Lay hold of those persistent
directions in your life, and tap into the power of God’s will for you.
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