How Can I Be Sure About What God Wants Me To Do?
How can I be sure about what God wants me to do?
Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it. Isaiah 30:21 (NIV)
I was speaking on a campus in the Midwest to a group of about 35-40 students and one of the students spoke up and said, “Phil, I trusted Christ three years ago in high school and I was baptized and even took part in the Bible studies and everything. My parents are not Christians, and ever since I made that commitment to Christ I have never heard God speak to me at all. Why does God speak to you but not to me?”
With that question the students who were present all stopped talking and listened intently.
“What a great question, Justin!” That really was the most important question of the day. As I was talking, I was also busy praying that God would somehow give me a good response to such a challenging question. Two verses from Proverbs came to mind, Proverbs 20:20 and Proverbs 30:17. Both of these verses have to do with how you obey your mother and father. With these verses brought to mind, I had a clue about the answer.
My response to Justin was the following, “Justin, you have asked a great question, but I need to ask you one question before I can answer yours. I have never met you before and I do not know about your family back home, but I need to ask, ‘How are things between your mom and dad and you?’
The immediate response was, “I don’t have to obey mom and dad; they are not believers!”
It was then that I knew the answer to Justin’s question. “Justin, I now know why God has not said anything to you for these years. The Scriptures command us to obey and honor and respect our parents that it might go well with us. (Exodus 20:12) They also tell us that if we scorn obedience to our father and mother God will snuff out the light we have to see clearly.’
‘Anyone can pray a prayer or get dunked in a tank of water, but it takes the power of God to enable us to submit to our parents. If you want God to speak to you, His Word tells you to honor and respect your parents. You need to go back to your dorm and call home and ask their forgiveness for your rebellion. Then ask God to reveal Himself to you again.”
Justin walked away intent on getting things right with his parents. He came back to the dialogue the next week but this time he was even more hardened toward God. He had found a scripture verse in Isaiah 45:7 that he did not like and told me that as a result of this verse he refused to believe in God.
We talked at length with other students listening. He left agreeing to come back the next week to continue our talk. He came back the next week and this time he had brought reinforcements from some of his new found friends who were also not followers of Christ. I shared with him how the scripture he had found last week in Isaiah 45:7 explained why God was not speaking to him again. He listened but did not respond to God’s Word.
I did not see Justin again for about a year. The next time I saw Justin was in early November and there was freezing rain coming down as I spoke on the Quad at the U of I. He stopped and talked with me once again. After talking at length with him and noticing he was shivering from the cold, I asked him what God needed to do to get him to commit his life to Christ. His response was something I will never forget.
With the skies overcast and freezing rain descending from the heavens, Justin looked at me and said, “If God would just cause a big ball of fire to appear in the sky, I will believe.”
As if God was waiting for that statement, the clouds parted and the full force of the sun shone directly to where we were on the Quad. The students who had heard him speak were awed. Needless to say, so was I. I looked at Justin and he was staring into the parted skies. When he regained his composure, I looked at him eye-to-eye and said, “Is that good enough?”
Justin’s response was, “That’s not what I meant!”
“Justin, the parameters you gave God were a big ball of fire in the sky. We are now staring at a ball of fire one million times larger than the earth. I think God met your conditions. Now, what are you going to do about your need to commit your life to Christ and obey His commands in your life?”
Justin walked away from our discussion that day and I have never seen him since. That was four years ago.
How do we know what God wants us to do? The answer is found in the Scriptures. A group of religious leaders came to Jesus and said to Him, “If you are the Christ tell us plainly.” Jesus replied to them, ‘If you want to know if I am from God, do what I say and you will know. (John 7:17-18)
Obedience is the key to hearing and learning from God. In John 14:21-23 Jesus says, “Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him."
22 Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, "But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?"
23 Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24 He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me. John 14:21-24 (NIV)
If you want to know what God wants you to do, you must start with obeying the clear instructions from Scripture. He will continue to shed more light as you walk in obedience with Him.
One more case in the Bible will suffice in answering this question. Just how will we know God is speaking to us? When we determine to obey His voice without any evidence but His Word. Listen to Exodus 3:11-12:
But Moses said to God, "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?"
12 And God said, "I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain." Ex 3:11-12 (NIV)
Notice the sign that Moses requested would be given only after he obeyed God’s command. “This will be the sign to you . . . When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship me on this mountain.”
How would Moses know God had spoken? By obeying his voice at the first. There are clear commands in Scripture which God has given us to obey. If we obey them, He will provide us with the evidence we need. Now go out and obey His Word!
Small Group Discussion Questions:
Share how obeying God’s Word in your life has made a difference for you lately.
Are there any areas in your life that need to be brought under obedience to the Lord and His Word?
Look up the following passages and list the specific things it says are God’s will for your life.
I Thes. 4:3-7
II Pet. 3:9-10
I Pet 2:13-15
Ephesians 4:29-32
How are you at obeying the clear instructions in the previous passages?
Repent of your disobedience.
A great passage to commit to memory is Psalms 19:7-12.