The Way through the Wilderness
How to Discover God's Will for Our Lives

Do you sometimes find yourself in a quandary - caught, as it were, like Israel at Pihahiroth, between Migdol, Baal-zephon, and the sea (cf. Ex. 14:2) - with no way to turn, and wondering how you got yourself into such a predicament? If so, at least you are not alone, for you have plenty of company; and, what is more, in spite of your misgivings, you may have some pleasant surprises in store. For, while, like all the rest of us, you are eagerly longing for the guidance of the Lord, the chances are that He is already guiding you, whether you are aware of it or not. That was certainly so in Israel's case. God had deliberately allowed her to become "entangled in the land," in order to keep her from risking a suicidal encounter with the Philistines and to prepare her for the enjoyment of unexpected blessings in the days ahead (cf. Ex. 13:17, 18; 14:3). And so it may be with you today. Though in "the maddening maze of things" you seem to have lost your way, if you will only pause to look up, you will find that God has been looking down and watching over you all the time.

Nevertheless, you doubtless wonder, as we all do now and then, why it is so hard to find and follow the guidance He provides. Why doesn't He give us some kind of map or chart with all the crooks and turns, and hills, and tunnels, and detours marked out in advance? That would make things so much easier for us, we think. And it probably would. But it would also deprive us of the discipline which, with every hard-found step, helps us to find the next one. For, after all, it isn't just a question of reaching Canaan, but of being prepared for the enjoyment of our inheritance when we get there. So instead of being embarrassed by our difficulty in finding God's will, we shall do well to beware of those who profess to know all the answers in advance. It is easy enough for the merest trifler to boast, "God told me thus and so," and then go on to do exactly as he pleases. And, alas, it appears that many of us are prone to do that very thing. Sooner or later, all honest Christians have to learn to sing, "I do not ask to see the distant scene; one step enough for me." And, meanwhile, it is what we learn in our search today that schools us for the challenges of the morrow.

This can be much more thrilling and rewarding than if we had a blueprint of the future all mapped out for us. But it calls for faith, real faith, and all the patience that such faith can muster in our souls. We are likely to feel that God is leading us while everything is going well, and that He has deserted us when worse comes to worst. But, oh, how wrong we can be about that! When was Noah closer to God than when he found himself encompassed by the waters of the Flood? Or Abraham, than when he was building an altar to offer up his son? Or the Hebrew "children"- Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego - than when they were being hurled into the flames? Or the Prophet Daniel, than when he was abandoned to the lions? Or John the Baptist, than when he languished in a dungeon under the shadow of a headsman's block? Or our blessed Lord Himself, than when He hung in gory spittle on a shameful cross? Away with the notion that prosperity is always the badge of God's approval or that His guidance is verified only in terms of earthly success! Oftener than not, it is just the other way round, with unprincipled worldings enjoying "the pleasures of sin for a season" while better men of nobler character "suffer affliction with the people of God" (Heb. 11:25). No one is more wretched than the unscrupulous person who bargains for riches and honor at the cost of his own integrity. Only the obedient are truly rich, and only the faithful are truly successful, in the eyes of God.

Sooner or later, in one way or another, it always costs to follow the path of God's appointment; yet, whatever it costs, it pays! For, whatever His will may be and wherever it may take us, that, for us, is the best and safest place in all the world. It may be in tumultuous waters or a fiery furnace or a lions' den - or where you are right now-but if you are where God wants you, He will bless and sustain you there. That's what He told Elijah when the famine came: "Get thee hence ... and hide by the brook of Cherith ... I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there" (I Kgs. 17:3, 4); as long as Elijah was "there," he never missed a meal!

This is why God created us free in the first place, so that we might submit to His direction of our own accord. He didn't give us our freedom in order that we might do as we please, but that we might be able to say, "Not my will, but thine, be done" (Lk. 22:42). And it is in proportion as we find and follow His leading in our lives that we enjoy the ideal destiny for which we were made.

But every step we take in that direction must be taken voluntarily. If God gave us a map and forced us to follow it, that procedure would leave us unprepared for heaven even if we got there. For we are responsible persons, not mere animals; and, therefore, God exhorts us not to be "as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle" (Ps. 32:9). In short, He wants us to do His will "with purpose of heart," which is to say, because we want to, not because we must - not as slaves, but as sons (cf. Acts 11:23). And to this end, speaking as a Father to His children, He declares, "I will instruct and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye" (Ps. 32:8). Thus it is not by force or magic, but through instruction and teaching, that He would oversee and guide us, with every perceptible turn of events subserving His purpose as a gesture to show us the way.

This is how Abraham found his way from Ur to Canaan, how Eliezer found his way to the home of Rebekah, how the Children of Israel found their way through the waste and howling wilderness, how Peter found his way to the house of Cornelius, how Paul and Silas found their way to Philippi, and how we must find our way through all the turmoil and confusion of these delirious times.

But, unlike the saints of old who were led along by mysterious Theophanies or angels or dreams or voices, we have "a more sure word of prophecy" (II Pet. 1:19), the Word of Truth, to serve as a lamp for our feet and a light upon our path (cf. Ps. 119:105). And now, normally at least, this is the best and easiest way to learn, and make sure that we know, God's perfect will. For, granted that even in the Bible, we do not always find explicit directions for all situations spelled out in minute detail, the Scriptures nevertheless provide a revelation of general principles which serve as guidelines to help us reach the right decisions on our own.

Even so, according to the Bible itself, we must be conditioned for guidance if we are to be able to receive it when it is given - just as a radio must be intact, turned on, and tuned in before it can receive a message that is beamed to it. This, I think, is what the great Apostle means when he says: "And be ye not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God" (Rom. 12:2). This passage assumes that we have already been born again, but it nevertheless insists that we must be transformed by a renewing of our minds if we are to enjoy undoubting assurance that we know God's mind. In a word, we must not only be saved, but fully dedicated to the Lord, if we are to share His thoughts and understand His will as it is revealed in the Scriptures. Not that He relaxes His supervision when we are out of His will, but that when we are not in fellowship with Him, we are unable to discern his guiding hand and enjoy the consolation it affords. He guided us to Christ before our conversion took place, and He still guides us insofar as we are tractable; but we can never walk in sweet rapport with Him as Enoch did (cf. Gen. 5:22)", until our minds and hearts have been brought into harmony with His. This is not our own accomplishment, but God's; and, even so, He enlightens and guides us only insofar as we are submissive and obedient to whatever light we already have. We are not told to transform ourselves or to renew our own minds, but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds; and this is brought about by God Himself as we learn to rely on his good offices. We, therefore, come to know His will in proportion as we are willing for Him to have complete control of our hearts and lives.

This thought finds further support in one of our Lord's most pregnant utterances on a related theme. In John 7:17, He tells us that "If any man will do (God's) will, he shall know the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself." This language means: "If anyone is willing to do God's will, he shall be able to perceive whether My teaching is from God or merely from Myself as its human source." The immediate reference is to "teaching," or "doctrine," but the principle to which our Lord refers is clearly broad enough to cover our search for truth in general, including the truth about God's plan and purpose for everything He calls on us to do or to endure. Thus understood, this passage shows us that if we are willing to do God's will, we shall be able to discover what it is. And, on the same principle, it implies that we shall never be fully assured that we know the will of God unless and until we are willing to obey it, whatever it may be.

This is a tremendously important truth, which we shall do well to take to heart and ponder. How easy it is, and how prone we are, to preface our prayers for guidance with a mental proviso - provided, that is, that God gives us what we want or what we think we ought to have - and how hard it is for us to submit to His dealings when they cut across the grain. We are willing to make almost any sacrifice in order to succeed for the glory of God, but how we wilt when He calls on us to face the rage of taunts and vermin with Jeremiah or to wade through rivers of tears, from loss to loss, and defeat to defeat, with the Apostle Paul. Yet - whether it be to endure affliction, reproach, and poverty, or, on the other hand, to bear the burdensome responsibilities of promotion, prosperity, and power - we shall never really know that we are in the will of God until we prefer and cherish it above everything else. Thus, and only thus, may it be found, and anything short of this will leave us stranded in a labyrinth of doubt. Jeremiah found God's will in a noisome dungeon (cf. Jer. 37); Ezekiel found it among the scorpions (cf. Ezek. 2:6); John the Baptist found it on the headsman's block (cf. Mt. 14:10); the Lord Jesus found it on a gory cross; and, as for Paul, he found it "in infirmities, in necessities, in persecutions" and "in distresses for Christ's sake" (II Cor. 12:10). These illustrious heroes of the faith were not triflers who crossed their fingers when they took their vows. If they had yielded to the lure of momentary "success," they would have been abysmal failures and we would now be paying the forfeit for their faithlessness. It isn't for servants to choose their chores. We find God's will for tomorrow by doing what we know we ought to do today. [Pastor Heatherley's teaching on God's will for our lives continues...]