“He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” Romans 8:32
If there is one thing that a seeking soul needs, it is Divine guidance. Life is too short, the importance of it being too great, that one should foolishly miss the direction and guidance of God in the life. We see this in David Livingstone’s words, “I only have one life, And that will soon be past; I want my life to count for Christ, What’s done by Him will last.” Why is it then that individual guidance in the life seems to be so difficult? It is not that God is difficult, but that we are. God is not the problem, but the entire solution. Where then does one begin in the matter of guidance, in order to proceed with certain assurance before God, not only knowing the direction that one must take, but trusting Christ for all that is needful for the fulfillment, the accomplishment of the will of God?
As in the pursuit of all that is of God, we must begin with the One who has declared Himself to be The Beginning, and The Ending. He has also declared that He is the Truth, the Way, and the Life. Everything that we need to know of God’s guidance in the life, from the smallest thought and decision, to those monumental, so very crucial life-changing engagements in new directions and goals, begins first and foremost at the feet of those feet which were pierced for us. Why do we say this? Perhaps the greatest proof, and assurance, that the Great Shepherd will guide His sheep clearly and securely is found in the knowledge of His love for the sheep. In Paul’s letter to the Roman believers, he makes this so very clear when He speaks of the Son who was “delivered upon for us All.” Here is the One who is intensely committed to meeting the deep needs of the heart and mind, so that the believer can walk in full assurance of faith. Sometimes this knowledge, or the depth and strength of it, is crucial to see if we would be persuaded that guidance in the site of God is no game. However, it is a means by which God intervenes in the life, to reveal Himself as the Sovereign Lord of the life, the God of all circumstances. The measure of one’s assurance is born, maintained, and made to grow, as one beholds “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world,” for all men, but specifically for the individual believer. It is as the hymnwriter, F. Brook, so beautifully wrote: “So faith bounds forward to its goal in God, And love can trust her Lord to lead her there; Upheld by Him, my soul is following hard, Till God hath full fulfilled my deepest prayer.”
With regard to the practicality of understanding God’s guidance in the life, the believer is not only shut up to the love of God, but to His power and wisdom. The Great Shepherd, sovereign God, alone knows the full purpose of His leading, but also, the means and way by which that purpose is fulfilled. So, one is shut up to the Spirit of God, God’s provision in Christ, to communicate through the truths of Scripture, and their application to the individual life, the way and manner by which the believer can come to “know” God’s working and leading. Can one trust God for light, assurance, clarity in the matter of His work in the heart? Yes, and he can trust Him also for His peace, that blessed confirmation with assurance, confirming without doubt, that the will of God has been revealed.
What then must do to be led? The first thing is to be willing, setting no conditions or limitations on God. The total reliance upon the Divine Potter sets the small piece of clay free from the burden of having to understand all. When God leads, He is convincingly clear.
Dear Father, Teach us Thy way. In Jesus’ name, Amen.