The Knowledge of God's Will

The Scripture clearly reveals that God give His people a good deal of freedom in life within the boundary of His moral will (please refer to my previous message - "Divine Guidance"). Let us now move on to consider the question: How can we make sure that our freewill decisions are the right ones?

Paul said, "For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding" (Colossians 1:9, NIV, emphasis added).

Here are some statements of truth:

1. It is God, and God alone, who reveals the knowledge of His will.

2. The knowledge of God's will is revealed through spiritual wisdom and understanding. Spiritual wisdom is also known as divine wisdom or the wisdom of God. Please refer to my earlier message - "Walking in the Light and Wisdom of God", where we realized that there are only two kinds of wisdom. These are the wisdom of God and the wisdom of this world. There are no other sources of information besides God and the world.

3. Spiritual understanding - In understanding those things that pertain to the "Spirit", that is, those things taught by the Holy Spirit.

Paul said, "Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God" (1 Cor. 2:12, NKJV).

"Things that have been freely given to us by God" include "the knowledge of His will".

4. If you have spiritual wisdom and understanding you will have the knowledge of God's will.

Spiritual wisdom - Seeing things from God's point of view

Someone defined spiritual wisdom as, the ability to see things from God's point of view. More precisely, wisdom is the power to see, and the inclination to choose, the best and highest goal, together with the surest means to attaining it. In other words, quite simply, wisdom is the ability to figure out what is the best thing to do in any given situation.

The key to acquiring wisdom

Chapter 8 of the Book of Proverbs reveals to us where wisdom comes from.

"I (wisdom) love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently will find me" (Prov. 8:17, NKJV).

Notice that it was wisdom speaking. Solomon let "wisdom" speak for itself - in the first person. Believers will find wisdom by "seeking wisdom diligently".

The Scripture reveals wisdom

Paul said, "But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God - and righteousness and sanctification and redemption" (1 Cor. 1:30, NKJV).

The Scripture reveals Christ and that Christ is the Wisdom from God. Christ is our source of wisdom and it is by Him that we are made wise. Therefore we must seek to know Him through the Scripture. The measure we know the Scripture is the measure we know Christ. We need to:

Immersed in the Scripture

The major source of spiritual wisdom lies in immersing yourself in the Scripture where you can find Christ diligently.

Notice that spiritual wisdom is not the result of good training or the learning of techniques in Bible Schools or Seminaries; it comes from exposing yourself to the wisdom that flows through every page of the Bible. I have known believers, hightly trained in the skills of decision-making, who made huge blunders in their Christian lives. They had plenty of knowledge (also head-knowlege of Christ) but they lacked spiritual wisdom. At this point, let me offer another definition of spiritual wisdom - "The ability to put knowledge to its best effect."

The importance of studying the Word of God cannot be over emphasized. Study requires effort, but the effort, in turn, produces spiritual wisdom. Many Christians prefer to make do with devotional aid instead of diligent study of the Word of God. In my opinion, devotional aid, at its best, are someone's interpretation of the Word of God. You don't find spiritual wisdom by this method. The following are some requirments:

It requires diligence:

Paul wrote to Timothy: "Consider what I say, and may the Lord give you understanding in all things. Be diligent to present youself approved to God, a worker who dies not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth" (2 Tim. 2:7; 15, NKJV).

It requires search and enquiry:

"Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow" (1 Peter 1:10, 11, NKJV).

It requires meditation:

"But his delight is in the law of God, and in His law he meditates day and night" (Ps. 1:2).

It requires memorization:

"Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You" (Ps. 119:11).

It requires learning from gifted Bible teachers:

"The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you" (Phil. 4:9).

"And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers; ... (1 Cor. 12:28).

"Let him who is taught the word share in all good things with him who teaches" (Gal. 6:6).

Obey the Scripture

Spiritual wisdom does not flow from a mere study of the Scripture, it comes only as translate the Scripture into action i.e. to obey the Scripture.

Jesus said, "Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them" (John 13:17, NIV).

In the early Church, there was a big discussion over whether a Gentile believer should become circumcised or remain uncircumcised. Many regarded it as a tremendously important issue, but Paul put it right:

"Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing, but keeping the commandments of God is what matters" (1 Cor. 7:19, NKJV).

From the beginning of time, God has stressed the importance of obeying God's Law as being the key to spiritual development and wisdom.

The Lord said to Joshua: "Do not let this Book of the Law depart from you mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful" (Joshua 1:8, NIV).

Develop a hunger for wisdom

We need to develop the attitude that wisdom is so valuable we will do everything humanly possible to obtain it. This means we will need to reflect on the value and importance of spiritual wisdom. Reflect on the fact that, as far as spiritual things are concerned, no man is wise in himself.

"Do not be wise in your own eyes, fear the Lord and depart from evil" (Prov. 3:7, NKJV).

The attitude of the one who receives wisdom is that of reverence, humility, teachableness, diligence, uprightness and faith.

Pray and see what God has built wisdom into nature

Pray that Lord will open your eyes to see what God has built wisdom into nature. We would do well to reflect on the things which animals do by instinct.

"There are four things which are little on the earth, but they are exceedingly wise: The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their food in summer; the rock badgers are a feeble folk, yet they make their homes in the crags; the locust have no king, yet they all advance in raks; the spider skillfully graps with its hands, and it is in kings' palaces" (Prov. 30:24 - 28, NKJV).

"But as the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds of the air, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish of the sea inform you" (Job 12:7 - 8, NKJV).

Seek wise spiritual counselor for advice

It is good to discuss important issues with a wise spiritual counselor. The Book of Proverbs stress the importance and value of wise counselors to the decision-maker:

"For the lack of guidance a nation falls, but many advisers make victory sure" (Prov. 11:14, NIV).

"The way of a fool seems right to him, but a wise man listens to advice" (Prov. 12:15, NIV).

"Pride only breeds quarrels, but wisdom is found in those who take advice" (Prov. 13:10, NIV).

The kind of counselor you shoul look for is one who has the reputation of possessing deep spiritual insight, and who has gone through a good many relevant experiences.


How God's will revealed


Paul said, "For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure" (Phil. 2:13, NKJV, emphasis added).


God works in the hearts of believers to lead them to "will and to do" that which is in accordance with His own will. The phrase, "For His good pleasure" means, "which is in accordance with His will". God can work in us, in mnay ways, so as to guide us to do His will when we come to a crossroad and don't know which way to go.


Through circumstances


We know that God is sovereign over all things, and that He can work in and through circumstances to bring about His will. At times, therefore, God will bring about unexpected, unlikely circumstances together, with precise timing, to reveal His will.

Circumstances by themselves, however, should not be accepted as clear indications of God's will, for some circumstances can mislead us, rather than lead us. Jonah was misled by circumstances which seemed right for his escape from the call of God to preach in Nineveh (Jonah 1:3). He found a ship going to Tarshish (the opposite direction) and circumstances seem to favor him because he had the right fare.


Through an inner voice


Guidance also comes through the witness of the Holy Spirit speaking directly to our hearts. We need to cultivate the "listening" side of our prayer so that our spirits are sensitized to hearing God's voice, otherwise we can be deceived by our own imagination - and not the impression of God's will.


Jesus said, "My sheep listen to my voice; I now them, and they follow me" (John 10:27, NIV).


We need to know how to disentangle the voices of the subsconscious from the voice of God.


Through reasoning


Sometimes God guides us through our mental processes, through hard thinking and reasoning. Our mind-set needs to be developed through consistent exposure to the principles of God's Word by daily study the Scripture and prayer. We need to heed Paul's advice:


"And be constantly renewed in the spirit of your mind - having a fresh mental and spiritual attitude; ..." (Eph. 4:23, The Amplified Bible).


Through Godly Counsel


Sometimes guidance comes through a small fellowship group (or home-cell group) whose members are committed to one another's spiritual growth. We can learn from one another to discern God's will for us.


"Apply your heart to instruction, and your ears to words of knowledge" (Prov. 24:12, NKJV).


Every human eye, we are told, has a "blind spot". It is insensitive to light or color. It is not uncommon for our spiritual eyes to have "blind spot" too, and it is a benefit for us if the members of this small group can point out and put right the things that we can't see ourselves.


Through personal desires


The thing we long to do is often (though not always) the thing God wants us to do.


"Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desire of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass" (Ps. 37:4, 5, NKJV).


"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths" (Prov. 3:5, 6, NKJV).


Notice the conditions attached to the above promises of God.


Conclusion


God uses many forms of guidance, but the one authority by which all guidance is to be evaluated is God's eternal and infallible Word.