It’s all too easy to speak glibly about God’s guidance; I hear Christians doing it all the time. The constant temptation is to confuse our wishes with God’s. In this extract, from my book Daily Advent Reflections, I explore one aspect of what Advent has to say about the ways in which God might lead us. Written originally for personal devotion, much of the material here could equally be adapted for use in public worship.
Open to God’s guidance
Approach
Living Lord, I come seeking your guidance. Reach out, and lead me forward, in the way of Christ. Amen.
Read
The sun will rise over us from heaven, to shine on those sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace. (Luke 1:78-79)
Reflect
What does it mean to be open to God’s guidance? Does it mean receiving clear instructions concerning each decision we have to make, unmistakably hearing his voice at every moment of the day? Discipleship would be much easier if that were so, but in my experience things don’t usually work that way. We may occasionally gain a strong sense that God is calling us to a particular task or challenging us on a specific issue, but such moments are the exception rather than the rule – wonderful when they come but not a commonplace experience. Most of the time it’s more a matter of following guidelines rather than receiving specific guidance, but such guidelines are no less challenging or valuable. Whether through the words of the Bible, a sermon, a book or another Christian, God can and frequently does speak powerfully, challenging us concerning the people we are and the lives we lead. A passage on love, for example, might inspire us to more committed relationships and service; a verse on the needs of the poor might quicken our consciences and lead us to give more generously; a chapter on justice might cause us to question our lifestyle; and so we could go on. The crunch question, however, is whether we are open to such guidance. If only God did guide unequivocally there would be no problem, for – assuming we count ourselves Christians – it would be well nigh impossible to ignore his voice, but when it comes to guidelines it’s different. We can too easily simply close our Bibles or turn to another page. We can tell ourselves that we’re doing our bit, or at least our best, and that a challenge therefore doesn’t apply to us. We can question whether it’s really God speaking or simply us reading too much into things. Or we can interpret words and ideas in ways that suit us best, making as few demands on us as possible.
To respond when we feel questioned, unsettled, challenged, threatened takes courage, yet it is the heart of real faith, perhaps explaining why God tends to offer guidelines more often than precise instructions, for directions served up on a plate would not be faith at all but blind obedience. Many of us will never receive a blinding call, an unmistakable ‘word of the Lord’ telling us what we should do or where we should go, but God has a knack of speaking nonetheless, probing into the depth and sincerity of our discipleship, the quality of our love and the extent of our commitment, and, through that, if we are willing to hear and to listen, he indeed offers guidance for each day. What then of you: are you open to guidance?
Pray
Living God, I recall today how you have guided your people across the years, leading them from earliest times. I recall how you called Abraham to venture out into the unknown, Moses to lead your people out of Egypt, and Joshua to take them into the Promised Land; how you called kings to rule over them and judges and prophets to speak your word. I recall how you called shepherds in the fields and wise men from the East to go to Bethlehem to see the Christ-child, how, in Christ, you chose twelve ordinary people to be disciples and how, on the Damascus Road, you call Paul to become Apostle to the Gentiles. Equally, though, I recognise how you have spoken to countless others across the years, often calling less directly, but guiding just as surely, confronting through your word, inspiring through your love, enabling through your power, renewing through your grace. Open my eyes in turn to all the ways you continue to prompt; open my ears to the ways you speak, open my life to the way you guide, and help me to respond, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Ponder
- In what ways have you been conscious of God’s guiding over the years?
- Have there been times when you have resisted his guidance? Why did you resist, and how?
- Is there a danger sometimes of asking for clear and unmistakable guidance when God has shown us the path to take all along, if only we would look harder?
Close
Sovereign God, give me a sense of all you would have me be, an understanding of the life you would have me live, and may that shape all I do and say and think, this and every day. Amen.
This is thought-provoking and challenging. Sometimes I wonder if I look for scripture that fits in with what ‘I’ want. I most probably do! This is a good lesson to look on scripture as guidelines and being open to God’s word instead of waiting to be told what to do like little children. I can see that that’s how God wants us to express our faith and love for him. This is a great help to me.
Thanks Lesley – that’s good to hear. And yes indeed, human nature being what it is, we all tend to look for what we want to hear rather than what we ought or need to hear.