Tuesday, March 18, 2025
GOD’S
UNUSUAL GUIDING
How can you tell whether God is guiding, or you are just chasing
your dreams or running amuck? From all the stories we read in the Bible there
doesn’t seem to be a simple formula. Consider the following.
1. God
may lead through a mess of my own making!
Jacob had purchased the highly valuable birthright of
the firstborn from his brother for the paltry price of a bowl of lentils. He
then stole the patriarchal blessing from his aged blind father. Now, in Genesis chapter 28, he is on the run,
and he lays down in a barren place with stones for his pillows. Yet
God was leading.
Gen
28:11-15
11 And he lighted upon a
certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he
took of the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows, and lay down in
that place to sleep.
12 And he dreamed, and
behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and
behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it.
13 And, behold, the LORD
stood above it, and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God
of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed;
14 And thy seed shall be
as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the
east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all
the families of the earth be blessed.
15 And, behold, I am with
thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee
again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I
have spoken to thee of.
Jonah had stubbornly refused to go to Nineveh and wound
up in the belly of a great fish. Yet God was still leading.
Jonah
1:17
17 Now the LORD had
prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the
fish three days and three nights.
2. He
may lead by answering prayers with unusual circumstances!
Abraham’s servant was sent to find a wife for his son. This was a
daunting task. How would he find her? How would he know? He devised a plan and
prayed a prayer. The woman who watered his camels would be his choice.
Gen
24:15-19
15 And it came to pass,
before he had done speaking, that, behold, Rebekah came out, who was born to
Bethuel, son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother, with her pitcher
upon her shoulder.
16 And the damsel was
very fair to look upon, a virgin, neither had any man known her: and she went
down to the well, and filled her pitcher, and came up.
17 And the servant ran to
meet her, and said, Let me, I pray thee, drink a little water of thy pitcher.
18 And she said, Drink,
my lord: and she hasted, and let down her pitcher upon her hand, and gave him
drink. 19 And when she had done giving him drink, she said, I will draw water
for thy camels also, until they have done drinking.
3. He
may (but only rarely) lead by direct revelation!
Paul was earnestly trying to determine his next
field of service
and God had already vetoed his first two choices. In the night God spoke
through a dream.
Acts
16:9-10
9 And a vision appeared
to Paul in the night; There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying,
Come over into Macedonia, and help us.
10 And after he had seen
the vision, immediately we endeavored to go into Macedonia, assuredly gathering
that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto them.
4. He
leads through His Word and inner urgings upon our spirit!
Isa
30:21
21 And thine ears shall
hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye
turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.
Ps
143:8
8 Cause me to hear thy
lovingkindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know
the way
wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee.
Ps
73:24
24 Thou shalt guide me
with thy counsel and afterward receive me
to glory.
Lord,
like Solomon, we don’t feel confident to go in or out the door. We need your
wisdom for so many of the decisions which must be made today. Make your will
and way clear today. AMEN
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