Post
by _David » Thu Apr 13, 2006 11:42 pm
Homer,
There is a book that my wife and I have partially read called "Decision Making and the Will of God". Unfortunately, I cannot find the book at this time to tell you the author's name because we are packing in preparation for a cross-country move. However, so far I have been impressed with what I have read and it has challenged my thinking on the Biblical information concerning how a Christian should approach decision making.
I spent my early years as a Christian in college at a charismatic church where many people spoke of "hearing the Lord's voice" or "being told by the Lord.." or having the Lord put things on their heart. This is something that I feel I have experienced at times in my life, though I quickly learned even as a young believer to not believe "every spirit" because even well meaning believers sometimes (apparently) heard incorrectly!
In my opinion, and this is based on my experience as a believer, as I have grown in my understanding of the Scripture I have needed to "hear" from the Lord less frequently. That may sound counterintuitive, or it may make me sound as if I have grown apart from the Lord, but I think much of it has to do with just growing up. I now have fewer questions about what is right and wrong and have gained insights into application of Scripture such that decisions that seemed difficult earlier in my spiritual life now seem more black and white. What's more, I now feel a certain liberty as a growing Christian to make some decisions without as much waiting on a prompting, because my theology has grown to include the sovereignty of God in affecting the outcome. I find that when faced with decisions that are not moral in nature (for example, how I chose my new job in a different state), I did pray that God would lead me in any way He deemed necesary and I trusted Him to sovereignly control the factors outside my control to lead me in the right path. However, when faced with a decision with no moral high ground, I made the wisest decision I knew how to while praying for God's leadership. In the past, I would have probably waited for a "leading" or a "word", which at times stymied my decision making because no word was forthcoming.
I am a parent, and I hope that my children will always be willing to ask my opinion when they need advice (and of course, I pray that my counsel will be godly). As they age, however, they should need my counsel less and less if I have done an adequate job of teaching them the Scripture. That is not to say that they will have all of the answers, just like I don't, but with maturity comes the peace of knowing that what God has said in His Word need not be repeated with a confirmation. And in the areas where there is no clear specific answers in the Scripture, which is not as common as people assume, then one of several options may be equally pleasing to the Lord. To trust the Lord in that case may mean making a decision and trusting God with the results.
I believe people would ask for a word less if they knew the Word more. That has been the experience of many believers, not just myself, and comes from a better understanding of how to apply Scripture. Additionally, though I do believe God can communicate to a person extra-Biblically, it is often difficult to know how to test such a word. For most of us, these words are not prophecies as much as feelings about which decision to make. Often, these decisions do not give one outcome that is so much better than another, and therefore it can be impossible to know if we really heard from the Lord or just thought we did. As we mature, we learn to discern the voice of the Shepherd more accurately, but I think much of that communication is channeled through the Scripture. As this forum shows, even Scripture can be debated and contested in terms of its meaning, but at least in that case we know "all Scripture is God breathed" which is more than I can say for some of the dreams and words I have been told of.
Lastly, I do not look down on any believer who tells me that the Lord told them something. I do, however, reserve a more jaundiced eye towards any statement that is out of step with the Scripture, is untestable, or lacks the fruit that the Spirit bears when at work.
Last edited by
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Reason:
In Christ,
David