Following God's leading

Up to this point in my life, I can think of three really major decisions I've faced:"Which American Girl doll should I ask my grandma to buy me for my birthday?" "What college should I go to?" and "Should I fly on a plane with the new TSA scanners and pat-down procedures in place?" I prayed over and labored over all three decisions. And, with the exclusion of that first one, my final decisions for were all based on Bible verses.

That's right. Not an audible voice from God. Not a "whisper in my heart." Not a dream. Yes, Bible verses.

I've been listening to a lot of John MacArthur sermons lately (if you haven't heard of him, you should check out his website: gty.org). He happened to write a little book I have on my bookshelf that deals with following God's will. MacArthur makes several theologically sound points, my favorite being this: (and I paraphrase)

The only place we can find God's actual words--

the only "God's will" we can be 100% certain of--

is in the Bible.

Now, you may be wondering why I centered that. After all, it's a point that many of us Christian kids learn and hear over and over. 

But let me ask you something: how often do you really apply that? 

How often have you been told (by Christians, mind you) to "listen to God's will" or to "pray and see what God says"? Or to just sit quietly and "listen"?

I used to be one of those people. Adamantly, too. 

Until I started "hearing" things that I knew weren't true. 

Until I started "hearing" multiple voices telling me contradicting things.

You have to be very careful when you're dealing with spiritual matters. The devil has been trying to trick Christians for at least 6,000 years, if not longer, and he's gotten really good at it (you would too, if you'd been working on something 24/7 for 6,000 years!). The Bible says that the devil disguises himself as an "angel of light." Spiritual stuff is way more complicated and dangerous than we sometimes realize!

Now, I don't know about you, but when I have a super-big decision to make (such as where to attend college), I don't want to just listen to a "whisper in my heart"--especially one that's been confusing me. I want God to telephone me, telling me exactly what to do! 

Although we don't have God's audible voice telling us what to do, we do have the words of God in the Bible. In both my decision to apply to the Master's College and my decision to avoid flying on planes because of the TSA, I didn't have God telling me "go here" or "do that." However, I read His words in the Bible and applied them to each situation.

Is God able to lead through a "whisper in your heart?" Of course! But whatever that "whisper" says must match up with His word.