Seeking God, not Doors

Until recently, I had long forgotten MLA formatting. Do you remember all those rules from English class? My daughter is learning all of those intricate spacing rules. She has not, however, had to cite many sources yet. If she had, I would plop a works cited note at the end of this blog! Instead, I will just tell you that Henry Blackaby is one of my heroes and most of today’s blog is from his study, Experiencing God. If you have never done it, what on earth are you waiting for? It is truly revolutionary.With full props to Dr. Blackaby, I want to round out my last blog. So many people have taken the approach in their decision making that “God opened a door” or “If this is not God’s will, I am asking Him to close the door,” that I felt compelled to warn you that this is a common but dangerous way to make decisions.For those of you who like tangible, practical steps, I will tell you what Chris and I have done regarding decisions for the last twenty years. God doesn’t work by formulas and He has the right to direct us however He wants. However, this process I’m going to tell you about has protected us from making a hasty or a man-centered decision more times than I can count.When we are faced with a decision, we try to set a specific amount of time to pray about it. Within that time, we will each pray and begin to seek wise counsel from people we trust. At the end of that period of time, we then look to see how God has communicated through four different areas: prayer, His Word, circumstances, and the counsel of other believers.That sounds all neat and tidy, but the tricky part (and where we are really stretched) is to look at all four of those areas for alignment. Any one of them can be manipulated. You can find a verse to support almost any decision, and you can find someone as “wise” counsel who simply sees your view and agrees with you. You get the point. If all four line up in the same direction, then you’re able to make a decision, trusting that (to the best of your ability) you have discerned God’s will.What if those four areas don’t all point in the same direction? What if the money looks really good and your best friend thinks it would be good for you to move to Nashville, but you have no direction from God’s Word or from your prayer life? Maybe the hardest thing in the world would be to say “No.” Most wouldn’t. What Dr. Blackaby is so wise to remind us is about the bigger picture. This world and our circumstances are not just moves on the chessboard to see if we can win; but God uses circumstances as opportunities to reveal Himself to us and for us to point others to Him.Dr. Blackaby writes, “If I do not have clear instructions from God in a matter, I will pray and wait. I will not try to bypass the love relationship.” You see, God is not obligated to tell us to stay where we are. He is obligated to tell us to go. His silence may be your “no” that you prefer not to hear… but you can always trust that He alone knows what is best for you and He never hides it from us. If He wants you to move forward and you are willing to listen, He will not disappoint.I’d love to hear how you’ve seen God be faithful to reveal Himself to you in the midst of your decision making… twitter | facebook