Descerning God’s Direction

Proverbs 16:1-9, 33 (NLT)

We can make our own plans, but the LORD gives the right answer.
People may be pure in their own eyes, but the LORD examines their motives.
Commit your actions to the LORD, and your plans will succeed.
The LORD has made everything for his own purposes, even the wicked for a day of disaster.
The LORD detests the proud; they will surely be punished.
Unfailing love and faithfulness make atonement for sin. By fearing the LORD, people avoid
evil.
When people’s lives please the LORD, even their enemies are at peace with them.
Better to have little, with godliness, than to be rich and dishonest.
We can make our plans, but the LORD determines our steps.
We may throw the dice, but the LORD determines how they fall.

Discerning God’s Direction

One Sunday morning, a mother went in to wake her son and tell him it was time to
get ready for church. To which he replied, “I’m not going!”   “Why not?” she asked. “I’ll give
you two good reasons,” he said. “One, they don’t like me, and two, I don’t like them.”   His
mother replied, “I’ll give YOU two good reasons why you SHOULD go to church. One, you’re
48 years old, and two, you’re the pastor!”
In the world we live in, each of us is faced with the challenge of making dozens of decisions
every single day. When I woke up this morning I had to first of all decide if I was going to get
out of bed! (That may have been the toughest decision, I had to make all day!)
Then I had to decide what to have for breakfast, what shirt to wear, what colour socks to put
on. Now I recognize that those kind of decisions are not all that difficult, because they will not
have any major long-term consequences in my life.
But there are other decisions that we will be faced with from time to time, that will have
significant repercussions for the rest of our lives, aand these are the ones that we struggle the
most with: When I was younger they were often decisions about my future: What will I do
after I finish school? Should I go to college? university? What kind of job should I look for?
Should I get married? Should we start having children?
As I get older it is more decisions like: When should I retire? How should I best care for my
aging parents? And I’m sure you can probably think of important decisions that you are
wrestling with even right now. I believe that God is vitally interested in giving each of us
direction in making right choices and decisions in our lives
In our scripture reading we just read from Proverbs 16:9:
“We can make our plans, but the LORD determines / directs our steps.”
And there are many other places in the Bible where God promises that he will give us guidance and direction.
For eg: Psalm 32:8 “The LORD says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for
your life. I will advise you and watch over you.”
So God wants to be involved in leading us step by step in our lives, if we will let him. None
of us can say with certainty what will happen tomorrow. Only God is able to see the bigger
picture, and so to me it only makes sense that we should seek direction and guidance from
him.
Only God knows the plans he has for our lives, and he wants to give us insight as to
what that plan is. Jeremiah 29:11 is one of my favorite promises in the Bible: “For I know the
plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to
give you hope and a future.”
Because God loves us, he says to us: “I have prepared something wonderful for your life.”
He wants only what is best for us, and wants to help us discover what that path is.
But sometimes we may say to ourselves, “Well, I’m not sure if I really want God’s plan for
my life. What if God wants me to become a monk, or a missionary in Africa, or he has
something equally terrible in mind for my life?” And so the issue is first of all, one of trusting
God. Can I really trust him and his plan for my life?
So the first step in being able to receive direction from God is for us to say, as
Jesus did as he faced the cross: “Father, not as I will, but as you will.”
“Lord, I may not be totally sure right now what your will is, but I am willing to accept whatever
it is you want for my life.”
I’m sure most of us have first-hand experience at what a mess we can make of things, when
we reject God’s will for our lives, and try to do things our own way, when we refuse to follow
his plans. So we need to first of all understand that when we are in God’s will, that is the

very best place for us to be. That doesn’t mean it will always be the easiest path.
The problem with following God’s plan is that in the short term, sometimes it doesn’t always
work out the way we hope. But in the long term, we will always end up better off, when we
follow his direction and guidance. But assuming that we believe that, and that we sincerely
want to know and follow God’s direction for our lives, how do we determine what that is. So
this morning, let me suggest 5 ways that we can discover God’s will for our lives. I have
found personally that God often uses a combination of these things to help give us direction:
1st, We can receive direction from God through his Word, through the Bible. Last
Sunday we said that one of the key ways we hear God speak to us is through the written
Scriptures of the O & NT. Here in this book God has given us a wealth of practical guidance
and direction. And He has already told us what he thinks about a whole range of issues. For
eg, you might be tempted to try to avoid paying all of the income taxes the government is
expecting you to pay. Well, the Bible speaks quite clearly on this issue. In Rom 13:7 “If you
owe taxes, then you should pay those taxes.” Or for eg, if you are married and you fall in love
with someone else, and you wonder if you should leave your spouse for this other person,
God can give you very clear direction on this question.
He has said very plainly “You shall not commit adultery.”
And so for many of the decisions we make, we really don’t need to ask God for direction
because He has already given it to us through his Word.
And I would venture to say that in 90% of, at least the ethical decisions we will need to
make, there is clear direction from scripture. And if we’re not sure what the Bible says on an
issue, then we may need to ask someone who knows the Bible better than we do. Does it
speak to this issue that I am wrestling with?
However, we also realize that there are many decisions we will be faced with, where the

Bible may not give us any specific direction. For eg, the Bible gives us a lot of teaching about
marriage: It tells us it is good to get married if we so desire.
It also tells us that a Christian should only marry another Christian. But it will not tell us
specifically who it is we should marry. And sometimes we can misuse the scriptures in trying
to receive direction which is not really there. You may have heard the story of the woman
who felt that God was telling her who she should marry after she read John 1:6: “There came
a man who was sent from God; his name was John!”
Or you may have heard the story about the young man who was flipping through the Bible
looking for direction from God, and came first to Matt 27:5, where it says “And Judas went out
and hanged himself” Then he happened to turn to Luke 10:37 “Go and do likewise”. Finally
he landed at John 13:27 “What you are about to do, do quickly”
This is not a reliable way of using the Bible for getting direction!
However, sometimes God does speak to us through a specific promise or verse of
scripture.
Years ago when I was in my early twenties, I wrestled with whether God wanted me to go
into pastoral ministry.
I was initially resistant to the idea because I just didn’t feel comfortable speaking in front of
people.
But as I read God’s call to Moses in Exodus 4, I really felt the Lord was speaking
there to me personally as well
“Moses said to the LORD, “O Lord, I have never been eloquent… I am slow of speech and
tongue.”
The LORD said to him, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them
deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the LORD?
Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”
And I believe that God used those verses to give me an affirmation of his calling in my life. He

reminded me that whenever he calls us to do something, he will also give us the resources
and abilities we will need to fulfil that calling

2ndly, along with the Scriptures, I believe that another way God gives us
direction, is thru his Spirit speaking to us personally. In Romans 8:14, Paul reminds us that
“Those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.”
The more we walk with the Lord on a daily basis, the more we get to know him, the easier it
will be for us to recognize his voice speaking to us. Sometimes he will speak to us as we are
praying, and spending time quietly listening to him. Sometimes he will direct us by giving us a
strong desire or burden to do something, or to pursue a certain course of action. But we can
be sure that the Spirit of God will never tell us to do something that is in direct contradiction to
what the Scriptures say, and so we need to make sure that what we believe the Spirit of God
may be saying lines up with the principles taught in his Word.

3rdly, if we are facing an important decision, and we are not sure what course of
action to take, We can ask God to give us his Wisdom. James 1:5: “If any of you lacks
wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be
given to you.” Personally I find it helpful to ask myself questions like: “What are the long-
term consequences of this decision going to be? Does this course of action make sense in
light of my own personal abilities and weaknesses? Will this course of action enhance or stifle
my growth as a Christian? How will it impact my family?”
Dawson Trotman once said “God gave us a lot of leading when he gave us our minds”
A 4th important factor in receiving direction from God is to seek the Counsel and
advice of other people.
The book of Proverbs tells us that “Plans succeed through good counsel, don’t go to war
without wise advice.” and “The way of fools seems right to them, but the wise listen to

advice.”
Again I have found it personally helpful when faced with a dilemma or a decision, to talk to
one or two other mature Christians who I respect and trust, and preferably who know me well,
to get their insights and perspective.
They may be able to see things more clearly and objectively than I can. But we must also
remember that ultimately the decisions we make are between us and God. We must take
responsibility for them, and not try to shift the blame onto someone else if things do not work
out.
A final way that God can direct us, is through his Providence, through the divine
circumstances through which he leads us.
Prov 16:9 “We can make our plans, but it is the Lord who determines (directs) our steps.”
Ultimately it is God who is in control of the events in our lives. And sometimes he will close a
door in our lives, and that may cause us a great deal of disappointment and confusion at the
time. But then we find that that He can also open other doors to show us what his plan is for
us. When I am unsure of what direction God wants me to go, I find it helpful to pray: “Lord if
you don’t want me to do this, then would you close that door, but if this is your will for my life,
then would you open the doors necessary to make your will happen.”
When it comes to knowing God’s will for our lives, sometimes we have to be patient. We
wish we could see further down the road, that God would show us everything that is going to
happen. But usually he only shows us one step at a time. But as we trust him and take that
first step, only then he will show us the next step, and then the next step.
Maybe this morning, you are wrestling with what God wants to do with your life in the
future. You may be facing decisions and choices, and you’re not sure which direction to go.
Let me assure you that God wants to show you, maybe not the whole picture, but maybe
just that first step that he wants you to take in faith
What is it that God wants you to do right now? As you are obedient in what he has already
shown you to do, then he will make the next step clear for you as well.
As we close this morning, I’d like us to pray, and if there is something on your heart that you
are wrestling with, in regard to God’s will for your life, would you bring that to him right now.