4 July 2013

HOW TO FIND THE WILL OF GOD FOR YOUR LIFE (2)

By John Ollis

I introduced this important topic recently by referring to the “Harbour Lights Teaching”.

As a ship comes into harbour at night it needs to line up a number of lights so that the Captain knows he is in the right channel and will not hit rocks or get into shallow water. For the believer the 4 Harbour Lights are:            (a) The Peace of God

                                                                         (b) The Word of God

                                                                         (c) Circumstances

                                                                         (d) Godly Counsel

THE PEACE OF GOD

When we came to Christ our lives were filled with the peace of God, this is the awesome privilege for God’s people. When it comes to seeking the will of God, the Bible says the peace of God is the Judge or umpire we can have on the inside. We should be sensitive enough to the Lord to be able to always recognise God’s peace in our hearts as we are seeking to know the lord’s will. Remember it is not just peace alone, the other “Lights” must also line up. Some people say when the decision is made then they felt peace, I believe we can have and know the peace of God before the decision is made. Undoubtedly when the decision is finally made there can be a greater awareness of the Lord’s peace in our hearts.

THE WORD OF GOD

Firstly we must know what the Word of God says, thus we must be a reader, one who Studies, and one who meditates regularly in the Word of God. On most important topics of life the Bible is very clear, but there are times when the Bible is silent, if the Word of God is clear on a matter, our attitude must be “God said it, I believe it, that settles it”. Sadly we are living in a generation where many believers seem to say I know what the Bible says, “but this is the 21st century and everyone is doing it!!!! Remember once again The Word of God is one of the four “lights” we must consider when seeking to do the will of God. None of the four lights should be taken in isolation, but must all line up before we make our decision.

CIRCUMSTANCES

Again, many believers make their decision because the circumstances seem to be perfect (remember again the other “Lights” may line up too. There will be times when the circumstances are all wrong, this can be the lord saying the timing is not right, but also the enemy of our souls does not want us to do the will of God and he will seek to create havoc in our world. We must discern if he is trying to stop us to the will of God

GODLY COUNSEL.

I believe it is essential we have mature older believers around us so we can seek their wisdom on the matter. The Bible says there is wisdom in a multitude of counsellors, the picture in the Hebrew is the counsellors are all together, we must not seek out counsel one on one and continue to seek until we hear what we want to hear. The bible says there is nothing new under the sun, so there is every chance that an older believer will have faced your situation and can share honestly and openly with you.  This is how we also learn to hear and discern the Lord’s voice. The Bible says there are many voices in this world and every voice has significance. But which is the lord’s verse. We may have had a friend call us up on the phone and disguised their voice, and we just aren’t sure who it is that is speaking. Many believers seek to discern the Lord’s voice on their own, and can make some wrong