Wednesday, September 16, 2020 Material taken from God’s Warrior From Manasseh Part 4
Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday. Psalm 37:4-6
Sometimes God asks us or calls us to do something and we want to be very certain we are hearing Him correctly. However, this past Sunday Brother Van gave us some very important reasons not to ask God for a sign.
Reasons for Not Asking God for a Sign:
To take a shortcut - We need to make sure that we are not turning the discovery of God’s will into a scheme by which we can put all the responsibility and all the work in God’s hands.
To ignore God’s revealed will - A new believer, for example, could be introduced to the doctrine of tithes and offerings, and disliking the idea, pray, “Lord, if you truly want me to pay my tithes, then make my boss give me a 15 per cent pay rise.”
To validate a decision you have already made - How often do we choose a job or a date or an investment based on our decisions of what we want? After that, we get on our knees and pray, “God, please bless this project.”
To avoid waiting -Tempted to look for a quick answer we may ask for a sign and it puts us back in control. Suddenly, God needs to answer according to our schedule. We have done something about it—we fixed it. And because we pretended to be submissive to God all the way, we do not have to feel guilty!
Just as there are reasons not to ask God for a sign, we also need to carefully consider these guidelines to determine if it is God speaking to us:
QUESTIONS TO DETERMINE IF GOD IS SPEAKING:
1. Is this idea consistent with my gifting? Does this idea line up with your gifting, passions, and experiences, but beyond my abilities? God’s ideas will not waste our gifts, passions, and our experiences. If we are supposed to be good stewards of these things, then we know for sure that God’s intent is to be a good steward of them.
2. Will the execution of this idea cost me anything? God’s instructions are wrapped in the envelope of sacrifice. There may or may not be some personal benefit in what you are led to do from God, but if it is all about personal benefit, then you should proceed with extreme caution if at all.
3. Will following this plan ultimately invest in people? One thing is for sure about Jesus, he was in the people business. His primary concern was showing & extending love, grace, and mercy to people.
4. As I draw closer does this seem to look like a mirage or an oasis? A mirage fades from reality, an oasis does not. This is the birth of a vision.
5. Is there an excitement stirred in me as well as close fellow believers?
When you hear His calling on your life, take it seriously. Go in His power and believe that He will do great things in our church, in the community, and beyond Weatherford.
And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you,
O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you. Psalm 9:10
