I am not asking that simply to ask the question. There is something in my life that I feel like I would like to do, but I am not certain it is the Lord's will for my life. It will take time and energy to do and to do well. I will be accountable to many people to do this to my very best ability if I take this responsibility upon myself. I do not want to tread down a path that is not the Lord's leading.
I asked my husband. He thinks the endeavor itself is a wonderful idea. Is he certain the Lord is leading ME to do it? No. Is he certain the Lord is leading me NOT to do it? No.
So, how do we know the Lord's leading in our lives. First of all, we realize that every impression, every idea, may not be the prompting of the Lord. As Scrooge answered when asked why he doubted his senses in seeing Jacob Marley's ghost, "Because," said Scrooge, "a little thing affects them. A slight disorder of the stomach makes them cheats. You may be an undigested bit of beef, a blot of mustard, a crumb of cheese, a fragment of an underdone potato. There's more of gravy than of grave about you, whatever you are!" Impressions must not be taken as fact on their sakes alone.
Next, we should compare any thought, any impression, any idea with the Word of God. How does it stand up to Scripture? Is there any part of it that clearly contradicts the Scriptures? If so, we can be sure that it cannot be the leading of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit would not lead us to do something clearly opposite from the teaching of the Scriptures.
We can also ask our Christian friends, our pastor, those we respect in the Lord. The Bible says in Proverbs, "Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety." (Proverbs 11:14) What do the majority of these respected Christians think?
We should also spend a considerable time in prayer over the matter, asking the Lord to enlighten any area of darkness in our understanding of the matter. We should make sure our hearts are open to correction in the matter and that we are listening to the still small voice and not the loud, screaming shouting.
"The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD:
and he delighteth in His way."
Psalm 37:23
and he delighteth in His way."
Psalm 37:23
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2 comments:
The older I get, and the more realization I have of my mortality, the more I find time for petitions and contemplative prayer. My greatest prayer is that my time here is not wasted.
Thank you for this marvelous blog. I'm linking it to my site.
I think when I stand before the Lord in Heaven, I will shed many tears for the time I have allowed to slip through my fingers which could have been used for Him.
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