Assurance of guidance

Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
(Pro 3:5-6)

Key words: Trust, lean not, acknowledge Him and be directed.

A. Trust (foundation of God’s guidance)

Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. (Gen 3:1-5)

The arguments that the devil put in Eve’s mind in the first temptation of mankind is the question of trust.

The devil will always come to us to bring us to circumstances to question God’s supremacy – ‘Have God said?’ He cleverly does this to question our trust in God. This is to shake us to waver in our faith which leads to whom do we believe? I don’t think the devil plays with our belief in order that we believe in him, but rather we believe in God or ourselves more.

Mistrust in God leads to suspicion. I’ve even heard of private detectives that provide services to track ones husband or wife. Suspicion leads to great distress, sleeplessness, lack of peace or even taking negative actions that are not justified (over reacting to circumstances or taking matters into one’s own hands). Here is a story of a true case of mistrust which leads to suspicion, eventually breaking up a home…….

And the disciples were astonished at his words. But Jesus answereth again, and saith unto them, Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God! (Mar 10:24) In the natural we have much richest that may not be in the form of money. We may be rich in experience (eaten more salt than rice), lots of people who can help us out of any trouble, wealth of ‘connections’ that can take us out of anything, very clever in getting out of trouble, etc. There seems to be a lot of things we can rely upon, but not forgetting the natural wisdom that God in His Sovereignty put in us. But when we start to rely on the natural (ourselves) more than the God who gave us the ability, then it’s difficult for us to get the best of God’s blessings. Take for example teenagers who has harsh things to say to their parents thinking that they know all that there is to know about living (when parents give advice), what pain deep within do the parents feel when the child rebels in such a way? Doesn’t the Heavenly Father feel the same?

B. Lean not!

We lean on something when we need to be stable. Our understanding should not serve as the crutch we depend upon. In hardship and decisions our level of anxiety is the determination on what and who we lean on depends on how much the Prince of Peace is in control of our lives. Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. (Phi 4:6-7)

And when he was entered into a ship, his disciples followed him. And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep. And his disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish. And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm. (Mat 8:23-26) This is a familiar account of Jesus and His disciples in a storm. In the face of the possibility of drowning, they called unto Jesus to save them. In order to be saved or rescued out of whatever or however difficult circumstances we are in, firstly we must have Jesus with us! This means that Jesus is neither a distant God nor just another character we read of in the Bible. There has to be reality of Jesus in the everyday live, as ‘everyday’ as for a group of fishermen crossing the sea in a boat. At least they knew who to call when trouble is beyond their natural ability. This relationship or friendship with Jesus has to grow because we only ask for help from those we are familiar with. We know Jesus from our daily communication with Him in reading the Word, prayer and worship. It’s like a relationship between a husband and wife that takes years to nurture. Observe some older couple we have in church, you may see how good a life they had together by the way they treat each other or the way they seem to understand each other without saying too many words. Sometimes a nod, wink, nudge or some bodily action is enough to express what is in the heart.

Why trust God will ALL our heart? The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? (Jer 17:9). From this verse it indicates that we can’t trust our heart. That accounts for the regrets we have in our lives and other social problems likes teenage pregnancy, drug addiction, wrong financial investments, bad relationships, etc. Our heart wavers with circumstances, why not trust in the Rock of our salvation for ultimately security!


C. Acknowledge Him

The root word in Hebrew is to ‘know’, therefore ‘Know Him’. Also same word as Adam knew his wife and she conceived which therefore talks about intimacy.
In all our ways or the path of choice or road that we choose to travel on, how much do we intimately know His will and purposes for our lives?
I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation (calling) wherewith ye are called, With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (Eph 4:1-3). It is not for us to call blow our trumpet to be called Christians, as term ‘Christian’ or ‘Followers of Christ’ was given by non believers to the church at Antioch. What do our friends, relatives and family members consider us in our ways? The person who knows our true character and behavior would be our wives.
Even our Christian ministry no matter how effective it is may have some hidden character or behaviors that God may find offensive. Here is a testimony shared by a pastor who had a powerful ministry but God found Him out one day ……what other people sees in public has to reflect the private. For God knows every intention of the heart.

D. Be directed

Root word is to be ‘straight’ or ‘even’ to imply to make right, pleasant, prosperous, etc.

By His Word. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path (Psa 119:105). God’s speaks mostly through the Bible. We seek His direction and ways through the regular reading of the Word. Here is a sharing by a brother who climbed Mt. Kinabalu recently. Some times God only shows us a little at a time, some times all we see is the wall of difficulty, but the end of it is glorious. The Word of God has power to communicate the life of God to us mentally, morally and spiritually.

By being honest to God and ourselves. And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full. This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. (1Jo 1:4-10). To be honest with God and ourselves, we have to acknowledge our weaknesses due to our sinful nature. We never fail to ask our government, children, church, etc to be transparent. But we ought to live in a glass house before God, but not to others (be wise).

By prayer and having the right attitude. In Phil 4:6-7 Paul encourages us to pray with thanksgiving, not pray and complain. As much as we don’t like to hear our children whine, God’s ears would be painful to hear our prayers with the wrong attitudes (false humility, complain, inferiority complex, etc). The test of God’s guidance is that we have continual peace beyond human understanding.

By the Holy Spirit. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.(John 14:26). ‘Comforter’ means an advocate or lawyer. The difference between other religions and Christianity is the relationship we have with God as His Holy Spirit is our Friend who stands by us and teaches us. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is the promise of our Heavenly Father. And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. (Act 1:4-5).

By charity and of a sound mind. For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power (dunamis), and of love (charity), and of a sound mind (self control) (2Ti 1:7). Again, it is the Holy Spirit that gives the enabling to overcome fears we face and to have the necessary guidance to make decisions. And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high. (Luke 24:49). Therefore we know that our decisions are right Spirit guided when done in the benevolence (generosity that is not self centered) and with desires that are constraint (within the boundaries of God’s approval).