Finding the Will of God
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It is a commonly held belief among Christians that one of the most perplexing problems we experience is knowing what the will of God is for our lives. The reason for this is not hard to find. For one thing, we are most sensitive to this question in times of stress, when the stakes are high and our emotions are perturbed. We want a clear path to appear in front of us—we want to know what our heavenly Father would have us do. In these situations we turn to God and pray for guidance. But frequently we discover that the help does not come to us when and how we think it should, and we begin to wonder if there is some secret key to the will of God which we need to discover.
1. The Problem with Fleeces
Everyone is familiar with what Gideon did when he wanted absolute assurance that he was not deluded, but that the Lord truly had told him to take on the Midianites—he laid a fleece out, not once but twice (Judg. 6:36-40).
So we say to ourselves, well, if God honored Gideon’s prayer for guidance and God answered him, He may honor my request—after all, we say to ourselves, we just want to do the right thing in God’s sight. So we spread before God our fleeces, metaphorically speaking. For example, we pray,
“Father, if I am meant to go into business with this guy then let such and such happen.”
Or,
“Lord, if it is your will for me to meet the women who will be my wife then let her come and talk to me at church tonight (P.S. and let her friend who despises me be home sick or something).” We may even cite Gen. 24:12-14 to help our case!
But there are several things wrong about this procedure:
- First, it tempts God in that we make stipulations that we then want God to meet. We forget that our Father is also the King.
- Second, it contradicts the injunctions which tell us that we must walk by faith and not by sight (or sign).
- And third, not infrequently, when our desired ‘sign’ occurs (or some semblance of it), we still feel as much in the dark about things as before.
Further, there are a few exegetical matters which need to be thought through:
First, Gideon already had been given a very clear sign from God and had been told what he must do (Judg. 6:15-23).
In the second place, Gideon had to go to war with a vastly inferior army (135,000 Midianites against his 35,000 Israelites who would be whittled down to 300—Judg. 7:1-6). “Accordingly,” wrote Leon Wood, “Gideon felt in need of reassurance that God truly wanted him to proceed with this frightening venture.” (Leon J. Wood, The Distressing Days of the Judges, 211-212.)
The extraordinary circumstances in which Gideon found himself called for a “double-check.” But they did not call for any new information. In short, Gideon had warrant for his prayer, we do not. So it is unwise to put out fleeces a la Gideon and expect to get any direction from the exercise. This is because a. Gideon had a vast army to go up against, and, b. because we are to walk by faith, not by sight. So let us pursue this question of the specific will of God further.
2. How Then Can I Know What God Wants Me To Do?
In his often helpful book Decision Making and the Will of God, Garry Friesen puts forth what he calls “the Wisdom View” (p. 199). Friesen defines his view thus (I have clarified some of his wording and added some thoughts of my own):
First, the revealed commands and principles of God’s Word (i.e. God’s ethical code), are to be obeyed. Thus, where we know what God requires of us (e.g. the Beatitudes, the Armor of God, The Ten Commandments minus the Jewish Sabbath, etc.) we should be striving to please Him. This is the burden of passages like 1 Thess. 4:1 and following, or Rom. 6:11.
Second, in those areas where the Scriptures give no specific command or principle, and it is not a question or morality per se, the believer is free to responsibly choose his or her course of action—provided they do not violate God’s ethical requirements as set forth especially in the New Testament (e.g. Eph. 4:1-5:21). All decisions must be faith-decisions, since “whatever is not of faith is sin.” (Rom. 14:23).
Finally, the objective of the Christian is always to make wise decisions, decisions both spiritual and practical. Thus, the Book of Proverbs comes to the fore here. See e.g. Prov. 3:5-6; 16:3.
Earlier in the book Friesen gives J. I. Packer’s definition of wisdom: “Wisdom is the power to see, and the inclination to choose, the best and highest goal, together with the surest means of attaining it.” Wisdom, (Chokma—which denotes practicality as well as problem-solving), is discovered by those who fear the Lord (Prov. 9:10). This fear forces God into every decision and compels pride and self-centeredness to leave (or at least to take a subordinate place). The culture of pragmatism and the obsession with image which permeates not just secular America but Christian America too (and to the same extent!), means that the thoughtful believer who truly wishes to know God’s guidance will be careful to keep the fear of God always as a mark before him.
To this definition I add these comments of John Stott:
The [general] will of God for the people of God has been revealed in the Word of God. But we shall not find His ‘particular’ will in Scripture. To be sure, we shall find general principles in Scripture to guide us, but detailed decisions have to be made after careful thought and prayer and the seeking of advice from mature and experienced believers.(John R. W. Stott, Authentic Christianity, 248)
Paul Henebury Bio
Paul Martin Henebury is a native of Manchester, England and a graduate of London Theological Seminary and Tyndale Theological Seminary (MDiv, PhD). He has been a Church-planter, pastor and a professor of Systematic Theology and Apologetics. He was also editor of the Conservative Theological Journal (suggesting its new name, Journal of Dispensational Theology, prior to leaving that post). He is now the President of Telos School of Theology.
- 21 views
Anyone looking for a “miraculous” confirmation today is subtly undermining:
- A closed canon &
- The authority of Scripture
I have responded to Paul with a personal message. I am under no obligation to respond publicly, as that would take a book to write, and none of you would care to read it. In the past I have posted extensively to several threads about the will of God. Look that up.
I am a full time student, a husband, a father of four kids under 9, as well as a full time worker, so I lack the time to write a book anyway.
I would also appreciate you refrain from personal insults such as the “cricket” link and implying that I am a coward or something for not replying. It is totally ridiculous that you get away with stuff like that simply because you are a moderator.
[Jim]I’ve always believed in a closed canon, but if someone were to ask me for a particular verse to support a closed canon, I’m not sure I could readily come up with one. Since you just mentioned it as something that shouldn’t be undermined, I thought I would ask you for the verses you use to support it.Anyone looking for a “miraculous” confirmation today is subtly undermining:
- A closed canon &
- The authority of Scripture
[Jim]Lee wrote:
Questions:
1) Is Gideon indicted for this action or is this action condemned directly or indirectly?
2) Do these signs (either the burning broth one or the fleeces) indicate lack of faith?
3) Is confirmation of a directive, particularly in a time where Scripture is incomplete, in any wise “wrong”?
4) If it is not recorded for our beneficial guidance and it is not condemned as something to avoid, what is it recorded for?
It seems that these are just some of the questions that should be addressed before we make wholesale I don’t think it is a believer’s model statements.
Judg 6:36–40: Gideon’s two requests for signs in the fleece should be viewed as weak faith; [I am not in the habit of openly disagreeing with commentators who I consider way smarter than myself. However, this conclusion has every appearance of him bringing his paradigm to the text. It certainly is not a conclusion that is text driven. He even categorically states that they were “legitimate requests for confirmation” and that “God nowhere reprimanded Gideon”. For the record, Scripture is not particularly shy about including a reprimand into a narrative about lack of faith when it was due—see Exodus 4:13-14 and II Kings 1313:14-19 for examples.] even Gideon recognized this when he said, “Let not your anger burn against me” (v. 39) [Why should this statement indicate faithlessness when compared to very similar statements such as Gen. 18:30-32 where Abraham exhibits extreme faith in interceding on behalf of Sodom?] since God had already specifically promised his presence and victory (vv.12, 14, 16). But they were also legitimate requests for confirmation of victory against seemingly impossible odds (6:5; 7:2, 12). God nowhere reprimanded Gideon, but was very compassionate in giving what his inadequacy requested. In 7:10–15, God volunteered a sign to boost Gideon’s faith. He should have believed God’s promise in 7:9 but needed bolstering, so God graciously gave it without chastisement.
Also the ESV Study Bible:
Judg. 6:36–40 Before the actual military engagement, Gideon again displays his reluctance to be a leader, for he asks for confirmatory signs from God (cf. v. 17). On the one hand, Gideon’s fears are understandable: the task he is preparing to do is difficult and dangerous. On the other hand, the angel’s appearance and promise (vv. 11–24) already included a confirmatory miracle (v. 21), and Gideon had already begun to obey (vv. 25–27) and to see God’s protection (v. 31). In any event, God stoops to Gideon’s level and grants the signs requested. [Again, this smacks of someone’s paradigm being dragged into the text. God readily granted signs even when He had categorically stated that He was going to do something. Hezekiah’s healing in II Kings 20:1-11 would be a good example.]
Judg. 6:39 let me test. Ironically, this is the same word (Hb. nasah) used of God earlier, when he “tested” Israel (2:22; 3:1). Gideon’s desire to test God was in direct violation of the Mosaic law, which prohibited humans from testing God (Deut. 6:16). Gideon himself was aware that he was doing something unwise, if not sinful, since he asked God not to be angry with him (Judg. 6:39). Gideon already knew God’s will (cf. vv. 14–16, 36)—calling him to service on behalf of God’s people—so Gideon’s requests reveal his weak faith. Despite this lack of faith, God accommodated both of Gideon’s requests (vv. 38, 40). More constructive examples of responses to God’s call are Isaiah (Isa. 6:8) and Jesus’ disciples (Matt. 4:20; Mark 1:18–20).
Emphases mine.
Point being, I don’t see where the text drives any conclusion that these fleeces were faithless acts any more than the original sign that confirmed he was communicating with an actual angel or the dream about the barley cake which bolstered Gideon’s courage were acts of faithlessness. Particularly in the Old Testament God used whatever means He chose to confirm His will to men, and those means were many and varied.
Lee
[Greg Long]Mark, there is a command in Scripture to build an Ark. Have you built an Ark yet? No? If not, perhaps you realize that not every command of Scripture and not every example in Scripture is prescriptive for NT Christians today. Yes, it is sometimes difficult to determine the commands in Scripture that we are bound to follow today, but we need to at least recognize the issue.
Mark’s earlier comment does point out a real problem. Since it’s unlikely or impossible that anyone would literally imitate actions from a Biblical narrative, it is routine to do the next best (or worst) thing: read the narrative as allegories for our lives and then seek to imitate the allegory. If the people in the pews were being trained to read and think well about Scripture for themselves, they might gain more insight into how they get to participate with Jesus in what He is doing in the world.
Discussion