Finding the Will of God
Image
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
It is interesting, in light of Gideon’s polygamy/fornication and usurpation of the priestly role (ephod of Ishmaelite earrings), that we so often view his fleece as the right thing to do—it’s not like Gideon was uniformly Godly or anything. He had a few acts of retribution as well that would have been very out of place in terms of what David did, too.
Aspiring to be a stick in the mud.
I have never met a person who told me they put out a fleece. Why do people talk about this so much?
Mark, I’ve heard it many times. Some Christians seldom make a decision without “putting out a fleece.”
G. N. Barkman
[G. N. Barkman]Mark, I’ve heard it many times. Some Christians seldom make a decision without “putting out a fleece.”
In 44 years (and counting) of attending Baptist churches in Minnesota, I can’t recall ever hearing the expression used here.
Perhaps. I’ve lived most of my life in the Carolinas.
G. N. Barkman
circa 1969: Heard of it frequently in college ministry / thought it stupid!
Perhaps I ought to have qualified it? I suppose because I have come across the line numerous times in ministry I assumed it was universal. Anyway, it amounts to saying to God, “If you do this then I’ll know…”
Dr. Paul Henebury
I am Founder of Telos Ministries, and Senior Pastor at Agape Bible Church in N. Ca.
….is that most of the “fleecing” is not given that name? But that said, I’ve got to admit that I’ve heard of people more or less asking God for a sign that they ought to abandon this sin or that, but when I started scratching my head to remember actual examples, I’m coming up pretty dry.
Whether that’s a good thing—people simply abandoning a sin without a sign from God—or a bad thing—I’m not getting close enough to people to learn that they’re actually doing this—I can’t tell, but that’s where I am. Praying that the former is the case, of course.
Aspiring to be a stick in the mud.
I’ve heard the fleece line a few times, but more often than not I’ve heard, “God gave me peace about it” or “God didn’t give me peace about it.” The subjective feeling and the unbiblical understanding of peace is the new fleece.
was not merely an open door or an odd occurrence, but something that was physically impossible naturally, the dew was only on the fleece but not the ground.
So, UNLESS a person is claiming that something physically impossible has happened, then they have not “put out a fleece”.
Other than being moral and attending church, you’re on your own…good luck.
Oh, and don’t forget to ask for “advice” from “wise men”… Never mind that I have never met any one that ever gave me any advice about a tough decision, even when asked.
Mark, beware of getting too cynical. First off, my position is not “a la Garry Friesen.” I quoted him and called his book “often helpful.” Secondly, seeking for God to do something is to ask for Him to effect a course of events. whether it is a really big effect, like turning the shadow back, or wetting and drying Gideon’s fleece, or whether it is merely, “I pray this person will be there and this will occur” it is in the same category. In other words, the phrase “putting out a fleece” is usually used figuratively for seeing certain Divine effects.
The Bible certainly has much to say about consulting wisdom. But I would be interested to know your views on discerning God’s will in particular situations. Feel free to chip in :-)
God bless,
Paul
Dr. Paul Henebury
I am Founder of Telos Ministries, and Senior Pastor at Agape Bible Church in N. Ca.
I agree. God’s will is not mysterious. I don’t believe for a second that He is playing head games with us, making us guess and hope we are doing The One and Only Thing that is in His will.
Ditto the idea of a ‘soulmate’. If we don’t find The One, or worse, we marry The Wrong One, we are doomed because now we are out of His will.
BTW, I have heard many, many times over the years the term ‘putting out a fleece’ to describe trying to discern God’s will by looking for signs or circumstances to meet certain conditions. It’s the worst kind of cliché.
The primary problem with “putting out the fleece” as a way of seeking God’s guidance is that it results from reading narrative as if it were a set of instructions. It’s one of the most common ways of (mis-) reading Scripture, and unfortunately it is reinforced by the way the Bible is taught.
[Susan R]Ditto the idea of a ‘soulmate’. If we don’t find The One, or worse, we marry The Wrong One, we are doomed because now we are out of His will.
In a sermon I once referred to the above as “one-school-one-wife-one-ministry-for-life.”
Meaning that before you were 18 you had to make sure that you went to the one Bible college that was God’s will for you, where you would meet the one person he wanted you to marry, and together you would find the one ministry that you were to spend your life in, and thus be in the perfect will of God.
If you or the other (woman/man) went to the wrong school, and you never actually met them, you would forever miss God’s perfect will and would have to live in his permissive will. Unfortunately, that meant that although you would eventually get to heaven you would not be riding in first class but would be in coach on that old gospel train.
p.s. Reading Friesen in Bible college (at the recommendation of a prof) was a highlight of my education.
CanJAmerican - my blog
CanJAmerican - my twitter
whitejumaycan - my youtube
Discussion