Have you ever been around someone who didn't communicate? They're
the type we refer to as "the silent type." There are
those who seek to maintain power and control by not sharing with
you what they're thinking, what they're feeling, or what they're
expecting from you. We all become a little uneasy around people
like that.
God is not that way. God seeks to communicate.
HIS WORD is the primary source of His communication. Here
we find God speaking in specific passages in the Bible through
His commandments as well as in other verses where He gives us
principles that help give our lives direction. Since this is the
method of God's most objective method of communication, we need
to use it to test all of the other ways in which God also speaks
to us.
THE COUNSEL OF OTHERS helps to guide me. Oftentimes, the
most valuable counsel I've ever received came from those who knew
me well and knew the Bible equally well. As I speak and share
with such people, they can often point out passages of Scripture
that I didn't even know existed or share with me an insight about
myself that I had yet to discover.
INNER PEACE is given quite a prominent place in Colossians
3:15 (pg. 996) where it says "Let the peace of Christ rule
in your hearts." The word "rule" means in today's
language to "act as an umpire" in our hearts -- telling
us when a decision we make is a bad decision. It is much like
the internal conviction we receive when we know we've done wrong.
Although I have experienced God giving internal peace or taking
away internal peace based upon decisions I make, I quite often
need to begin moving in a certain direction (with little steps)
before I can discern that peace or lack of peace in my life.
I encourage anyone who is seeking to determine God's mind on a
given issue to begin taking small steps in the direction they
believe best. As they begin to move in that direction, quite often
God often either confirms the selected direction or makes it clear
that the direction is not what He had in mind.
CIRCUMSTANCES also can give us guidance as God places certain
opportunities in our lives. The Bible often speaks of these as
"open doors." However, it is also equally clear that
just because a circumstancial door stands open we should not automatically
assume that we should go through it.
Therein lies the danger. Anytime we take one of these four methods
of God communicating and use it solely for decision making, we
run into problems. Relying on ourselves alone to correctly interpret
the Bible has its problems. We can oftentimes read into a passage
what we want it to say or not be aware of other portions of the
Bible that shed more light on our situation.
If we only listen to the counsel of others, we never know if some
advice they give us might be contrary to the Bible. Peace and
circumstances can oftentimes be so subjective that without the
more objective nature of the Bible and the counsel of others,
we are prone to misinterpret what peace and circumstances might
be telling us. Each acts as a check and balance with the others.
I'm so glad that God communicates!
For additional reading on this subject, please seek to find the
book entitled Decision Making And The Will Of God by Garry Friesen
(Multnomah Press, 1980) .