Trinity Baptist Church

Knowing and Doing God’s Will

Following God’s Direction

Proverbs 3:5-6

 

For a couple of weeks now we’ve been involved in a series of studies dealing with “Knowing and Doing God’s Will” and I’m sure some of you are thinking, “So when are we going to deal with how to know God’s will?” because so far, I’ve not dealt with that question specifically.

 

But in order to know and do God’s will, there is some fundamental, foundational groundwork that needs to be in place if we will consistently and comprehensively be in God’s will.

 

First, we dealt with “being filled with the knowledge of God’s will”.  That was Paul’s prayer for the church at Colossae.  He was asking God to create this desire within them to be absolutely under the control of the knowledge of God’s will.

 

Now if we are going to be under the control of God’s will, we must decide if God can be trusted.  And last week we learned He can be without reservation.  No matter what the details or circumstances, we must always return to our conviction that God is a good God and He can be trusted to do what is right and best to bring good to us and glory to Himself.

 

Now I will tell you that is good preaching and tough living because the theology of that is a whole lot more easy to accept than the practicality of it.  And it’s a whole lot easier for us to tell someone else to trust God than it is to trust God for ourselves.

 

I heard about a little boy who was envying his older brother's new bicycle.  Since he wanted a new bicycle also, he went to his big brother and asked him how to get one.

 

Well, his older brother said that he had prayed for this bicycle and he suggested that his little brother start praying for a new bicycle as well.  After giving

it a little thought, he realized his older brother was

a lot better at prayer than he was, so he went to him

and said, "Why don't you just give me your bicycle and you can ask God for another one?"

 

What is it about trusting God that makes it so difficult?

 

Watch the screen. (video)

 

That is an insurance company commercial and its intent is to convince us to trust their company’s products.

 

But the truth of the matter, anything of this world can’t be trusted.  The only thing in the universe that is absolutely trustworthy is God and all of God’s Word and all of His activity are given to us to show us that God is trustworthy.

 

Now eventually we’re going to look at dealing with surprises that come along in our life and how to recognize open and closed doors and even what God does with our mistakes and choices when we get out of His will.

 

But before we ever get into the specifics of knowing God’s will, I want us to understand when we learn  to trust God, He guides us.

And the circumstances of each of our lives are unique and individual to us.  God’s not developing clones of copies.  He deals only in originals and that means God has a plan for you and He wants to

guide your every step.

 

So what happens when you make up your mind to be filled with the knowledge of God’s will and you put your absolute trust in God?  What happens next?

 

In one of the greatest passages in all the Bible, the wisest man who ever lived, gives us some of the greatest advice ever heard.

 

It’s found in Proverbs 3:5-6

 

This morning I want to show you a three things that will help you to always be in God’s will

 

 

Verse 5a

 

The word "trust" in the Hebrew literally means

"to lie down on" or "to stretch out on."  Every night when you go to bed you lie down on your mattress; you stretch out on your mattress; you put your full weight down on your bed and never give a second thought to what you just did.  You don't put one foot on the floor or hold on to the frame.  You just lie down.  And the same way you trust your bed is the same way you ought to trust God.

 

Notice you are to trust the Lord "with all your heart."  You've got to put your whole heart into trusting God because a half-hearted faith is basically the same thing as wholehearted doubt.

That’s why Paul was praying for the Colossians to “be filled with the knowledge of God’s will”.  They were to be totally dominated by and under the control of God’s will for their life.

 

When you think about it, there's no such thing as a halfhearted trust.  You either trust God totally or as far as God is concerned, you do not trust God at all.

 

Trust is important in any relationship.  Take marriage for instance. If a wife does not totally trust her husband, that marriage is in for some rough sailing to say the least.

 

Now you won’t read it in the Bible, but someone said back in the Garden of Eden, Adam awoke to find this beautiful woman that the Lord had brought into his life.  He named her Eve.  They got along fine except Eve began to get suspicious about Adam, because sometimes he would be out late at night and she would ask him where he had been.

 

She said, "Adam, I don't feel good about you being out when I don't know where you are going.  Are you out with other women?"  Adam said, "Eve, are you crazy?  You know you are the only woman in the world for me!

 

Well, she wasn't satisfied with that, but finally they went to sleep until the middle of the night when Adam woke up to find Eve poking him in the chest.  He said, "Eve, what are you doing?"  She said, "I'm counting your ribs."

 

Now there is a reason why God demands total trust, and that is because He deserves nothing less.  Think about it.

His character makes it impossible for Him to fool us because He cannot lie; His wisdom makes it impossible for Him to fail us; He cannot make a mistake.  His nature makes it impossible for Him to lie to us; He is Absolute Truth.

 

In fact, there is no reason in the world for us not to totally trust Him and partial trust is the same thing as total unbelief.  If you're going to trust in God you must do it without reservation, without hesitation, without equivocation.

 

And notice the alternative.

 

Verse 5b

 

We can either “Trust the Lord with all our heart” or “lean on our own understanding”.

 

 The word there for lean means to “support yourself by leaning on something or someone."

 

In other words, the support structure of our life is not to be guided by human logic or what we think.  Now this does not mean that we are to be without understanding.  It doesn't mean that we're to put our mind in neutral.  It doesn't mean that we are not to use sanctified common sense.

 

But it does mean that we are not to make our reasoning, our intelligence, what we think, the sole guiding principle of what we do.   Remember again, Paul’s prayer for believers to be filled with the knowledge of God’s will.

 

 

 

We then take our human capabilities to think and we process that information that God gives to us and we make our decisions based on that knowledge.  Remember the formula I shared with you earlier.  Knowledge brings my mind under control which brings myself under control which determines my obedience to the Lord which results in living a sanctified life.

 

And the key to getting the end result that both God and we desire begins with what kind of knowledge we will depend upon to make our decisions.

 

If I trust the Lord with all my heart, I get the result that brings good to my life and glory to God.

 

If I lean on my own understanding, I wind up with a mess and maybe even a disaster on my hands.

 

Remember this principle: if you put human reasoning before holy revelation, you will end up walking in darkness rather than light.

 

Notice what Solomon says in verse 7 of our text.

 

Solomon even said here in verse 7, "Do not be wise in your own eyes."

 

Back in November of 1997, a man named Paul Sirks watched helplessly as his single engine airplane took off by itself.  It then flew for two hours and crashed into a bean field 90 miles away in Ohio.

 

Here's what happened:  Sirks was flying a 1946 Aeronca Champs vintage airplane when it developed mechanical problems.

 

He landed the single-engine plane at Grimes Field airport near Urbana, Ohio, then got out to restart it by hand-turning the propeller.

 

Once the engine started, the empty plane taxied away without Sirks, nearly hitting another plane and a hangar before becoming airborne.

 

The two-seater plane climbed about 2,000 feet and circled the air for about five minutes before heading northeast.  It eventually reached a height of 12,000 feet before it ran out of fuel and crashed landed in Northeastern Ohio about 50 miles north of Columbus.

 

That is exactly what will happen to you if you try to pilot the plane of your own life; it will crash land.  

 

You see, the right thing to do may not always be the reasonable thing to do, or what somebody else thinks you ought to do.  That's why you cannot lean on your own understanding.

 

When David fought Goliath, Saul wanted him to use a sword and a shield.  But God wanted him to use a slingshot and a rock.  People thought Noah was crazy to build a boat on dry land.  I'm sure they thought Joshua was nuts when he marched around Jericho seven times, but they were confident in God's power.

 

And there are going to be some times in your life when God tells you to do something that makes no sense whatsoever, but the counsel of God’s Word is “Trust God, not yourself.”

 

Here’s the second thing:

 

Verse 6

 

The word "acknowledge" literally means "to recognize" or "to see."  In other words, in all things

we are to be looking for God; looking for what He

wants and what He desires.  Whether we are going to play or to pray, to work or to worship; whether we're going on a vacation or to our vocation, we are to acknowledge the Lord.

 

Now did you get the emphasis of that verse?  You are to acknowledge the Lord in all your ways.  That means in your financial life, your social life, your recreational life, your vocational life, your marital life, you are to acknowledge God.

 

Let me simplify this as much I can and emphasize what this means.  This simply tells us to do this:  Always keep God in mind.  Now this is more than just reading your Bible or praying.  What this means is that every moment of your life the Lord Jesus is to be thinking through your mind; to be looking through your eyes; to be speaking through your lips; to be working through your hands; to be walking through your feet; to be listening through your ears; and to be loving through your heart.

 

We are to acknowledge the Lord, look for the Lord, seek the Lord, and recognize the Lord in all of our ways.  Listen:  God wants to be in on every decision of your life; not just the big ones, not just the ones that you think are most important, but in every decision.

 

 

A lady once came up to G. Campbell Morgan, the great English preacher, and said, "Dr. Morgan, do you think God really cares about the little things in my life?"

 

Dr. Morgan wisely replied, "Madam, do you think in your life there is anything that's big to God?"

 

You see, God wants to guide every step of your walk.  He wants to guide every movement of your hand.  He wants to guide every thought of your heart.  He wants to guide every minute of your life.

 

If you're going to be guided by the Lord, there can be no "ifs," no "ands," no "buts" in the will of God for your life.  What you need to do with your life is turn it into a contract that you leave blank, that you go ahead and sign at the bottom, and then tell God to fill in the details.

      

Don't miss that word "all" in these verses.  God calls for all your heart.  God wants to be acknowledged in all your ways.  In other words, if you trust God for everything, He will guide you in everything.  You must be committed to His purpose.

 

Be confident in God’s Power; Be Committed to God’s Purpose and then

 

 

Verse 6

 

Acknowledge Him; He shall direct your paths.

 

 

 

We want to start with knowing God’s will when instead, we should begin not with knowing God’s will, but knowing God.  Once we get acquainted with God we come to understand how big and powerful and good He is.  That leads us to trust Him and commit our life to Him, then when that happens, we can be controlled by His plan for our life.

In other words, if you will do your part, God will do His part.

 

But I want to remind you this is a promise, but it is a conditional promise.  You will not be controlled by the plan of God, unless you are confident in the power of God and committed to the purpose of God.

 

Now this obviously speaks of guidance.  While the world stumbles around in the dark we are promised we can be walking in the light.

 

Almost nineteen years ago, Lisa and I were serving a church in Duncan, Oklahoma.  We had been there over seven years and had the privilege of watching God do some amazing things in the life of that church.

 

But through a series of events, I came to realize God was releasing me from serving there.  Within the next few months, ten different churches made contact with me in one way of the other.  We talked with at least five different pulpit committees.  Once I I had two on the same Sunday.

 

One church in particular was in Lawton.  They had experienced a mess and most of the church had left.  They had a beautiful building that would seat about 800 and were running 150 or so on any given Sunday.

I developed such a burden on my heart for that church.  I would drive by that building and just ache.

 

Their committee had my resume, and I spoke on one occasion to the chairman but nothing ever developed.  I dropped every hint I could.  I spoke to people close to the situation.  Nothing.

 

I was so confused!  In November of 1994, the Baptist Convention met at Southern Hills Baptist Church in Oklahoma City.  I was walking down the hallway between buildings during the meeting when an old friend of mine, a retired pastor and director of missions from Washington, grabbed me by the arm, pulled me into the hospitality room and said, “God gave me a verse for you this morning.”

 

He then quoted Psalm 32:8:  "I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye."  He prayed with me and I began to cling to that verse.

 

Then Trinity Baptist Church in Ardmore made contact.  Out of all ten, it was on the bottom of my list.  I really wasn’t interested in moving back close to home.  I knew a little of the history of the church and I just wasn’t too interested.  This in spite of the fact that my father in the ministry had all but promised me I would one day pastor this church.

 

But God made it clear this is where we were to serve and confirmed that in so many ways!  And true to His promise, He instructed, taught and guided me to the place of doing His will. 

 

 

 

What a tremendous promise.  God will lead us, He will go before us, He will pilot the plane of our lives and make sure that it reaches safely its destination.

 

Now ponder that phrase for a moment "He shall direct your paths."  You see, life can only be lived on one of three levels.  Level one is this:  "I do what I want to do."  That is the level where most of the world lives today. 

 

Level Two is:  "I do what I think I ought to do."  That is the level where many Christians live today.

 

But Level Three, which is the highest level is: "I do what God leads me to do."

 

In May of 1995, I became pastor of Trinity Baptist Church in Ardmore, OK.  Fast forward six years.  We had experienced some good growth and needed space.  But at the old location, we were land-locked.

 

Eight blocks down the road, Central Baptist Church was trying to decide what to with an aging membership, no staff and dated buildings.  Two neighbors, one from Trinity and one from Central were neighbors, and the first thought of merging two churches together was birthed at their shared fence line.

 

No one thought it would work; there were questions of expense and doctrine and support.  But God put it together to bring good to His people and glory to His name and I still stand amazed in the presence of God when I reflect on how simple and easy it was to make one congregation of two!

 

 

But that’s the way it is when we “acknowledge Him”.  He directs our paths. But that raises a question.  How does God direct our path?  How does God reveal His plan?

 

First of all, He does it through His Word. Never forget this next statement.  God's direction will never contradict God's instruction.

 

Listen to Isaiah 8:19-20

 

I don’t care where you get your counsel.  It may be your parent or closest friend, you check out everything anybody else tells you or counsels you by the word of God and if it doesn’t check out, then run like the wind to avoid that counsel.

 

But God also speaks to our heart.  I believe that God speaks supernaturally to the inner man.  His Spirit communicates with our spirit.

 

One of the most mis-applied passages in all the Bible is 1 Cor. 2:9. It says, “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things God has prepared for those who love Him”.

 

Now most of the time that passage gets quoted in the context of not knowing how glorious heaven is.  We can’t imagine it.  We’ve never seen or heard anything like it.  And that’s true.  But that’s not what these verses are telling us.

 

Listen to the next few verses.  (10-12)

 

He is saying, “The world can’t comprehend spiritual truth, but you can!”

 

It is our privilege to have information the world in general doesn’t have because God freely gives it to us.  But it must be spiritually discerned.

 

And in the next few weeks we’ll flesh it out in more detail, but just know this:  when you want to know God’s will and you need His direction, if you will acknowledge Him, He will direct your paths, and if need be, He will do it supernaturally.

 

He also directs our paths through godly counsel.

 

Proverbs 11:14 says, "Where there is no counsel, the people fall; but in the multitude of counselors there is safety."

 

Proverbs 15:22, "Without counsel, plans go awry,

but in the multitude of counselors they are established."

 

God may use your pastor or Sunday School teacher.  It might be a parent or spouse. It might be the Sunday School class, but divine guidance oftentimes will come through human counsel, but only when that group itself is divinely guided.

 

A wise man is not someone who surrounds himself with counselors.  A wise man is someone who surrounds himself with wise counselors.

 

But this verse speaks of more than just guidance.

 

We also find the word "direct" and it is a word that literally means "to cut a highway" or "to clear a path."  Now this is even more exciting because let me tell you what this means.

 

When God is leading and you are following, mountains will melt, valleys will be filled, crooked places will be straightened, rough places will be smoothed, doors will be opened, walls will fall down as God clears out every obstacle that gets in your way to get you to where He wants you to go.

 

When you surrender your life to Jesus Christ, you put your total trust in Him, God becomes your Father, Christ becomes your Shepherd, the Spirit becomes your teacher, and together you're guided and directed into the path that He wants you to take.

 

Shortly after the end of World War II, a young associate pastor named Cliff, and his fiancé, Billie, wanted to get married.  They scraped together money for a simple wedding and two train tickets to a city where Cliff had been asked to hold a revival with a friend.

 

Since they badly needed the money they thought they would combine their honeymoon with this revival.

 

Well, they got off the train at their destination, took a bus to the hotel only to discover it had been taken over by the military for use as a rehabilitation center.  Standing in an unfamiliar city with just a few dollars, Cliff and Billie had little choice but to try and hitch a ride on a nearby highway.  Soon a car pulled over and the driver asked them where they wanted to go.

 

With a sheepish look on their face, they said, "We don't know”, and explained their problem.  Well, the driver was very kind and offered a suggestion.

 

A few miles down the road was a grocery store owned by a woman that he knew.  She had several empty rooms upstairs and perhaps she might let them stay there.

 

Well, the woman did rent Cliff and Billie a room for $5.00 and they moved in.  On their first day Billie spent the afternoon practicing the piano and Cliff played the trombone he had brought with him.

The proprietor of the store, sitting downstairs in a rocking chair, began to listen to their music.  When she realized this young couple was Christians, she referred them to a friend who invited them to spend the rest of their honeymoon in his home.

 

Several days later the host mentioned that a young evangelist was speaking at a youth rally at a nearby Christian conference center and invited the newly-weds to attend.  It so happened that the regular song leader was sick that night, and Cliff was asked to lead music for the service.  Well, that evangelist turned out to be Billy Graham, and the Music Director, the young groom, was Cliff Barrows.  They met for the first time that night and a lifelong partnership was formed.

 

That was in 1945 and he has been a part of the ministry of Billy Graham ever since.  Ii know there is a tendency to say, “Yea, but that’s Billy Graham and his crowd.  Obviously God leads them.”  But I want you to know you don't have to be a Billy Graham or a Cliff Barrows for God to guide you and God to direct you.  The promises of these verses are for you.  If you will simply trust in Him and acknowledge Him, He will direct your paths.

 

Let’s pray.