Jesus is called: the chief Shepherd. (1 Peter 5:4) One function of a shepherd is to lead. Jesus, speaking of Himself as our Shepherd, promises to lead us: the sheep hear his voice; and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice. (John 10:3,4) If Jesus calls each of His sheep by name, it means that He will lead each one of us individually and not only collectively as He also sometimes does.
The reason that man needs to be led, is his insufficiency, which God has placed upon him, in that no man knows all things that are necessary for the rest of his life at any time in his life. As says Jeremiah: O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps. (Jeremiah 10:23)
There are two basic ways in which God leads us: the first is to teach us the necessary wisdom and scriptural principles that we must use to take our next step. The second way is to direct our steps regarding choices and decisions that we must make, not based upon scriptural principles, but upon contingencies, the probabilities of which we do not know. In the next sections I will discuss these two ways in which our Chief Shepherd leads us.
A privilege given to those who obey Jesus is that when Jesus leads them, He teaches the reasons rather than just ordering them as servants. Jesus promises: Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you. (John 15:14-15)
Over the years God will teach us many things from a variety of sources - church sermons, our own bible readings, discussions, and experiences. In making many decisions, therefore, we will already know what to do. The discussion of the next few pages addresses the problem of when we don't know what to do.
One method of seeking guidance is to ask the pastor or some other Christian to explain the scriptural principles involved. As Solomon writes: Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety. (Proverbs 11:14) Note that the Scripture says not, ‘with one counsellor’, but rather: in the multitude of counsellors, there is safety. So one counsellor can be wrong. Where several counsellors give conflicting advice we must weigh up the merit of their argument and the Holy Spirit will show us the way.
God may also lead us through our daily bible readings. For example, if you had been invited to go to an evil place, your bible reading might be 1 Corinthians 10:20: I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils. From this you would understand the scriptural principal that participating in lies does not further the truth.
But in seeking guidance in this way it is important that we do not take words out of their original context and meaning, as: no prophesy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. (2 Peter 1:20) The interpretation of Scripture is what God says it means, not what we might twist it to mean by taking it out of context.
Jesus may also guide us by impressing a word of God on our mind by the Holy Spirit. That is, there may be a scriptural principle related to a verse that was learned ten years ago, but has been forgotten. God can use such a verse to guide us in our situation if we are making a mistake. This work of the Spirit is spoken of in Isaiah 30:21: thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to right hand, and when ye turn to the left.
The apostle Peter was guided in this way to baptise the Gentiles, understanding that the Gentiles had been born again. He testified saying: Then remembered I the word of the Lord, how that he said, John indeed baptised with water; but ye shall be baptised with the Holy Ghost. (Acts 11:16) After God had taught him through this Scripture, Peter then testified: what was I, that I could withstand God?
It is important that we do not always accept that just because a verse has come to mind, it must be from God, and therefore must be relevant to our situation. The devil can also bring a verse to our remembrance. Therefore we must evaluate, in the light of the other Scriptures whether it is relevant to our situation, sometimes by asking advice from others. We should: Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. (1 Thessalonians 5:21)
Don't forget that the devil according to Luke 4:10,11 brought the following scripture to the Lord Jesus' mind: He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee: And in their hands they shall bear thee up. Satan used this Scripture to try to trick the Lord into jumping off the pinnacle of the temple saying to Him: cast thyself down from hence. (Luke 4:9) But Jesus knew that this suggestion contravened other Scriptures, saying to Satan: It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. (Luke 4:12) No two Scriptures can contradict. So if there is a scriptural reason not to follow the suggestion of a verse in our mind then we must not follow that suggestion, as Jesus did not. He knew the Scripture Satan brought to mind must be irrelevant to the current situation.
We also must follow Jesus' example and not be foolish, or our ability to serve God will be diminished through wastage of our time or health. Therefore foolishness is a sin; so we must listen to our common sense in evaluating whether or not God is speaking to us.
In addition to teaching us, God may rebuke us when we depart from the word of God, or He may commend and assure us when we keep His word. God may do this in either of the three ways discussed: through other Christians, through our personal bible reading; or by bringing the word of God to our remembrance.
Some people believe that all our decisions must be made by God or by someone in authority. But God does not say this. To the contrary He says: why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances, (Touch not; taste not; handle not; which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men? Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will-worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body. (Colossians 2:20-22) So not every decision we make affects the eternal purposes of God. Basically some things just don't matter, and even if they did then God could remedy the situation. So don't try to make God lead you in every little thing. For example, in my work as a scientist, although I am conscious of God's blessing upon my work, I do not try to be led by the Spirit in how to perform my work. But what I do is pray in the evening, that God would give me the strength and wisdom to earn my daily bread.
We see the freedom that God allows in making choices from the example of Adam. God gave Adam the authority to choose the names for the animals and Adam did not have to ask God what to call each animal: Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. (Genesis 2:19) As for Adam, so also for us, God does not make all our little decisions or expect us to ask His wish for every task. This means we enjoy freedom to think and plan.
If we do not possess sufficient wisdom to make a decision, God may increase our wisdom and understanding, or we may find some informative article to read which answers our questions. Alternatively we might meet someone who can explain things to us or come up with a good idea for us. If God's blessing is upon us, He may assist us in these ways.
So what I am saying is that the primary way which God uses to guide us is our minds. A conviction that a certain course of action is in obedience to the word of God is the primary way God leads. It is not so much a feeling of peace about an idea that is to be the arbiter, but rather whether we are logically convinced that a certain course of action is profitable. What is logically of benefit to God and our neighbour is an act of love, and if this is our way then, according to 1 John 3:19,20: hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him. For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. So doing right in God's sight does not always correspond with feeling right; we could even feel condemned. But if we are doing what is logically right in the sight of God, who is true, we may have peace that God knows we are of the truth.
But we should be conscious that it is God who gives wisdom to the mind and who also controls providence. So Solomon writes: Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be established. (Proverbs 16:3)
Abraham’s servant committed his works to the Lord when choosing a bride for Isaac. He prayed: let it come to pass, that the damsel to whom I shall say, Let down thy pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink; and she shall say, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also: let the same be she that thou hast appointed for thy servant Isaac. (Genesis 24:14) And his prayer was answered immediately.
The lesson of this story is not that God causes remarkable coincidences to guide us. Rather it is that God prospers logical, sensible seeking of the path. Abraham’s servant, who was probably old, decided that he would make kindness the basis of his choice, and devised this experiment to determine it. So it is with us. After prayer we make logical inquiry to seek the best path. And God prospers our way, although perhaps not quite so dramatically.
We should also commit all our works to the Lord in case he overrules. Such was the case when David purposed to build God a house, but God said to him: thou didst well that it was in thine heart. Nevertheless thou shalt not build the house; but thy son . . . he shall build the house. (1 Kings 8:18,19) But the Lord revealed the plans of the house to David.
One way that God may overrule our plans is by giving us the wisdom to see that there are drawbacks in the plan. But if God does not overrule, and if after prayer, we still believe that a certain course of action is for the increase of the word of God, we should go ahead without waiting for God to explicitly instruct us.
When we go forward in the will of God, according to the understanding which God gives us, God may make signs to happen. For example coincidences in our next bible reading may confirm we have made the right decision or that God is with us.
Whilst most of the time, God leads us by giving wisdom to our minds, there are times when we do not possess sufficient knowledge to make a decision. In these circumstances, sometimes, although not always, God will lead us more directly. But I feel it necessary to state a cautionary note: We are on earth, and God is in heaven. Most of our decisions are made by our natural faculties. If we try to be super-spiritual and try to be led by the Spirit all the time we will end up in a mess. In the same way that the devil tried to deceive the Lord Jesus Christ to jump off the pinnacle of the temple, he will also try to deceive us.
Nowhere in the Scriptures do we read of God leading someone step by step right through the day, every day. Rather it is only from time to time according to the need. I will discuss some scriptural examples of this.
A balanced view of the leading of the Holy Spirit can be seen in the way the apostle Paul was guided on his second missionary journey. We read in Acts 16:6-10:
Now when they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia, and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia, After they were come to Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia: but the Spirit suffered them not. And they passing by Mysia, came down to Troas. And a vision appeared to Paul in the night; There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us. And after he had seen the vision, immediately we endeavoured to go to Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto them.
The first example of the Spirit's leading in this passage is His forbidding them to preach in Asia. We are not told how the Spirit led Paul in this matter - perhaps it was by a voice or perhaps he simply had no peace about the idea.
We then learn something interesting about Paul's guidance from the words: they assayed to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit suffered them not. Paul's assaying to go to Bithynia (probably only at the purposing or planning stage) was therefore from his own mind, not from God's leading. I think it is reasonable to assume that Paul knew how to find God's will. So the plan to go hundreds of miles into Bithynia without the Spirit's express command should be taken not as rebellious independence, but rather as an example of the authority and freedom given by the Lord to man to use his own judgement.
In this case the Spirit overruled because it was a mistake, but there must have been many cases where God did not overrule. The fact that they are not recorded in the bible is not remarkable, because the bible is a book about God and what He does rather than what men do. Presumably, if it was wrong to make any plans for ourselves, then Paul never would have. So normally after prayer, if God does not lead us, we should make our plans according to what seems sensible and best. Then if necessary, God may overrule when we make a mistake.
Also to be learnt from this passage is the silence of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit only gave them occasional clues; just sufficient to keep them on the right track. First all they knew was that they could not go to Asia, so they proceeded North-West to Mysia passing by Asia to their South-West. Next they planned to go North-East to Bithynia, but the Spirit did not permit them. So they proceeded West to Troas. It was only then that the Lord showed them their next main destination was Macedonia. So we must learn patience in finding the mind of God during times of the silence of the Spirit.
When God finally did reveal the destination, God did not say to Paul directly, ‘Paul, I want you to go to Macedonia.’ If God had done this regularly Paul would have thought he was equal to God. Rather Paul had to understand the meaning of a dream, with God speaking indirectly.
The dream showed Paul, not only what to do, but why. This reason was that the people of Macedonia (or some at least,) were wanting to be helped and were therefore ready to hear the word of God. So we learn that God spoke to Paul as to a friend (ie. explaining the reason), but yet not as to an equal.
Although on this occasion God only spoke to Paul through a dream, there were times when God spoke to him directly, such as when the Lord spoke to Paul: in the night by a vision, saying: Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace: For I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee: for I have much people in this city. (Acts 18:9,10) Paul is much more likely to be spoken to directly than we are. Nevertheless the only person in the bible to whom God regularly spoke directly was Moses.
I will now discuss an example of God leading directly. In this case David had to make his plans based on how the people of Keilah would respond, something he could not know. The background to this story is that evil King Saul was, for reasons of jealousy, trying to kill David while David resided in the city of Keilah. David, not knowing whether it was safe to remain there, enquired of God according to the story in 1 Samuel 23:8-13:
And Saul called all the people together to war, to go down to Keilah, to besiege David and his men. And David knew that Saul secretly practised mischief against him; and he said to Abiathar the priest, Bring hither the ephod. Then said David, O Lord God of Israel, thy servant hath certainly heard that Saul seeketh to come to Keilah, to destroy the city for my sake. Will the men of Keilah deliver me up into his hand? will Saul come down, as thy servant hath heard? O Lord God of Israel, I beseech thee, tell thy servant. And the Lord said, He will come down. Then said David, Will the men of Keilah deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul? And the Lord said, They will deliver thee up. Then David and his men, which were about six hundred, arose and departed out of Keilah and went whithersoever they could go.
So God led David through the priest, by a voice from heaven.
That this story is still relevant for us today may be learned from 2 Timothy 3:16,17: All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. Note that we need to take note of all Scripture to be complete and thoroughly equipped. If we only take note of the New Testament, but neglect the Old, we will be incomplete.
David had to enquire of a priest, but as all born again Christians are priests, we can enquire of God directly ourselves, without necessarily asking the pastor. Sometimes, although not all the time, it is wise to double check with the pastor, who may have the wisdom to ascertain whether we have made a mistake and inadvertently decided upon some unwise or unscriptural course of action.
You might think, that God led New Testament apostles and Old Testament prophets, does not mean He will lead more ordinary folk. Perhaps, if you have no interest in the work of God, He will not. This section is written mainly with relevance to the work of God to which we should all devote some time. If so, the promise is general that: your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. (Acts 2:17)
And He may lead us as He led Philip the evangelist, who was not an apostle but only a deacon: the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza. (Acts 8:26) Philip did not originally know the reason for this instruction. But after he had obeyed and was on the Gaza road: Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot. (Acts 8:29) Riding in the chariot was an Ethiopian Jew reading the bible. Only then did Philip learn why the Lord had led him there: to preach the gospel to this Ethiopian.
It would be unwarranted, however, to conclude that Philip was always being told what to do by the Spirit or by angels simply because the bible nowhere says, ‘Philip made up his mind about this or that.’ The bible is weighted in favour of what God does rather than man. But when God does speak, whether by His Spirit or by an angel, it is most likely that we shall hear this voice in our spirit, rather than our ears.
It is possible, however, to misunderstand when God speaks to us, as did Jesus' disciples when they thought Him to be speaking of bread when He was speaking of doctrine: Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have taken no bread. Which when Jesus perceived, he said unto them, O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye have brought no bread? Do ye not yet understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? . . . How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread? . . . Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. (Matthew 16:6-12)
We can learn from this passage that ordinarily, to be guided, we must be concerned with the things of heaven, not with those of earth. Otherwise we might misunderstand the Lord and wrongly take Him to be speaking of earthly things when He is speaking of things concerning the kingdom of heaven.
It may be helpful to think of our Chief Shepherd's leading us as a sign of His care and of our own insufficiency, rather than as a sign of the spirituality of the superior sheep, otherwise pride may lead us to make stupid mistakes. Then if God leads us in some matter we should follow. But we should leave it up to Him how and when He leads us, rather than demand to be led all the time, in miraculous ways.
We should not be always expecting God to speak to us in great and mighty ways. We can learn this from the example of Naaman the leper who expected the prophet Elisha to personally come out and perform a spectacular act of healing. Instead Elisha merely sent his servant to tell Naaman to wash in the river Jordan. The story in the bible tells of Naaman's eventual conversion to humility after his servants said to him: My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean? (2 Kings 5:13) One way in which we can show humility is by logically working towards our goal and asking God to help us, rather than asking God to do all things by miracles and signs.
True spirituality means that we have the mind of the Spirit and understand our path and thus enjoy the liberty of the Spirit. Legality and bondage means being subject to a multitude of commands like a servant without knowing the reason. But God has chosen us as sons and friends who understand, not as servants or slaves, or remote controlled robots. One of the reasons why Christians enjoy liberty is that God gives them wisdom to make good decisions. Therefore they do not need to be told what to do all the time. We must learn from experience how much wisdom the Lord has given us, and when to seek help.
My advice is that if the way that you think the Spirit is leading you seems foolish, you should usually use your common sense and ignore it. If it really is God's leading then I believe that He will give you a reason which will allay your fears. I say this because the primary source of guidance is the mind which God gave man when He created him in the image of God.
Although we should not seek too much direction, guidance from the Lord is a great privilege. Guidance brings assurance and peace and is promised to the obedient: The Lord shall guide thee continually, (Isaiah 58:11) although this guidance does not necessarily refer to miraculous guidance.
But guidance is only promised to those who are kind, and who: deal . . . bread to the hungry. (Isaiah 58:7) So although guidance is a privilege we must pay for the privilege, by obedience; for example by giving to poor Christians.
Those who are disobedient to God’s commands cannot expect to be led. Their plight is spoken of in Isaiah 59:9,10: we wait for light, but behold obscurity; for brightness, but we walk in darkness. We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes: we stumble at noonday as at is the night.
But what if Christians disagree about decisions or the will of God? God has ordained the casting of lots to resolve such conflict. It is written: The lot causeth contentions to cease. (Proverbs 18:18) When sanctified by prayer: The lot is cast into the lap, but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord. (Proverbs 16:33) When the apostles disagreed about who should become the apostle to replace Judas, whether Barsabas or Matthias: they prayed and said, Thou, Lord, which knoweth the hearts of all men, shew whether of these two thou hast chosen . . . And they gave forth their lots; and the lot fell upon Matthias. (Acts 1:24,26)
Casting lots is random according to man, but not according to God. The type of lot, whether throwing dice or tossing coins etc, is not defined in the bible and is probably not particularly important. But it is important that the use of lots should not be attempted to challenge decisions by those with legitimate authority. Children should not demand that their parents cast lots to verify their decisions.