Cool Things We Can Count On from God’s Word
#5 – The Guarantee of Guidance
Proverbs 3:5-6
Introduction
The guarantee is only as good as the person or persons making it.
Not that everyone who makes a guarantee and fails to live up to it is bad. Sometimes circumstances come up that keep a person from fulfilling the guarantee, which they made with the best intentions and information available at the time.
But if there is one thing that I’ve tried to hammer home since the beginning of this series, it’s that God can be counted on.
His guarantees are good at all times.
I’ve made guarantees that I haven’t been able to fulfill. And so have you. Chances are you didn’t make that guarantee with the plan to never fulfill it, although there are plenty of people out there who are willing to do just that.
I’ve also learned that I shouldn’t be in the guarantee business – at least not in terms of making guarantees that I might not be able to fulfill.
But I can tell you what God guarantees. I can tell you what God says. I can pass on the guarantees that God makes.
The reason is that God is the one behind the guarantees, and all I have to do is communicate them to you.
Or of course, you can always find them yourself by digging into the Bible…
Here are the guarantees we’ve looked at so far:
If you possess Christ, you possess heaven.
Prayer through Christ makes prayer effective.
A Spirit-filled life is a victorious life.
If it’s confessed, it’s forgiven.
There are lots more guarantees and promises of God, but I’ve wanted to focus on these five, because if a person can get a hold of these five, making them a part of them down to the core of their being, they can live fruitful and productive lives for Christ.
Why? Because I believe if these really get inside a person, they’ll want more of Christ and they’ll want to live for Him.
Today we look at the last of the guarantees we’re going to look at in this series, the guarantee of guidance.
God guarantees that He will be active and involved in helping us find direction for life in general and in situations where we need to lean on Him.
I would guess that most people at times ask God for help in times of trouble.
But I would also guess that most people, and maybe even a large percentage of Christians, don’t look to God for help for such things as career choices, mates, how to spend their money, or other stuff like that.
I think it’s because they don’t understand that God is intimately interested in every area of their life and wants to be invited to be a part of whatever it is we’re going through.
I’ve said time and time again since starting here almost 7 years ago that God wants to be the Lord of every part of our lives, not just those areas that we think are the “religious” parts – whatever that really means.
And when we let Him be the boss of every area, we gain the benefit of having Him guide us as we go through life here on earth in preparation for life in heaven.
So if you have never thought of asking God for guidance, or if you thought that God doesn’t care or is too busy to be involved, then this message is for you.
And for the rest of you, let this serve as a reminder of the God who wants to continue His work in you by guiding you as you walk through life.
Our passage for today is Proverbs 3:5-6 –
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.
Some translations say, “He will direct your paths.” And translators and commentaries seem pretty evenly split on which they prefer.
But I like the way it’s written here because I’m of the opinion that this passage is not a promise that God will make all your decisions for you.
God doesn’t promise that anywhere in Scripture. He gave you a brain, and the capacity to use it, and He expects you to use it.
But the good news is that He is willing to help you use it so you can make good decisions from good character.
How do some people seek guidance from God?
> Signs – like a falling star, a chance meeting between people, something in a fortune cookie…
Here’s something that I think would be good for a fortune cookie:
“Stop trying to find your fortune in a cookie and go get a job!”
> Random Bible Openings – when someone just flips open a Bible and puts their finger on the page, looking at whatever it says there for guidance.
But what if your finger lands on something like the story of Judas hanging himself and having his guts spilled out? Is that God telling you to do the same thing? I don’t think so.
Or you’re facing financial difficulties in your business and so you flip open your Bible, close your eyes and put your finger down. When you look at it, it says, “Chapter Eleven.” (Bankruptcy)
Folks, those aren’t good ways to find God’s guidance, okay? But let’s look at a few ways that God does give us guidance.
> Parents.
Did you know that God has purposely placed your parents in your lives, and that one of the purposes of parents is to guide their children as they go through life?
Now I understand that many people have parents who don’t love God, are selfish, and wouldn’t know good advice if it jumped up and bit them.
But parents who love the Lord and are in a healthy relationship with Him are great sources of wisdom and guidance.
This is going to be hard for some of you to believe, but hear me out: Your parents know more than you do about most things.
They know what you’re going through in most cases. They’ve been there, done that, bought the T-Shirt, and tried to get rid of it in a rummage sale.
Remember our verse when we talked about temptation? It was 1 Corinthians 10:13 –
No temptation has seized you except what is common to man…
And I said that you haven’t faced anything that hasn’t been faced by people before you, and that includes your parents.
So yes, they do understand – most of the time. I won’t say ALL the time, because I still find myself going blank trying to understand my kiddos and what they’re going through sometimes.
I also need to interject something here: even if your parents aren’t walking with Jesus, chances are good that you can glean some wisdom from them.
Again, they’ve been through it and can offer insights, if for no other reason than that they can offer what they have learned as they’ve walked through life.
So believe it or not, parents are one way guides us. God also uses…
> Godly friends and mentors.
People who have traveled the road ahead of us or are traveling with us, who love God and want to help others do the same.
Sometimes these are parents, but oftentimes they’re people outside of our immediate family.
I’ve been fortunate to have had a number of these during my years of following Jesus. Some were pastors, others were roommates, others were friends from Bible study, or the guy who led me to Christ.
I still count on people like that, because I still need guidance. I’m calling other pastors who have experienced a bit of what I might be going through at any given time, for advice.
I ask deep, heart-searching questions like, “Should I color my beard?” and “Is it okay to pray for my Minnesota Twins right now? Even the Royals are playing better than they are right now…”
There’s a saying that I like – maybe you’ve heard it:
“Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment.” (SermonCentral.com)
If I were to take a poll, I would guess that a lot of you would say that a good portion of your good judgment is a result of the kind of experience you get from bad judgment.
I know I can say that…
Sometimes I mention things from the pulpit from that portion of my life when I wasn’t living for Jesus.
I don’t do that stuff to brag about how “bad” I was – as if being bad is something to brag about.
I do it because I want others to avoid the stupid mistakes that I made. I’ve learned a few things the hard way, and don’t want others to have to learn it the same way.
At the same time, I’ve learned some really cool things along the way, and want to be able to share that with others.
God can use mentors and such to guide us.
We can spend all sorts of time looking at ways God guides us, but there is one source of guidance that can always be counted on, and if you chucked all those other ways out and all you had was this one, it would be just fine.
This last way God guides is through…
> Scripture.
Is anybody here really surprised that I mentioned that?
As I’ve said before, the Bible is incredibly practical, not just for the time during which it was written, but for right now.
The Bible addresses all the stuff that you and I face everyday: relationships, money, business, employees, bosses, wives, husbands, kids, government, and all sorts of stuff.
And where the Bible doesn’t address something specifically, you can usually find enough principles in there to help guide you.
Scripture is the bedrock of life – it tells us how to get to heaven and it tells us how to live until we get there.
It tells us what kind of character we need to please God and receive His blessings.
It’s true that you won’t find a specific answer to questions like, “Should I take this job or that job?” But it can help you evaluate which job would best fit your gifts, abilities, passions, and circumstances in life.
If there was ever a guide book for life – this is it! Read it. Study it. Pray through it. Memorize it. Get into it in such a way that it becomes the default source of guidance in your life.
But what about “promptings” you may feel? That’s when you think God wants you to do something, but Scripture doesn’t address it specifically.
I’ve had a few of those, but in my experience they’re few and far between.
I can’t answer about every situation, but one thing I do know – if you are being “prompted” to do something you know is contrary to God’s Word – then that’s not from God.
For instance, if you tell me that you think God’s prompting you to rob banks so you can give money to the Salvation Army, I’m going to tell you that your messed up!
Or if you tell me that God is telling you to build your business and ignore your family in the meantime, you’re not getting a “prompting” from God.
God says that we are to put our families ahead of our personal ambitions. To do otherwise is to contradict the Scriptures. That’s not from God – that’s from the one who loves to destroy families, especially if it means God can get blamed for it.
Folks, we can go into this for a long time, and there is a lot we can talk about regarding God’s guidance, especially from the Scriptures.
But let me cut to the chase and say this:
God’s guidance is always for our good.
He will never lead you to do something that will not be for your benefit in the end, even if it involves pain and suffering in the meantime.
Sometimes God leads us through dark valleys and hard times. But as we remember that He is God, and that He is with us through these situations, we can come through them with the character, lessons, or whatever He intended for us, so we can be more like Jesus and able to serve Him better.
But in every case and every situation, God’s guidance is always for our good.
So what should you do with this?
Well, the verse says that we should trust in God, lean not on our own understanding, and acknowledge Him.
Let me touch on these very briefly, okay?
First, it says we need to trust in Him. That basically means that we need to honestly believe that God has our best interests at heart and knows what’s best for us.
The God who created you loves you and wants what’s best for you, whether you know it or not, or whether you believe it or not.
The test comes when He asks us to do something we’re not comfortable doing.
“Really, God? Seriously? You can’t really mean that!”
And God says, “Yup – that’s what’s in My Bible, and that’s what I mean. Go for it. Don’t worry – I’ll take care of everything – you just take My word for it and do it.”
This leads to the second part, and that is to “lean not on your own understanding.”
This is closely related to the whole “trust God” thing, because what this is saying is that you don’t know everything.
There are some things in life you will never understand. And if you think you’ve got God and His ways figured out, you’re in for a pretty major surprise down the road somewhere.
There are lots of things I don’t understand. I don’t understand how engines work. But that doesn’t mean I don’t own a car. I don’t let my lack of understanding get in the way.
I don’t understand math – I was the poster child for math anxiety in college.
I don’t understand why God made spiders so creepy – so I just stomp on them if they’re in my way…
I don’t understand why God would call me to pastor and to pastor this church. But I knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that God was doing it, and I had to be obedient.
I don’t understand why God would give me such a great wife and kids. I don’t deserve them. But I’m not arguing with God about it.
My point here is that when we get past the idea of having to have everything all figured out and just moving ahead on faith that God knows what He’s doing and will take care of us, then we can really be open to His guidance in our lives.
The last part says to acknowledge Him. That basically means to understand that God is God and you’re not, and to recognize His presence every step of the way.
You’re basically saying, “Okay, God. You’re the boss. Help me do what’s pleasing to you. I want to live for You, living under Your direction and guidance.”
And really, that’s the hard part. We’re ready to ask God for help as long as it doesn’t mean we need to surrender anything in our own lives. That’s human nature. But when we hold back from God, we’re just shooting ourselves in the foot when asking God for guidance.
Acknowledge God as the boss and ruler of your life – that opens the door for His guidance in your life.
Folks, let’s just bring it to a close by doing this: let’s commit to being a church made up of people who decide that God’s way is always the best way.
And that we will look to Him and His Word to find that way, both in our personal lives and in the life and ministry of Aberdeen Wesleyan Church.
Let’s be a church made up of people who decide that Oprah and Dr. Phil might be nice people, but when it comes right down to it, we need to rely on God for our guidance, whether the issue is big or small.
Let’s be a people who ask the question, “What does the Bible say about that?” instead of, “I wonder what my horoscope says about that?” or “I wonder what Annie’s Mailbox would say?”
God wants to offer the guidance that so many people want but look in all the wrong places for.
He knows the whole situation and He knows how to best get through it. So get past leaning on your own understanding and start leaning on the One who can really help.
Let’s pray.
