Guidance

by Gary Johnson

GPS 

By now, most of us have used the GPS feature on our mobile phones or in the technology package of the vehicles we drive. GPS stands for Global Positioning System, which uses an array of satellites orbiting our planet. Our GPS system connects with the satellites, and they in turn lead us to our desired destination. The more familiar we are with using GPS, the more likely it is that we have “thrown out” our paper maps and atlases. 

Guidance is something we need each and every day. It can be as simple as finding the location of a business, or as complex as finding directions for making a life impacting decision. It should not surprise us that guidance is a spiritual discipline for us to practice as followers of Jesus. 

Throughout 2024, we are exploring the twelve spiritual disciplines in BEncouraged – one each month – and throughout June, we will focus on guidance. In his Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth, Richard Foster explains that there are twelve disciplines that can be described in three categories (i.e., inward, outward, corporate) and each category has four disciplines. 

Guidance is a corporate discipline in that it is practiced with other Christians, and for the express purpose of discovering forward-looking guidance. Such guidance could be for an individual’s life, or for a plurality of people (i.e., a husband and wife, a family, a small group of believers, a ministry organization, an entire congregation, etc.). 

Little is known about this discipline, and as a result, it is seldom practiced. We are living in an age of intense individualism. Years ago, song lyrics by Frank Sinatra declared, “I did it my way.” Our culture has embraced that sentiment wholeheartedly. Few people want others speaking into their lives, offering advice, giving suggestions, etc. 

Remember, when we practice the disciplines, we grow closer to Jesus Himself. Think of the disciplines as being “spiritual exercises” that have immediate and long-term benefits – we become like Jesus! This long-lost spiritual discipline needs to be rediscovered in our lives. 

Guidance is a part of God’s loving, kind and good nature. When the Israelites left Egypt, God guided them into uncharted territory as a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night (Ex 13:21-22). Imagine that! In the early pages of Scripture God was a dependable, divine GPS to His people! Being that God does not change, He STILL can and will guide us IF we desire Him to do so. To that end, there are three essentials in practicing the disciple of guidance. 

G for God’s Will 

If we are going to practice the discipline of guidance with other believers, we must want the know God’s will. Think with me. Jesus made mention of this in His model praying, urging us to pray: “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Mt 6:10). God has a will, and His will must be done. Even the Holy Spirit is praying for us in keeping with God’s will: “…the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God” (Rom 8:27). Paul urges us to “present our bodies as living sacrifices,” and to do so requires that we no longer be “conformed to the pattern of this world but transformed by the renewing of our minds.” And when we do so, we will be able to “test and approve what God’s will is; His good, pleasing and perfect will” (Rom 12:1-2). 

If we are going to practice the discipline of guidance, we must want to know God’s will. Instead of voting in board or elder meetings, what if we sought the knowledge of God’s will through spiritual direction from other godly people? Instead of running ahead and making a costly and rash decision as an individual (or couple or family), we turned to other believers to discern the will of God? 

P for People 

To actually practice this discipline, we must involve other people. It is a corporate discipline, meaning that it involves other believers. We are called to do live with one another in Christian community. The New Testament is filled with what we refer to as “the one anothers.” Roughly fifty instances of “one another” can be found in the NT: “love one another,” “pray for one another,” “forgive one another,” “bear with one another,” etc. One of the rules in hermeneutics (interpreting the Bible) is that if something is repeated, it is important. God wants whatever repeats in Scripture to capture our attention. It is more than obvious that God intends for us to do life with one another, and that involves seeking spiritual guidance from other godly believers.  

We are reminded that “Many advisors make victory sure” (Prov 11:14). Who, in your circle of family and friends, walks closely with God? Who, in your sphere of influence, keeps in step with the Spirit and feeds deeply from God’s Word? Those are the individuals from whom to seek spiritual guidance. 

S for Submission 

It’s one thing to obtain spiritual guidance and another to follow that guidance. God’s will must be obeyed. Hence, will we submit to His will once it has been made known to us? What if godly people advise us not to make the decision we are about to make – and then we go ahead with that decision anyway? Clearly, we have not practiced the discipline of guidance. 

Philippians 2:5-11 is one of the most profound descriptions of Christ’s ministry. In the passage, Paul admonishes us to have the same attitude as that of Jesus. An attitude resides in the mind. An attitude is how we think, and how we think determines how we live. Jesus did not think that equality with God was something to hold on to, but He deliberately became a man, a servant of you and of me. He then “humbled Himself and became obedient to death, even death on a cross.” That is submission to the will of God. In the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed not once, but three times, “Father, if it be possible, may this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not my will but your will be done” (Mt 26:36-46). We are reminded “If we claim to be a Christian, we must live as Jesus lived” (1 John 2:6). To that end, are we willing to live lives of submission to the will of God? 

When I learned to drive as a teen, I remember the phrase, “Stop! Look! Listen!” Does that sound familiar to you? We were taught to do this when approaching a railroad crossing. When we approach a crossroad in life, we must practice the corporate discipline of guidance; stopping for spiritual direction, looking for godly advisors, and listening to their counsel.