Imagine you have a major decision to make. You really want to do something, but before you go ahead, you want to find out what God has to say on the matter. Imagine you have adopted a fully submissive attitude towards following Jesus in whatever direction He decides to lead you. You've been praying for God's guidance, waiting on His timing, and listening for His voice.
But how will you know what He's saying? Is there something more that we can do to prepare ourselves to hear His instructions?
In our attempts to discern what God is saying to us, it's helpful to understand what His possible answers might be, and the ramifications of each one.
Today, I’d like to share with you an approach that’s a useful starting point for those who are novices in listening to God. We may not yet have developed the intimacy required for ease of communication and comprehension between ourselves and God. However, this does not prevent us from seeking to obey His guidance.
I want to point out here that it's not uncommon for new Christians to be more skilled at listening to God than those who have been Christians for a while, but perhaps have not led lives that are fully submitted to Him. If we have given in to our own stubborn and rebellious sin natures, then we have likely quenched the Holy Spirit. He may continue to beckon us, but at some point our hearts will harden towards Him and His voice will become softer until it disappears from our consciousness entirely. Eventually, He stops beckoning. He will not override our free will. He will honour the choices we make, even if they break His heart.
So the term "novice" has nothing to do with the length of time we might have been Christians. It's possible to have been a Christian for a decade and be a novice. It's also possible to have been a Christian for three months and be skilled at listening to God.
Let's return to our scenario. We have a decision to make. There is a course of action that we would prefer, and we are asking God if we should take it. In response, he might give any one of four possible answers.
1. "Yes."
God may affirm the decision that we’re leaning towards. He may tell us, "Yes, you should do this thing."
In God's "yes" there are sometimes caveats (we will examine this more fully later). His "yes" may be a in response to the general direction of our preferred course of action. However, He may want to tweak that course a little bit. The wise make sure that they pray through the fine details of their decisions, and not just the rough overview.
This is part of exhibiting trust in our Heavenly Father. When He says "yes", we don't just take that answer and run with it, as if we've seized some sort of victory that might be taken away if we don't get away quickly enough with our prize.
If our attitude of submission turns off as soon as we get what we wanted, it's valid to wonder how submissive our hearts were in the first place!
The wise make sure that they continue to pray through the details of God's yeses. The tweaks that God makes to our plans can have a major impact on their success or failure.
2. "No."
There's a damaging fallacy baked into the vocabulary Christians use with regard to prayer.
When do we say, "God answered my prayer?"
Usually it's when we’ve asked for something and God has given it to us.
But what about the times when God says "no" to us? Has God not answered our prayers then?
When my husband, Peter, was an associate pastor at a church in Mississauga, Canada, one of his roles was to lead the church's various worship teams. He had a seen volunteers at many churches burn out or become resentful because of the heavy demands placed upon them.
Peter vowed that he would do things differently. He did his best to affirm and strengthen good boundaries between himself and the worship team members. He made sure to give the teams a break during the summer months. In those months, he and I would lead worship without a team. During Christmas Eve services, the team members were invited to sit and enjoy being with their families rather than serving at the front.
If someone needed to step away from ministry for a season, he affirmed their boundaries with the affirmation, "'No' is a Christian word."
And yet, sometimes we treat God as though He doesn't have the option to say no. We think—and sometimes even verbalize—that He hasn't responded to our requests unless it's in a positive direction.
How vital it is for us to remember that "no" is a valid answer to our requests.
God is not our servant. We are His. He is not obligated to always agree with us, just as we are not obligated to always agree with Him. However, if we are Christians, if we claim to follow Jesus, then we are obligated to obey—even if His directions run counter to our desires.
I exhort you to love God's "no".
He is not capricious. He does not say no simply because He can. There is always a good reason. We may not see it on this side of heaven, but there is always a purpose.
Love God's "no" because it makes room for His "yes". And those yeses can be spectacular, opening up heaven's storehouses of joy and fulfillment in our hearts and lives.
NEXT TIME...
In our next post, we'll talk about another possible answer that God might give in response to our requests. Stay tuned!
