Christian's Secret of a Happy Life - Chapter 11

Chapter 11

DIFFICULTIES CONCERNING GUIDANCE

You have now begun, dear reader, the life of faith. You have given yourself tothe Lord to be His wholly and altogether, and He has taken you and has begun tomould and fashion you into a vessel unto His honor. Your one most earnestdesire is to be very pliable in His hands, and to follow Him whithersoever Hemay lead you, and you are trusting Him to work in you to will and to do of Hisgood pleasure. But you find a great difficulty here. You have not learned yetto know the voice of the Good Shepherd, and are therefore in great doubt andperplexity as to what really is His will concerning you.

     Perhaps there are certain paths into whichGod seems to be calling you, of which your friends utterly disapprove. Andthese friends, it may be, are older than yourself in the Christian life, andseem to you also to be much further advanced. You can scarcely bear to differfrom them or distress them; and you feel also very diffident of yielding to anyseeming impressions of duty of which they do not approve. And yet you cannotget rid of these impressions, and you are plunged into great doubt anduneasiness.

     There is a way out of all these difficulties, tothe fully surrendered soul. I would repeat, fully surrendered, because if thereis any reserve of will upon any point, it becomes almost impossible to find outthe mind of God in reference to that point; and therefore the first thing is tobe sure that you really do purpose to obey the Lord in every respect. Ifhowever this is the case, and your soul only needs to know the will of God inorder to consent to it, then you surely cannot doubt His willingness to makeHis will known, and to guide you in the right paths. There are many very clearpromises in reference to this. Take, for instance, John 10:3, 4: "He callethHis own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. And when He putteth forth His ownsheep He goeth before them, and the sheep follow Him, for they know His voice."Or, John 14:26: "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Fatherwill send in my name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things toyour remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." Or, James 1:5, 6: "If anyof you lack wisdom, let Him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, andupbraideth not; and it shall be given him." With such passages as these, andmany more like them, we must believe that Divine guidance is promised to us,and our faith must confidently look for and expect it. This is essential; forin James 1:6, 7, we are told, "Let him ask in faith nothing wavering. For hethat wavereth is like a wave of the sea, driven with the wind and tossed. Forlet not such a man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord."

     Settle this point then first of all, that Divineguidance has been promised, and that you are sure to have it, if you ask forit; and let no suggestion of doubt turn you from this.

     Next, you must remember that our God has allknowledge and all wisdom, and that therefore it is very possible He may guideyou into paths wherein He knows great blessings are awaiting you, but which tothe short-sighted human eyes around you seem sure to result in confusion andloss. You must recognize the fact that God's thoughts are not as man'sthoughts, nor His ways as man's ways; and that He who knows the end of thingsfrom the beginning, alone can judge of what the results of any course of actionmay be. You must therefore realize that His very love for you may perhaps leadyou to run counter to the loving wishes of even your dearest friends. You mustlearn from Luke 14:26-33, and similar passages, that in order, not to be savedonly, but to be a disciple or follower of your Lord, you may perhaps be calledupon to forsake all that you have, and to turn your backs on even father ormother, or brother or sister, or husband or wife, or it may be your own lifealso. Unless the possibility of this is clearly recognized, the soul would bevery likely to get into difficulty, because it often happens that the child ofGod who enters upon this life of obedience is sooner or later led into pathswhich meet with the disapproval of those he best loves; and unless he isprepared for this, and can trust the Lord through it all, he will scarcely knowwhat to do.

     All this, it will of course be understood, isperfectly in harmony with those duties of honor and love which we owe to oneanother in the various relations of life. The nearer we are to Christ, the moreshall we be enabled to exemplify the meekness and gentleness of our Lord, andthe more tender will be our consideration for those who are our naturalguardians and counsellors. The Master's guidance will always manifest itself bythe Master's Spirit, and where, in obedience to Him, we are led to act contraryto the advice or wishes of our friends, we shall prove that this is our motive,by the love and patience which will mark our conduct.

     But this point having been settled, we come nowto the question as to how God's guidance is to come to us, and how we shall beable to know His voice.

     There are four especial ways in which God speaks:by the voice of Scripture, the voice of the inward impressions of the HolySpirit, the voice of our own higher judgment, and the voice of providentialcircumstances.

     Where these four harmonize, it is safe to saythat God speaks. For I lay it down as a foundation principle, which no one cangainsay, that of course His voice will always be in harmony with itself, nomatter in how many different ways He may speak. The voices may be many, themessage can be but one. If God tells me in one voice to do or to leave undoneanything, He cannot possibly tell me the opposite in another voice. If there isa contradiction in the voices, the speaker cannot be the same. Therefore, myrule for distinguishing the voice of God would be to bring it to the test ofthis harmony.

     If I have an impression, therefore, I must see ifit is in accordance with Scripture, and whether it commends itself to my ownhigher judgment, and also whether, as we Quakers say, "way opens" for itscarrying out. If either one of these tests fail, it is not safe to proceed; butI must wait in quiet trust until the Lord shows me the point of harmony, whichHe surely will, sooner or later, if it is His voice that has spoken.

     For we must not overlook the fact that there areother voices that speak to the soul. There is the loud and clamoring voice ofself, that is always seeking to be heard. And there are the voices, too, ofevil and deceiving spirits, who lie in wait to entrap every traveller enteringthese higher regions of the spiritual life. In the same epistle which tells usthat we are seated in "heavenly places in Christ" (Eph. 2:6), we are also toldthat we shall have to fight there with spiritual enemies (Eph. 6:12). Thesespiritual enemies, whoever or whatever they may be, must necessarilycommunicate with us by means of our spiritual faculties, and their voices,therefore, will be, as the voice of God is, an inward impression made upon ourspirits.

     Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit may tell us,by impressions, what is the will of God concerning us, so also will thesespiritual enemies tell us, by impressions, what is their will concerning us,though not of course giving it their name. It is very plain, therefore, that wemust have some test or standard by which to try these inward impressions, inorder that we may know whose voice it is that is speaking. And that test willalways be the harmony to which I have referred. Sometimes, under a mistakenidea of exalting the Divine Spirit, earnest and honest Christians have ignoredand even violated the teachings of Scripture, have disregarded the plainpointings of Providence, and have outraged their own higher judgment. God, whosees the sincerity of their hearts, can and does pity and forgive, but theconsequences as to this life are often very sad.

     Our first test, therefore, of the Divineauthority of any voice which may seem to speak to us, must be its harmony inmoral character with the mind and will of God, as revealed to us in the Gospelof Christ. Whatever is contrary to this, cannot be Divine, because God cannotcontradict Himself.

     Until we have found and obeyed God's will inreference to any subject, as it is revealed in the Bible, we cannot expect aseparate direct personal revelation. A great many fatal mistakes are made inthis matter of guidance, by the overlooking of this simple rule. Where ourFather has written out for us plain directions about anything, He will not, ofcourse, make an especial revelation to us concerning it. No man, for instance,needs or could expect any direct revelation to tell him not to steal, becauseGod has already in the Scriptures plainly declared His will about it. Thisseems such an obvious thing that I would not speak of it, but that I havefrequently met with Christians who have altogether overlooked it, and have goneoff into fanaticism as the result. For the Scriptures are far more expliciteven about details than most people think. And there are not many importantaffairs in life for which a clear direction may not be found in God's book.Take the matter of dress, and we have 1 Pet. 3:3, 4 , and 1 Tim. 2:9, 10. Takethe matter of conversation, and we have Eph. 4:29, and 5:4. Take the matter ofavenging injuries and standing up for your rights, and we have Rom. 12:19, 20,21, and Matt. 5:38-48, and 1 Pet. 2:19-21. Take the matter of forgiving oneanother, and we have Eph. 4:32 and Mark 11:25, 26. Take the matter ofconformity to the world, and we have Rom. 12:2, and 1 John 2:15-17, and James4:4. Take the matter of anxieties of all kind, and we have Matt. 6:25-34, andPhil. 4:6, 7.

     I only give these as examples to show how veryfull and practical the Bible guidance is. If, therefore, you find yourself inperplexity, first of all search and see whether the Bible speaks on the pointin question, asking God to make plain to you by the power of His Spirit,through the Scripture, what is His mind. And whatever shall seem to you to beplainly taught there, that you must obey.

     When we read and meditate upon this record ofGod's mind and will, with our understandings thus illuminated by the inspiringSpirit, our obedience will be as truly an obedience to a present, living word,as though it were afresh spoken to us today by our Lord from Heaven. The Bibleis not only an ancient message from God sent to us many ages ago, but it is apresent message sent to us now each time we read it. "The words that I speakunto you, they are spirit, and they are life," and obedience to these words nowis a living obedience to a present and personal command.

     But it is essential in this connection toremember that the Bible is a book of principles, and not a book of disjointedaphorisms. Isolated texts may often be made to sanction things, to which theprinciples of Scripture are totally opposed. I heard not long ago of aChristian woman in a Western meeting, who, having had the text, "For we walk byfaith, and not by sight," brought very vividly before her mind, felt a strongimpression that it was a command to be literally obeyed in the outward; and,blindfolding her eyes, insisted on walking up and down the aisle of themeeting-house, as an illustration of the walk of faith. She very soon stumbledand fell against the stove, burning herself seriously, and then wondered at themysterious dispensation. The principles of Scripture, and her own sanctifiedcommon-sense, if applied to this case, would have saved her from thedelusion.

     The second test, therefore, to which ourimpressions must be brought, is that of our own higher judgment, orcommon-sense.

     It is as true now as in the days when Solomonwrote, that a "man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels"; and hisexhortation still continues binding upon us: "Wisdom is the principal thing,therefore get wisdom; and with all thy getting, get understanding."

     As far as I can see, the Scriptures everywheremake it an essential thing for the children of God to use all the facultieswhich have been given them, in their journey through this world. They are touse their outward faculties for their outward walk, and their inward facultiesfor their inward walk. And they might as well expect to be "kept" from dashingtheir feet against a stone in the outward, if they walk blindfold, as to be"kept" from spiritual stumbling, if they put aside their judgment andcommon-sense in their interior life.

     I asked a Christian of "sound mind" lately howshe distinguished between the voice of false spirits and the guidance of theHoly Spirit, and she replied promptly, "I rap them over the head, and see ifthey have any common-sense."

     Some, however, may say here, "But I thought wewere not to depend on our human understanding in Divine things." I answer tothis, that we are not to depend on our unenlightened human understanding, butupon our human judgment and common-sense, enlightened by the Spirit of God.That is, God will speak to us through the faculties He has Himself given us,and not independently of them. That is, just as we are to use our eyes when wewalk, no matter how full of faith we may be, so also we are to use our mentalfaculties in our inward life.

     The third and last test to which our impressionsmust be brought is that of providential circumstances. If a "leading" is ofGod, way will always open for it. Our Lord assures us of this when He says inJohn 10:4, "And when He putteth forth His own sheep he goeth before them, andthe sheep follow Him, for they know his voice." Notice here the expression"goeth before," and "follow." He goes before to open a way, and we are tofollow in the way thus opened. It is never a sign of a Divine leading when theChristian insists on opening his own way, and riding rough-shod over allopposing things. If the Lord "goes before" us, He will open all doors for us,and we shall not need ourselves to hammer them down.

     The fourth point I would make is this: that, justas our impressions must be tested, as I have shown, by the other three voices,so must these other voices be tested by our inward impressions; and if we feela "stop in our minds" about anything, we must wait until that is removed beforeacting. A Christian who had advanced with unusual rapidity in the Divine life,gave me as her secret this simple receipt: "I always mind the checks." We mustnot ignore the voice of our inward impressions, nor ride rough-shod over them,any more than we must the other three voices of which I have spoken.

     These four voices, then, will always be found toagree in any truly Divine leading, i.e., the voice of our impressions, thevoice of Scripture, the voice of our own sanctified judgment, and the voice ofprovidential circumstances; and where these four do not all agree at first, wemust wait until they do.

     A divine sense of "oughtness," derived from theharmony of all God's various voices, is the only safe foundation for anyaction.

     And now I have guarded the points of danger, dopermit me to let myself out for a little to the blessedness and joy of thisdirect communication of God's will to us. It seems to me to be the grandest ofprivileges. In the first place, that God should love me enough to care aboutthe details of my life is perfectly wonderful. And then that He should bewilling to tell me all about it, and to let me know just now to live and walkso as to perfectly please Him, seems almost too good to be true. We never careabout the little details of people's lives unless we love them. It is a matterof indifference to us with the majority of people we meet, as to what they door how they spend their time; but as soon as we begin to love any one, we beginat once to care. That God cares, therefore, is just a precious proof of Hislove; and it is most blessed to have Him speak to us about everything in ourlives, about our duties, about our pleasures, about our friendships, about ouroccupations, about all that we do, or think, or say. You must know this in yourown experience, dear reader, if you would come into the full joy and privilegeof this life hid with Christ in God, for it is one of it most preciousgifts!

     God's promise is, that He will work in us to willas well as to do of His good pleasure. This, of course, means that He will takepossession of our will, and work it for us, and that His suggestions will cometo us, not so much commands from the outside, as desires springing up within.They will originate in our will; we shall feel as though we wanted to do so andso, not as though we must. And this makes it a service of perfect liberty; forit is always easy to do what we desire to do, let the accompanyingcircumstances be as difficult as they may. Every mother knows that she couldsecure perfect and easy obedience in her child, if she could only get into thatchild's will and work it for him, making him want himself to do the things shewilled he should. And this is what our Father does for His children in the newdispensation; He writes His laws on our hearts and on our minds, and we lovethem, and are drawn to our obedience by our affections and judgment, not drivenby our fears.

     The way in which the Holy Spirit, therefore,usually works in His direct guidance is to impress upon the mind a wish ordesire to do or leave undone certain things.

     The soul when engaged, perhaps, in prayer, feelsa sudden suggestion made to its inmost consciousness in reference to a certainpoint of duty. "I would like to do this or the other," it thinks, "I wish Icould." Or perhaps the suggestion may come as question, "I wonder whether I hadnot better do so and so?" Or it may be only at first in the way of a convictionthat such is the right and best thing to be done.

     At once the matter should be committed to theLord, with an instant consent of the will to obey Him; and if the suggestion isin accordance with the Scriptures, and a sanctified judgment, and withProvidential circumstances, an immediate obedience is the safest and easiestcourse. At the moment when the Spirit speaks, it is always easy to obey; if thesoul hesitates and begins to reason, it becomes more and more difficultcontinually. As a general rule, the first convictions are the right ones in afully surrendered heart; for God is faithful in His dealings with us, and willcause His voice to be heard before any other voices. Such convictions,therefore, should never be met by reasoning. Prayer and trust are the only safeattitudes of the soul; and even these should be but momentary, as it were, lestthe time for action should pass and the blessing be missed.

     If, however, the suggestion does not seem quiteclear enough to act upon, and doubt and perplexity ensue, especially if it issomething about which one's friends hold a different opinion, then we shallneed to wait for further light. The Scripture rule is, "Whatsoever is not offaith is sin"; which means plainly that we must never act in doubt. A clearconviction of right is the only safe guide. But we must wait in faith, and inan attitude of entire surrender, saying, "Yes," continually to the will of ourLord, whatever it may be. I believe the lack of a will thus surrendered lies atthe root of many of our difficulties; and next to this lies the want of faithin any real Divine guidance. God's children are amazingly skeptical here. Theyread the promises and they feel the need, but somehow they cannot seem tobelieve the guidance will be given to them; as if God should want us to obeyHis voice, but did not know how to make us hear and understand Him. It is,therefore, very possible for God to speak, but for the soul not to hear,because it does not believe He is speaking. No earthly parent or master couldpossibly guide his children or servants, if they should refuse to believe hewas speaking, and should not accept his voice as being really the expression ofhis will.

     Every moment of our lives our Father isseeking to reveal Himself to us. "I that speak unto thee am He. I that speak inthy heart, I that speak in thy outward circumstances, I that speak in thylosses, I that speak in thy gains, I that speak in thy sorrows or in thy joys,I that speak everywhere and in everything, am He."

     We must, therefore, have perfect confidence thatthe Lord's voice is speaking to us to teach and lead us, and that He will giveus the wisdom needed for our right guidance; and when we have asked for light,we must accept our strongest conviction of "oughtness" as being the guidance wehave sought.

     

     A few rules will help us here.

     

     I. We must believe that God will guide us.

     II. We must surrender our own will to Hisguidance.

     III. We must hearken for the Divine voice.

     IV. We must wait for the divine harmony.

     V. When we are sure of the guidance, we must obeywithout question.