Tue 13 Nov 2007
We are told to ‘let God drive’, let God pilot your life’, ‘put God in charge’, ‘trust in God’…and the list goes on, but nothing often seems to change or improve. How exactly does God guide us? How do we learn to recognize God’s voice over all the other seemingly ‘correct’ voices?
(extracted from common questions found online)
November 13th, 2007 at 7:50 pm
I once waited for, and eagerly looked forward to the time where I would see or experience something that would be akin to ‘the burning bush’, so that I would know I had truly made a connection with God. I later learned, this will never happen.
God’s guidance is never in your face, but behind the scenes, quietly waiting and quietly initiating the changes you have allowed. There is never a burning bush or sonic boom to announce God has spoken to you or has answered a prayer, but there is simply an unstoppable chain of events always working in the background…quiet, peaceful and loving.
Often our attempts to acquire guidance are more or less us asking God to confim or bless things that we have already decided we are going to do. Put into proper perspective, this would not be asking for guidance, but requesting approval of what we have already guided ourselves to choose.
Guidance comes by first setting aside any notion that you know anything about what is best for you. As long as you think you know all or part of the answer, you are not in a position to truly hear what God has to say because WE NEVER HEAR WHAT WE DON’T WANT TO HEAR.
Spend some time alone and do your best to be open to seeing that you can not and should not attempt to guide yourself in any way. Be open to see that the only guidance that will ever be of any true value is that guidance that comes to you that is unhindered by any pre-conceived idea of what you think you should hear or do. In other words, do not ask if this is the thing to do or if that is the thing to do, instead simply be open and say “I am open for that which is best”…no matter what that may be. Make no judgment of what it may be and let it simply be up to God to say.
When you are open to allow God to set your course, this is really an act of you allowing him in, where he belongs. When this happens, events will occur that are all fashioned to lead towards whatever is best for you.
Alternatively, when you choose what you want to do and simply ask God to bless you, you are simply saying words that mean nothing and you are closing God out of the events of your life. Things may improve, or they may get worse, but you will have taken a road which will be long and hard, because you are choosing to walk alone.
Of course, you never are alone, and by actively acknowledging that God knows what’s best and by not limiting your lifes events to what you think is best, wonderful steps will be made in your life towards achieving peace and harmony with whatever you do.
One of my favorite verses in the Bible:
Proverbs 3:5 - “Trust in God with all your being, and do not listen to your own ideas and concepts. In everything you do, acknowledge that only He knows what is best, and he will guide you.”