FOLLOWING GOD'S GUIDANCE

(USING DIFFERENT HARBOR LIGHTS TO COME TO THE RIGHT DECISION)

How do we know when we are hearing from God so that we would make the right decision in life? There are always decisions that come up daily in our lives. We live in a world that is filled with many voices and the noise of these voices can oftentimes overwhelm us and keep us from hearing God. We will perhaps hear from God in different ways. When we are about to make a major decision in life I believe that there are certain harbor lights that one can look at to help us in the decision-making process. I've outlined these below but they're certainly not meant to be in order of predominance or importance.

Harbor Light #1

Do you have the peace of God about following this certain course of action? If so, then this harbor light can certainly help you in the process of making the right choice. If you don't have peace about a certain decision then it's probably best not to follow it. It has been said that the enemy can't duplicate the peace of God. As we know he is the author of confusion.

Harbor Light #2
Do circumstances seem to indicate that this course of action is the right one to take? Now this harbor lightmay or may not point you in the right direction, but it most certainly can help you in the process. For example, what if you think that God is calling you to leave a certain town and move to another one. If through this process, your home sells, and other things seem to fall into place, then one would most likely think that God was involved in the process.

Harbor Light #3

Does your decision line up with the word of God? If you think that you should be involved in some type of business deal that is not honest or is questionable in its practices, then simply knowing what the scriptures would say about this involvement would help guide you in the right direction. 11 Honest scales and balances are from the LORD; all the weights in the bag are of his making. Proverbs 16

Harbor Light #4

Seek out wise counsel. Proverbs 11:14 Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counselors there is safety. Proverbs 24:6 … in multitude of counselors there is safety. Proverbs 15:22 Without counsel purposes are disappointed: but in the multitude of counselors they are established. Now wise counsel is certainly important but what if half of the counselors give you one way to go and the other half gives you a completely different course of action? In this instance, listening to the Holy Spirit is your best course of action. Remember Job's counselors? Eliphaz the Temanite gave Job some very stirring advice, but it was not readily received.

Harbor Light #5

Spend time in prayer seeking the direction of God for your life personally. This is actually the best harbor light to seek out. For without following this course, you will not truly know what God's wisdom is for you personally. Others may give you advice that is good and sound, circumstances may fall right into place, but if you don't know in your heart that God has spoken to you personally about something, and yo're still uncertain about what to you, then its best not to move. 1 To man belong the plans of the heart, but from the LORD comes the reply of the tongue. Proverbs 16

Harbor Light #6

Perhaps a prophet has or will give you a word of direction for your life. It's important to note that God should have already revealed some part of this to you already. This word from this prophet should serve as a confirmation, and not as something that was already in your heart. Now that being said, I'm not saying that prophets don't speak things that are new or illuminating to us, they do. They still help point us in the direction that God wants us to go. But we should seek God on our own, and not look to the prophet or prophetess for all of the answers to life.

So, hopefully if one follows these harbor lights then they will find the answer that they are seeking, and the decision that they make will lead them home back to shore. Without following the light house then one can easily get lost at sea and will be tossed to and fro like the waves.

Stephen Hanson