|
God wants us to know
his will even more than we want to know it.
Why
then is it often so difficult to discover?
Why doesn't he tell us
outright?
He does not want unthinking robots
who are programmed to do his bidding but mature children who
share their Father's concern for the world. He wants us to
research and think through facts and feel his compassion and end
up asking for that which pleases him. It helps us to know him
better.
As we prayerfully evaluate
overseas needs and opportunities, our gifts and training, our
circumstances and God's Word, we develop a conviction about the
course we should take–an assurance difficult to acquire any
other way.
Even the great Apostle Paul had to
find his guidance as we do. Acts 16 records that on his second
journey he and his team visited their churches in the regions of
Phrygia and Galatia. This part of God's guidance was clear
because these new churches needed follow-up. Paul believed God
then wanted them to continue on the highway into the Roman
province of Asia–probably to Ephesus, its largest city. But
his timing was wrong. How did the Holy Spirit forbid them? Were
the roads impassable? Was there an epidemic? Did the Roman
soldiers at the crossroads stop them? Whatever the circumstances,
Paul knew the Holy Spirit was closing the door.
He and his team traveled north to
Mysia, and tried to turn east into Bithynia. God closed that
door, too. So they went west to Troas. It was not on Paul's
itinerary but it was accessible. God had to get Paul to Troas so
he could turn his steps to Europe! (How can you steer a ship
until it lifts anchor and leaves harbor?)
Europe did not yet figure in
Paul's long-range plans, so in Troas God gave him a vision of
"a man from Macedonia." Luke, who had come from
Macedonia, joined the team in Troas. (Did he arrive before or
after Paul's vision?) The team evaluated the facts and quickly concluded
they should go to the city of Philippi, an important city in
Macedonia. (Acts 16)
So how are we to go about seeking
God's guidance? Here are some principles.
I. Discerning God's leading
1. Seek to do God's will every
day. Why should he say anything more to us if we disregard
what he has already said? Jesus says, "Why do you call me
Lord, Lord, and do not what I say?" (Lk. 6:46) He says,
"If you love me you will keep my commandments." (Jn.
14:1523) Start by obeying what you already know God has
commanded. Learn to hear God's voice in small daily matters. This
is good practice for major decisions.
2. Use common sense. But we
do not need God's special guidance on everything. We do not need
to ask each morning whether to get up or to dress. We would not
usually ask if we should wear the brown suit or the blue one to
work, because it is probably indifferent. Choose the one you
prefer. The Lord does not seek to control each detail in our
lives. Packer says rightly, that to ask for specific guidance for
every detail of our day is not spirituality. Rather, it leads to
a "frantic bewilderment or lunacy." A 12year old who
needs the guidance of a two-year old is abnormal. God expects
some maturity in us from his constant teaching, his past guidance
and our life experiences. He is not likely to give special
guidance where common sense or his Word should suffice.
3. Study the Bible for
guidance. Regular Bible study saturates us with knowledge of
what God thinks about everything, what his long-range
plans are and how he acts. Jesus said, "If you abide in me
and my words abide in you, then ask whatever you will and
it will be done for you." (Jn. 15:7) "Thy word is
a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." (Psa.119:105)
A good understanding of Scripture
helps keep us from mistaking God's guidance because he never
guides anyone contrary to his written Word.
But seek guidance in clearly
stated principles and in the lives of godly people in the
Bible. Learn from Abraham's mistakes and imitate his faith. But
the advice of Job's friends is as bad for us as it was for him.
The pagan prostitute Rahab was commended for her new faith in
God, not her lies and low morals. The dishonest steward in Luke
16 is praised for his prudence in preparing for his future, but
verse 10 condemns even his smallest dishonesties. God
wants us to apply biblical principles to our circumstances.
4. Desire to do whatever God
says. Do we already want one answer so much that we are not
open to others? God expects us to have preferences. He may
even give us desires so he can fulfil them. (Phil. 2:13)
But we must examine our motivation. If we are not willing to do
whatever he says, we are double-minded and must ask him to
make us willing.
5. Rely on God's promise to
guide. "I will instruct you and teach you the way you
should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you" (Psa.
32:8). If you obey, "the Lord will guide you
continually" (Isa.58:11). "Who is the man (or woman)
that fears the Lord? Him will he instruct in the way that he
should choose" (Psa. 25:12). "In all thy ways
acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths"(Prov. 3:6).
Paul prays the Colossians will be "filled with the knowledge
of his will" (Col.1: 9). J. I. Packer says the Holy Spirit
lives in us to teach and to guide, and for us to doubt his
ability or willingness would be a slur on his ministry.
6. Ask God for guidance.
"If any one lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who
gives to everyone generously and without reproaching, and it will
be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he
who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by
the wind." (Jas. 1:58) This does not mean you must be sure
of the answer, but you must be specific about your request.
A "double-minded," wavering person, with mixed motives,
will not be answered. We cannot ask God for his will, and then
contemplate whether or not to obey. He may not guide until we are
ready to obey.
James does not say that if we
believe hard enough God will answer. Prayer is not convincing
ourselves that God will give the answer we wish. Prayer is not
twisting God's arm to do for us what he otherwise would not do.
Our prayers free him to do what he longed to do from the
start. He works through us, but does not force our wills. Nor can
our faith force his hand. But our faith frees him to act, and
opens us up to hear.
We must ask. God works
mainly through us. He already knows what we need. But do we
know? The rule of the Father's house is that the children must
bring their requests to him. He longs to have us in his presence;
our needs bring us there.
"Let us with confidence draw
near to the throne of grace, that we may find mercy and grace to
help in the time of need." (Heb. 4:16)
7. Clarify the request in
writing. God says, "Take with you words."
(Hosea 14:2) The Holy Spirit usually does not speak to us in
words except to recall to our minds the words of Scripture. But
he does says yes or no to the words we bring to
him. Writing helps because it requires us to think through the
issues and to define our thoughts. If our requests are fuzzy we
may not recognize answers when they come. Too often we say,
"Everything worked out," and fail to see God's answer
to a specific prayer. Keep a prayer journal!
8. Believe that God is guiding. Believe your discoveries are not accidental, but that God is
speaking through the data you uncover in a variety of ways. Not
all of it will be relevant, but we must be alert to what God may
be saying through items of information. It helps to record what
seems significant in a prayer notebook.
Rest the matter with him.
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your
own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he
will direct your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes."
(Prov. 3:5,6) "Have no anxiety about anything, but in
everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your
requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which passes
all understanding, will keep (guard, sustain) your hearts and
your minds in Christ Jesus." (Phil. 4:6,7)
9. Watch for guidance in your
daily devotions–in the sequence of Bible passages you
are reading. In 1957, after three years in Peru, I believed God
wanted me to begin university fellowships in another South
American country, so I applied for positions in several secular
schools. Then I returned to California to spend Christmas with my
family. It made sense to wait here until I had a new job
contract. I hoped it would come quickly so I could stop in Peru
on my way south to help put on the university conference we had
planned. But I had enough money only for the air fare and one
month's room and board. If I went, and a job was offered, I would
be in trouble. Did God expect me to take such a big step of
faith?
That was what I asked him as I
began my regular morning reading, which happened to be in Acts
13. I read that Abraham left his home at God's command, by
faith, not knowing his ultimate destination! The words jumped
out at me. (I had not expected to find Abraham in Acts!)
Was God telling me to go? He knew I would read that
passage that morning. I became convinced it was God's answer to
my question. So I flew off to Peru. The conference was fruitful,
and a job finally came through–in Brazil–but that is
another story!
10. Evaluate your
circumstances. They can make God's will so clear that
obedience, not guidance, is required.
Gary wanted to go to China in
August. He would leave behind his pregnant wife and their toddler
for six months, as house guests with friends. After the baby was
born she was to travel to China alone with the two babies. It
became such an issue she would not let him mention China. But he
relied on his inner impressions alone and went to China against
the counsel of family and friends. His wife filed separation
papers. He finally broke his contract and flew home to salvage
his fragile marriage.
Muriel, in the U.S. on leave from
short-term service in Spain, bought a ticket to return.
Circumstances should have told her the timing was wrong. Her
grandmother was dying and her family (not firm Christians) begged
her to wait. But she left, although she had no deadline in Spain
and no specific assignment. She later claimed God had given her
such great faith that even a death in the family could not delay
her. But she ignored God's principles of love and concern for
family.
God can change your circumstances.
Record even small changes as partial answers. Believe God is
working on the problem. As all God's words are actions (he
fulfils them) so all God's actions are words (he speaks through
them). Ask what he is trying to tell you through each change. No
single one may convince, but the cumulative effect of several may
be compelling.
11. Seek information about all
possible options. God guides largely through information we
prayerfully evaluate. But he does not do the research for us.
That we take the initiative to ferret out facts is a test of how
much we want his will. Jesus said that asking does not
make seeking and knocking unnecessary. (Mt. 7:79)
But it can guarantee their success.
12. Seek the counsel of
informed Christian friends. They should be people who know
you well. But if they lack facts or are not committed to
missions, their counsel may not be better than your own. It is
seldom helpful to ask someone who will automatically agree or
disagree with you. I recall a man who would present his problems
to his pastor in a way that would cause the pastor to agree. Then
he would cite the pastor as his main guidance!
Do consult your pastor and church
missions committee. But remember that some otherwise fine pastors
have little interest in missions and even less in tentmaking.
Some dissuade applicants from tentmaking because they do not
understand it and they have confidence only in formal Christian
workers. (A few GO Papers on tentmaking might help them
understand this option better.)
13. When the deadline arrives
make a logical decision. Trust that God has been guiding you.
List the pros and cons, evaluate them prayerfully and then make a
logical decision–the one that seems right. This step has
helped take some of the agony out of decision-making for me.
If at the deadline two options
seem equally good, God may be asking "Which would you rather
do?" There is not always just one right place. Jane called
to ask if she should accept the music teaching job in Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil or the one in Dusseldorf, Germany. It seemed a
tossup. So she chose Germany because of her German ancestry. God
used her there for years in a fully self-supporting position.
14. Then confidently, joyfully,
begin to implement the decision. Step out in faith, asking
God to stop you if you have misunderstood. Watch for further
confirmation.
15. Do not give up at the first
few obstacles. God may be only testing your resolve. Seek
more information and counsel. Be open to the possibility that
your destination, ministry or timing may be wrong. How God
resolves the problems can give great assurance later.
The administrator from Peru who
was to bring my contract to San Francisco never appeared. I was
already packed. Besides, friends had already given me two
farewell parties and I felt a bit obligated to go! I had to ask
myself if I was now as willing to remain home, if that was God's
will, as I was to go. Then a cable arrived, instructing me to
come at once. The administrator had been replaced by a new one.
God never let's us down.
16. Watch for prayer
impressions. Do they confirm your decision or cause
discomfort? You should not take discomfort lightly. But you
should ex pect some apprehension. Before I went to Peru, friends
said I had to have complete peace or it could not be God's will.
But my emotions ranged from mildly anxious to scared stiff! Then
veteran missionary David Adeney said to me, "Only people who
don't think are not afraid to take such a big step!" He
questioned me and said he believed God was guiding me to go.
II. Guidance to serve abroad
1. Ask the following questions
about yourself. 1) What academic training did God lead
you to take? He often, but not always, leads us in a straight
line. He may want you to serve in your chosen vocation, but be
open to other options. Fifty percent of college graduates never
serve in the vocation for which they prepared. But there is much
overlap–concepts that are transferable to other fields.
History major Jim became a basketball coach. Chemist Paul became
a magazine editor. Famous Dr. Martyn Lloyd Jones gave up medicine
in order to preach.
2) What are your spiritual
gifts? In what ways has God already been using you? Ask if
you are ready to serve him abroad. Not every soldier needs
officer training, but all must know spiritual warfare, effective
evangelism and Bible study. God sends no finished products
because he has none. He keeps working on us as we serve him
abroad. But a certain amount of prior preparation is important.
3) Has God directed your attention
to any country of people group? My friend loved everything
Japanese from childhood so it was no surprise that God led her to
Japan. You may wonder if your interest in Jordan is from God.
Then a Jordanian family moves next door and a missionary from
Jordan speaks at your church. You are given a book on Jordan. You
see three newspaper articles on this country. God is leading you
to pray for Jordan, and maybe to go. If you then find a
job opening there, it may be his leading.
God used my high school Spanish
class to interest me in Peru–then a restricted,
unevangelized country. My interest deepened in a Latin America
prayer group at Biola. Then I took Wycliffe's summer linguistics
course at the University of Oklahoma. But illness ended my hope
of doing Bible translation in Peru.
Even after a long, slow recovery,
no mission agency would have sent me out to the jungle. So I went
to Chico State for a degree in education that would enable me to
earn a living. I discovered that the campus was a "mission
field." Friends and I started the first ICVF group there.
Then I taught in a public school in the Bay Area, where two IVCF
alums and I began a teachers' Christian fellowship which spread
all over the region.
Then, in a period of a few weeks,
God changed my outlook on going abroad. Navigators asked me to
pray about doing a year's follow-up with young working women
after the first Billy Graham Crusade in England. Surely I could
tolerate life in London as easily as in California!
Then I helped organize a farewell
for a friend going to Argentina, and discovered that most of
the world's cities are in moderate climate zones! What a
wonderful surprise! I realized with a thrill that I could
probably work in cities almost anywhere!
Then I met Don and Nadine Burns,
Wycliffe missionaries on leave from Peru. They had begun to pray
that I would come teach in the international school in Lima.
I had not known there was such a school! (This was still a decade
before the global job market began to mushroom.) I applied for a
position.
But I couldn't get a passport. To
do so I had to go to San Francisco in person during work
hours and I had no car. But during my school district's annual
teachers' workshops in Oakland, a woman I hardly knew asked
casually if I would mind going with her between meetings to San
Francisco! To the exact address I needed! I obtained the
passport. Then God pulled strings at the Peruvian end, and I was
hired.
The cumulative effect of many
small answers to prayer and the solution of many small problems
gave me a conviction about God's will that I might not have
developed otherwise.
2. Learn all you can about
God's work in the world. Use Operation World by
Patrick Johnstone, to pray around the world each year. See how
relatively evangelized countries are. Need is not the only
consideration, but it does matter. Why go to Chile where one in
three people is an evangelical, when many other countries do not
have a single church?
This book is full of surprises.
The southern European countries have a smaller percentage of
believers than India or China! About 80% of the world's people
live in countries that are off-limits to missionaries and can be
entered only by tentmakers. Japan is open, but is less than one
percent evangelical. A diagram of the 1040 window shows
where most of the unreached peoples are–Muslims, Hindus,
Buddhists, Animists. Learn a little about every country and a lot
about two or three.
List questions to research. You
may want to keep a notebook. If you are considering Turkey, find
out about its culture, its cities, its spiritual need, the status
of Christianity and Islam. You will learn that Turkey does not
issue missionary visas. Learn about some of the tentmakers there. Imagine yourself going and seek answers to questions like
the following: What job openings could you fill? What ministries
could you do? Where might you live? Are there schools for your
children? What is the cost of living? The cost of travel? Would
you rent out your present home? GO can help you think through
many of these questions.
3. Learn about mission
agencies. Which ones work in needy countries that interest
you–maybe Mozambique, Egypt or Thailand? Which agencies seek
people with skills you have, like medicine or teaching or
aviation? Find out more about what these agencies do. Read their
publications. Ask what options they might have for you.
4. Learn about tentmaking jobs. What kinds of jobs are available in your target region that
you could fill? Do you need further training? GO's job-matching
service can provide you with job information. If God has not
given you a burden for any particular country, he may use a job
opening to direct you to where you should serve.
5. Consult with missionaries or
tentmakers from your target country. They can give firsthand
information. GO may be able to put you in touch with helpful
people who are home on leave.
6. Do vacation service there. You
might tutor English for a few weeks in Greece or Mongolia or
Cambodia, or work along with missionaries in Italy or Taiwan. A
short visit can give an idea of what life there will be like.
(Find out about cheap flights.)
7. Define your purpose and
devise a plan. Some missions courses require students to
design a plan for reaching a particular people group. This
helpful exercise makes them think through details and biblical
principles. But you do not know what you will find. Do not let a
fixed plan keep you from noticing all the surprises God will have
for you! Be sensitive to the people and the situation around you.
As I started university student
fellowships in about 50 cities in Peru, Brazil, Spain and
Portugal, each situation was different. No one recipe was
applicable to two cities! God wanted me to depend on him and not
on already formulated plans. But it was important that I had
firmly in mind the basic principles of a genuine student
movement and the fundamentals of good Bible study, evangelism and
leadership training.
8. Begin with a short term. You
need only commit yourself and your family for an initial year or
two, depending on your contract. This is easier than making a
lifetime commitment to a country. Extend that commitment later as
God directs. When I first went to Peru, I derived comfort from
the knowledge that I could come home after a year if the
situation proved too arduous. But the Lord gave such confirmation
of his will, that even after 21 years in several countries
I was reluctant to move home!
It is during an initial short term
that tentmakers often make long-term commitments to their
region–as long as God keeps opening up jobs.
A mission agency may require a
longer initial commitment because you raise donor support, and
they expect you to serve a number of years after costly language
and culture training. But many agencies also have initial one to
three year programs.
Many tentmakers serve only two or
three years, but others join a mission agency after learning the
language and culture at their own expense. The mission gains
trained, tried and proven workers who can greatly cut down the
costly attrition rate of regular missionaries, 30% of whom quit
during or after their first term abroad.
8. Remember that God often
leads through intermediate steps. A Christian couple burdened
for the Baluch people could not get permission to live in
Baluchistan, but God led them to an Arab country where thousands
of Baluch are guest workers! Both husband and wife earned well
and lived comfortably. He translated the New Testament for five
million Baluch people who had never had the Scriptures before! A
few years later these tentmakers were able to live for a time in
the Baluch homeland in Pakistan.
Another couple worked with a few
Kazakhs in Muslim western China. They could not have foreseen
that the USSR would suddenly crumble and that they would be able
to move across the border into Kazakhstan! By then they
knew the language and culture and had prepared Bible materials.
If you hope to work in a rural or
tribal area, it may make sense to work first in a larger city of
your new host country, to become familiar with its dominant
culture before learning one of its subcultures. You may
also find families from your people group living in the city. Win
them, and then help them win their own people! It is what Paul
did.
9. Share your plans with
humility. Ronald said, "First God told me to go to
Japan, then China, and now he is telling me to go to
Africa." It would be difficult to trust such a capricious
God! Until we have arrived in our new host country it is better
to say, "We believe God is leading us to Morocco. We
are awaiting his further confirmation."
III. Special considerations
1. Family. God always takes
into account the whole family. All of the above assumes that both
husband and wife are equally committed to serving abroad. But
often they are not. The eager spouse must be very patient with
the more reluctant one and try to allay his or her fears with
facts.
Contact GO for cultural data. Talk
with people who have lived in your target country. Make a short
visit. A couple must not move abroad unless both are
convinced it is God's will.
God always considers the children.
He loves them more than their parents do! Some jobs abroad are
only for single men or single women, but most may also be family
status. Children are no problem, but employers may turn down a
family with too many. Salary and housing may range from modest
but adequate to luxurious. In some countries it is still possible
to have a live-in maid or a once-a-week cleaning woman.
Many large cities have excellent
international or bilingual schools–and even a Christian
school. Or several parents may pool their time and skills and do
homeschooling. Children who grow up in another culture gain an
enriched upbringing. Small children often adjust more easily and
learn the language more quickly than their parents.
But it is more difficult to move
teenagers abroad because of their more complicated relational and
educational needs. The Andersons took their two teenage sons to
Sudan, because both were eager to go, even though the high school
senior had to take a correspondence course. A family vacation in
the target country may change the reluctance of teenagers, but if
they remain unwilling, the parents may have to wait a few years
until they are grown.
Another consideration is elderly
parents. If you have siblings who can care for them, you may feel
free to leave. But many missionaries remain home for a short
period to care for an elderly parent. One couple took their 90
year old mother to live with them to Thailand!
2. Health. Most mission
agencies require missionaries and their families to have
excellent health, because it is costly for the mission to move
them home again after its costly investment in their travel,
language and culture training. Secular employers have the same
concern for their families.
But the 1990s are not the 1890s
nor even the 1950s! Today most of the world's larger cities have
qualified doctors and hospitals, and medications are readily
available. In case of an emergency, jet travel can get one home
in a hurry. If you do effective work in your home country,
without many absences, you can probably do so in most major
cities, but perhaps not in rustic rural or tribal areas. But
if a family member needs constant medical attention, it is
probably a sign God does not want you abroad at present.
We should now consider several
guidance practices which are not helpful.
IV. Practices to avoid
1. Do not wait for a missionary
call. The confusing idea of waiting for a call has
probably kept more people home from the mission field than any
other factor. The call is already given to everyone in the
Great Commission. (Mt. 28:1820) The Lord's call to us is never to
a piece of geography or to a certain ministry. He called
the Twelve to be with himself, to learn from him, and to
be sent out by him–wherever he wanted them to go. And to
come home and to go out again–wherever he sent them.
(Mk.3:1315)
The prophet Isaiah had a wonderful
vision of God's glory. Afterward, he was so close to God that he
overheard the following words: "Whom shall we send? Who will
go for us?" Without hesitation, he answered, "Here am
I, Lord. Send me." (Isaiah 6)
The call is to the Lord.
The questions of where and how to promote the worldwide mission
of the church is a matter of direction. You know that your
present assignment is at home, as a witness to local compatriots
and to internationals, and as a praying and giving sender of
missionaries–until God leads you abroad. If you can
witness to friends and associates at home, you are a likely
candidate for overseas. Praying and giving shows your concern for
this world.
A mission agency brochure cover
says: "What if I have not been called?" You turn the
page and read,"Go anyway." No supernatural dream or
vision is needed. The desire is reason enough to investigate your
options.
But many mission leaders use the
word call to describe a strong conviction from God
that helps you to go with confidence and keeps you steady when
circumstances become difficult. This conviction is important, but
rarely comes while we sit and wait for it. It develops through
the process of gathering and evaluating data. You fly off by
faith, unable to see the future. Guidance that still seems foggy
from your homeland may seem crystal clear when you look back from
your new host country. You wonder how you missed the cumulative
impact of many answers to prayer.
2. Do not "put out a
fleece." That is what Gideon did, but he had neither the
Bible nor the Holy Spirit. He put out two sheepskins and asked
God to do a miracle. We must not try to force God to answer in
any particular way at any particular time. It is better to await
God's answer in his own time. A delay may mean he is changing us,
or is juggling people and circumstances in our target location.
We must wait patiently–but not passively–for his timing
and confirmation.
3. Do not cast lots or draw
straws. The Eleven sought to replace Judas this way (Acts 1).
But there is no instance of believers doing this again after the
Holy Spirit came at Pentecost.
4. Do not play roulette with
the Scriptures. You have heard the tale of the man who
supposedly opened the Bible at random and found his finger on the
sentence, "And Judas went out and hanged himself."
Rejecting that guidance, he closed his eyes and pounced on the
words, "Go thou and do likewise." His third random try?
"And what thou doest, do quickly." God may sometimes
lead a new Christian by this "blink-and-jab" method,
but he expects more from us.
5. Beware of anyone with his
own hotline to heaven. Some people claim to receive detailed
orders from God. They disrupt fellowship because they consider
anyone who questions their guidance unspiritual. When their
guidance later proves false they make excuses. Not even Paul had
that kind of guidance!
Nor did Abraham. He knew only that
he was to go to Canaan. Genesis shows how he searched for the
right location, near a busy trade route. He was a self-employed
"tentmaker"–in agribusiness. But his motivation
was missions–to be God's channel of blessing to the tribal
nations around him. Wherever he built an altar he was staking a
claim for God. He interceded for Sodom and acted justly in the
war of the kings. He was faithful wherever God led him.
6. Do not bypass your mind.
Hotline Christians often depend more on their intuition or prayer
impressions. But no passage of Scripture encourages us to do
this. Usually God reaches our emotions through our minds. That he
tells us to seek his wisdom suggests he speaks to our minds.
(Jas. 1:5)
Recall the verse,"Trust in
the Lord with all your heart and do not rely on your own
understanding." (Prov. 3: 5) The last part refers to unaided
human thinking–without prayer. Verse 6 continues: "In
all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your paths. Do
not be wise in your own eyes." Use biblical principles, not
worldly ones.
John Stott, in his little booklet Your
Mind Matters, says some Christians think feelings and
intuition are more spiritually dependable than their minds. But
it is easier for Satan to deceive us at the intuitional level
than at the rational level. Our minds respond more readily to
reality checks. Total depravity does not mean that we are totally
bad, but that every faculty of our inner being has been tainted
with sin, including our imagination and intuition. But Paul says
the renewal of our minds is part of our regeneration.
Stott says our minds are God's
gifts, and we must not put experience above doctrine nor emotion
above intelligence. Faith and guidance are not irrational.
"Commitment without reflection is fanaticism in action. But
reflection without commitment is the paralysis of action."
God abases human pride and human
philosophies but not the human minds he made. God does not want
mindless, repetitious worship that puts us into a trance (Mt.
6:7), but a warm devotion set on fire by truth–a
devotion that has biblical content and balance and avoids
fanatical extremes.
Paul says, "But we have the mind
of Christ." (1 Cor.2:16) Stott says this is a mind which can
judge matters rightly because it is informed by Christ's
teaching, his principles and his will. Our minds, trained in
Christ, become like his mind, so that we share his goals and his
purposes.
In relation to guidance, God says,
"Be not like a horse or mule, without understanding,
which must be curbed with bit or bridle." (Psa.32:8,9) The
mind matters.
He says,"Come and let us reason
together. . ." (Isa.1:18) Analyze, think through,
present arguments. Paul said to the Corinthians,"Why not judge
for yourselves what is right?" (1 Cor.6) He is
saying,"Why don't you use your brains? Why don't you use the
same common sense in the moral and spiritual realm that you use
in the physical realm?" (Stott)
Packer lists the main pitfalls in
guidance. People are: 1) Unwilling to think, because of a
false piety, an unhealthy supernaturalism. 2) Unwilling to think
ahead and weigh long-term consequences or alternative options. 3)
Unwilling to take advice. 4) Unwilling to suspect their
motivation. "Search me, O God, and know my heart!"
(Psalm 139:23,24). 5) Unwilling to discount someone's personal
magnetism. Is someone putting pressure on you? 6) Unwilling to
await God's timing.
V. While awaiting guidance
1. Sharpen your ministry
skills. Gain expertise in your workplace evangelism and
inductive Bible study preparation, your group Bible study
leadership skills and your investigative Bible studies with
seekers. Can you turn an inductive Bible study into an inductive
sermon? Can you disciple a new believer? Can you help with a
church planting project somewhere nearby?
2. Get further training. Do
you need a correspondence course on Bible knowledge? Should you
read a book or two on apologetics? Everyone should take the
Perspectives missions course, if at all possible, or thoroughly
study the textbook. The course is now offered all over the U.S.
at hours convenient for working people.
Would an extra academic course or
two enhance your marketability? Or a certain kind of work
experience? An engineering firm customized training in
computer-aided design for Frank before he left for Asia. If you
hope to teach English, crash courses are given in many learning
institutions. ESL teachers' manuals and student workbooks can be
found in libraries. Can you find a foreigner to tutor? (Women who
do not want a full-time job, can tutor English in their homes,
and evangelize their students.)
3. Befriend internationals from
your target country. Are any among your neighbors or on a
nearby university campus? Learn about their culture and religion,
as you tactfully evangelize them. But do not reveal your
missionary plans.
While studying engineering in the
University of Nebraska in the 1950s, Bob Rutz befriended a dozen
Iranian students, including his roommate. He did not know God
would lead him to Iran. On arrival in Teheran, their upper class
families extended generous hospitality to this young man who had
helped their sons. When the sons returned home they were all
given top government positions and were valuable contacts and
partners as Bob set up several businesses, including a restaurant
and miniature golf.
VI. If you mistake God's will
If things go wrong in your new
host country, it does not mean you have misunderstood God's will.
The Twelve twice endured fierce storms on Galilee because
they obeyed Jesus. Paul was personally commissioned by the risen
Christ. Yet look how he suffered to do God's will! People who
stay home also suffer. We are all damaged goods in a spoiled,
enemy-occupied world. God graciously allows problems to help us
grow, and to show the presence of Jesus Christ more clearly
through us.
But what if you become convinced
in Bahrain that you have mistaken God's will? It's not the end of
the world! Do you think God would punish you for trying to
serve him abroad when most Christians do not even care? He is
probably pleased and will give you some ministry there until the
right time for a new assignment at home or in another country. He
allows us to make midcourse corrections!
Remember how graciously he dealt
with Jonah? And he did not mistake God's will–he rejected
it. God used even the forces of nature to rescue him and give him
a second chance, because he understood the conflict in Jonah.
None of us deserve to used by God. Our ministry is by grace just
like our salvation. Packer says God not only restores us, but he
even takes our mistakes and follies into his plan for us and
brings good out of them! (Rom. 8:28) Note God's words to
Israel, which had suffered a great locust invasion for its
disobedience: "I will restore to you the years which the
swarming locust has eaten. . . You shall eat in plenty and be
satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, who has
dealt wondrously with you" (Joel 2:254, 26).
VII. What if no door
opens?
1. What if all your prayers and
efforts fail to get you overseas? You tried everything.
Months have passed but no doors opened. You need not be
embarrassed. You only expressed willingness to go if God so
led.
He may delay you while he works
out many details. He detained me for six years through illness so
I would gain three kinds of training I did not know I would need:
1) A degree in education and English–marketable skills for
tentmaking. 2) Experience in how to start university student
fellowships. 3) Experience in how to evangelize in secular
schools! He knew what I did not–that he was going to take me
to the country he had placed on my heart, but not as a regular
missionary. He would send me as a fully self-supporting
tentmaker, so I would need both the academic training and
appropriate ministry skills.
This was in the early
50's–about the same time that Christy Wilson and a few
others went into Afghanistan as tentmakers–at least a decade
before the post-World War II global job market developed. None of
us knew much about tentmaking. No one could have told me how to
prepare for tentmaking, or how to do it, but see how wonderfully
God led me, even when I did not understand what he was doing! You
can trust him!
But if your door does not open (as
mine did not for for six years), you will know by the
process of elimination that for the present God has
assigned you to two responsibilities: 1) To evangelize your
compatriots and the internationals in your community. You can know
this is God's will until he opens another door. 2) To be a sender–to
pray and give faithfully to others who are able to go.
When God calls you to this
double ministry at home, it is as important as any assignment he
will ever give you. Genuinely trying to go abroad is a good
way to be sure you are assigned at home. At least for the
time being.
But check out overseas options
from to time, since God may want to change your assignment. A sender
is just as important as a goer, but it is not up to us to
choose which we prefer to be.
Conclusion
God says, "I know the plans
that I have for you, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give
you a future and a hope." (Jer.29:11) "We know that in
everything God works for good for those who love him, for those
who are called according to his purpose." (Rom. 8:28). One
day we will say with godly old Caleb,"You know in your
hearts and souls, all of you, that not one thing has failed of
all the good things which the Lord God promised concerning you;
all have come to pass for you; not one of them has failed."
(Joshua 23:14).
So we walk by faith. In this dark
world God always reveals enough light for us to take the next
step, but not enough so that we can run ahead of him. The process
of seeking his will helps us know him better. He cares more about
where and how we serve than we do. He cares more about us than
any ministry we may render. He never really sends us
abroad, but takes us by the hand and leads us, always present to
guide, encourage, protect and help.
– Ruth E. Siemens
Bibliography:
Oliver Barclay. Guidance,
Downers Grove, IL: IVP.
Martin and Elizabeth Goldsmith. Finding
your Way: Guidance and the Will of God. Downers Grove, IL:
IVP.
Paul Little. Confirming God's
Will. Downers Grove, IL: IVP. 36pp.
J. I. Packer (1985). Finding
God's Will, Downers Grove: IVP, 32 pp.
M. Blaine Smith. Knowing God's
Will. Downers Grove, IL: IVP.
John R. W. Stott. Your Mind
Matters. Downers Grove: IVP.
Copyright 1996 Ruth E. Siemens
Back to
Training Materials
Back to Table of
Contents
|