What are your primary spiritual questions? Take a moment to think about that.

In various surveys, adults consistently identify one spiritual question among their top three or four: How can I know God's will?

We do have resources for discovering God's will and finding direction. The first and the one people probably trust most is the Bible. Although the Bible does not offer explicit direction for many modern dilemmas -- issues such as organ transplants or end-of-life decisions -- its principles offer general guidance. Jesus summed up its teachings in two guidelines: love God with heart, soul, mind, and strength and love our neighbors as ourselves (Matt. 22:35-37). In many situations, remembering these two simple guidelines can show us what to do. In fact, sometimes we struggle not with not knowing what to do but with finding the strength to do what we already know is right. As Mark Twain is credited with saying, "It's not the parts of the Bible I don't understand that bother me; it's the parts I do." Scripture is our clearest record of how God deals with us and wants us to deal with one another and with life. Jeremiah 6:16 tells us that when we stand at a crossroad, we are to ask God where "the good way" lies and then to walk in it. Guidance from God will always be consistent with scripture's admonitions and standards.

That verse from Jeremiah also brings us to our second resource for knowing God's will: prayer. We are to ask for direction. The problem is that when we ask, we may not immediately see which is "the good way." But Christians through the ages have talked of "discerning" God's will, of allowing ourselves to live with indecision until God's path for us becomes clearer. With major decisions such as whether to change jobs and move the family, to put an aging relative in long-term care, to join the armed forces or go to college, rushing to any course of action may be unwise. Christian wisdom invites us to wait until we come to a sense of "consolation" before acting. This involves praying and waiting for a feeling of inner quiet and peace concerning a particular decision. One strategy when facing two choices is to live with each for a week. For one week, we live as if we have chosen strategy "A" and pay attention to the feelings and possibilities that come to us. For the next week, we do the same with choice "B." At the end of the time, we consider in quiet where God is drawing us. This process of praying and waiting can open us to hearing the gentle nudgings of the Holy Spirit.

We also have another resource: the community of faith. God's people offer the "corrective of community." If we do our praying and choosing in isolation, we deprive ourselves of the wisdom God has placed in individuals and in the gathered body of Christ. In isolation it is possible to talk ourselves into believing that whatever we want is what God wants. But as Jeremiah 17:9 tells us, the human heart is deceitful. As we talk over our dilemmas with those who know us well and want God's best for us, we are protected from wild misinterpretations of scripture and from wrong desires. Christian friends who "speak the truth in love" (Eph. 4:15) are a treasure. A small group that holds us accountable for how we are living our faith offers us guidance and correction in both small and momentous choices.

The Bible tells us in many places to seek counsel, to lean on others who know God. Reluctance to do so often conceals a desire to avoid being accountable, since having others know the course of action we are considering implies that they will know whether we follow through. And our community of believers does not consist only of those we know in person. Writers such as those whose words we read in this magazine share insights and experiences that can encourage, guide, and challenge us -- and help us to understand what God wants of us.

Seeking guidance invites the Holy Spirit into our circumstances, and that opens the door for God to work. Even when we are unsure of exactly what to do (which may be often), God responds to our efforts to be faithful and acts through and beyond them to bring about good for us and for those whose lives we touch. As you consider the reflection questions below, you may want to read again the meditations for January 1, 3, 4, 12, 13, 17, 24, 26, 29, 30, and 31 and for February 1, 2, 6, 8, 13, 16, 17, 21, 23, 24, and 27.

Questions for Reflection:

1. Think of a time when you felt sure that a course of action was what God wanted. How did you come to your decision? What allowed you to feel sure?
2. What passage of scripture comes to mind often to guide you? Why is this passage important? In what recent situation has it affected your actions?
3. Do you think "coincidences" can be one way God breaks into our circumstances and gets our attention? Why or why not? How might God use our circumstances and daily encounters to bring guidance?
4. In addition to the three means mentioned here, in what other ways do you think God "speaks" to us? Why do some people seem more able to feel God's guidance than others?
5. What questions would you ask Christ if he were standing before you today? Why are answers to these questions important to you right now?

- Mary Lou Redding

From The Upper Room® daily devotional guide, January/February 2008. Copyright © 2008 The Upper Room. All Rights Reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.

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