God Will Guide You, Part 1
Speak, Lord, for Your Servant Hears
By Brian S. Brookins
Just Do Something, by Kevin DeYoung, is an excellent book. DeYoung encouraged me to take heart and to act. God gives wisdom to his people, and wise people make good decisions. Good counsel Kevin. It can be freeing to realize that open revelation is not necessary as we navigate through life. The absence of an audible voice saying, “Turn here”, is not proof that God has abandoned us. Think, choose, act.
But like many good books Just Do something can have unintended results. In my life, a diminished faith for God’s guidance was one such result. I do not believe it was DeYoung’s intent. Nonetheless, I grew lax in seeking the guidance of the Lord. And worse, discouragement would set in when clear direction was absent.
But thank God for C. H. Spurgeon. I have spent the last few years with Spurgeon in my devotional times and the results have been fantastic. For starters, Spurgeon feeds us the promises of God as few are able to do. And faith inevitably follows a steady diet of God’s promises. There was one promise in particular that proved nourishing, the promise of God’s guidance.
I hope to follow this entry with a few blogs on the topic of guidance. In some ways the ideas will be “instruction”. But there will be little help for any of us apart from the confidence that God will guide his children. Be encouraged, God speaks to his servants. And more often than not, he does this from his word, the bible. Consider the following from Spurgeon:
“Speak, Lord, for Your servant hears” (1 Sam. 3:9). You may not know which of two opportunities to choose. Some friends have urged you to follow one plan and some have urged you to follow the other. If you have used your best judgment and have endeavored to direct your steps according to the Word of God, you will receive an answer. God will give you distinct guidance.
Take your difficulty to the God of wisdom and spread your situation before Him. Divest your own will and solemnly desire to know God’s will. Then expect, by some means or other, for God has different ways of doing it, to have an answer from the Most High. Make this your prayer, “Speak, Lord, for your servant hears.”
… This is my advice: Take your difficult to God in prayer and say, “Speak, Lord, for Your servant hears.” Do not ask God to confirm your opinion; ask Him to make your opinion conform to His truth.
Follow the simple Word of God as you find it. Let the Holy Spirit flow on the sacred page, and as you read you will hear the Master say, “This is My Word.” He will make it come to your soul with power. You will have no doubt when your heart cries, “Speak, Lord, for Your servant hears.”
If you have read DeYoung you immediately recognize that Spurgeon has not given counsel here that DeYoung would take exception to. Go to God’s word! This is excellent and solid counsel indeed. But there is an emphasis on “God being with us” that we will all too easily miss. It is one thing to say, “you will receive the guidance you need from his word.” It is a greater thing to say, “God himself will guide you from his word.” Listen to Spurgeon again: “Hear the Master say, ‘This is My Word.’ He will make it come to your soul with power.”
