His Guidance

How does God guide us? Does He guide us? There was a time in my life when I did not think that God did much of anything to help us or lead us in our every day life. I thought that I was in total control of my every day existence. He proved me wrong one day. Then my eyes were opened to His guidance. Learning to listen to how He guides me, has been the key for my ability to hear and follow His instruction.

He speaks to everyone differently. He meets us where we are. I have friends that hear Him speaking to them on a regular basis, almost audibly. Others have dreams, or hear Him through songs. Some open up the bible and hear Him instantly speaking through the words written on the page. For me, it is constantly changing, but the avenue for my hearing stays the same. I am trying to always be listening. I am constantly looking for the new way He may be guiding me, in that moment, that day. However, there is one way He has spoken to me constantly through the years, through other people. I can look back upon my life when I have made my most devastating, bad decisions, and there was always someone there begging me to take a different road, but in my stubbornness, I chose to bull through. Other times, when it has seemed that, "I am doing really great," usually it is because I have taken the advise of someone else. I am constantly asking people for their advise and if I am on the right path. But what seems as insecurity, and sometimes I feel like I am very insecure, I am actually asking God to guide me.

I have learned, through my years of stupid decision making, to listen to God through the advise of others who know Him best. Proverbs 12:15, "The way of a fool seems right to him, but a wise man listens to advice." Here is my most recent discovery with this; I am very insecure with myself. Even when I know I have done the best to my ability, and I have done what God has asked me to do, I still ask for conformation. I have trained myself to ask others advise too much. This to me almost seems absurd. But the truth is, I know when God is speaking through others and when I am just looking for affirmation. My next task in my walk with listening to God will be settling down and relaxing in the comfort of knowing that I can hear Him. I wont miss His guiding hand, and when He speaks I will understand. Instead of looking to others for affirmation, I need to listen to them when He is speaking through them. I know when He is guiding me, for now it comes in many different ways. I just have to wait for His timing, and know that sometimes He just wants me to step out in faith.

Oswald Chambers, "'The Lord spoke thus to me with a strong hand...' (Isaiah 8:11). There is no escape when our Lord speaks. He always comes using His authority and taking hold of our understanding. Has the voice of God come to you directly? If it has, you cannot mistake the intimate insistence with which it has spoken to you. God speaks in the language you know best— not through your ears, but through your circumstances." It all boils down to this; Am I doing the will of my God, or my own hearts desire? I do know the difference, most of the time. The key is to be open when He does speak...

http://www.rbc.org/devotionals/my-utmost-for-his-highest/01/29/devotion.aspx?year=2010