He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye ~ Deuteronomy 32:10.
Introduction:
The plans of God for the new creation man is awesome and quite amazing. It is actually beyond the scope of the understanding of the natural mind.
However, we live in a world that is glaringly hostile in many ways against the people of God (Ephesians 6:10-13). Hence, the reason for so many forms of spiritual warfare and struggles we see in the believers’ world today.
The inconvenient truth here is that there are certain classes of blessing, crucial to our spiritual wellness and accomplishments on earth, that we cannot access until we deliberately engage in some desperate measures to acquaint ourselves with the mind of God.
The natural man is fired up only by the things he sees and discerns in the physical realm. If perchance he is an optimistic person, his mind could grasp opportunities and possibilities within the natural realm. But, without the God-mind, he can see only a minute fraction of the vast territories that are to be conquered if he has the guidance of the Omniscient God (Judges 1:2).
In considering our plans of the future, there must be a definite starting point, which is seeking to know the mind of God. We need to have God in the pictures of our lives because He has the plan already (Jeremiah 29:11). His plan is always miles better than our own best strategies. He already has it worked out, but only the wise will seek to discover and walk in it by His grace.
Divine guidance is being led by God, or being controlled by His counsel concerning the issues of our lives. It is having God’s light shed upon one’s path, or like following the manual prepared by the manufacturer to ensure the optimum performance and longevity of the product. Seeking God’s guidance is seeking the way God wants things done so that the outcomes can define His glory.
You might have led your life so far by your own wisdom, and you think it’s so beautiful. But it is only because you have not yet tasted or experienced the wonders and the glory of a God-guided existence. David had God as his Shepherd, and he testified: “I am as a wonder unto many” (Psalms 71:7).
The Error and the Futility of an Unguided Life
Direction is the mother of distinction; trials and errors are particular chatters of failure. Without divine guidance, hits and misses of life are inevitable. Wasted efforts are bound to occur on a regular basis, and truncated destines are unescapable in an unguided life.
Life’s battles cannot be won consistently by human tactics. Those who live based only on what they can see or perceive cannot but fail repeatedly, and will only end up as frustrated fishermen when God actually created them to be fishers of men. In all things, seeking God’s will is the wise thing to do, always.
David knew the importance of seeking God’s guidance, especially in times of battles (Psalms 5:8). He made this a lifestyle and, to the glory of God, he triumphed over all his adversaries. He ended his life’s journey in a remarkable and glorious way, leaving his throne for a successor of God’s choice.
David always yearned for divine direction and was willing to tarry all day long to hear from God (Psalms 25:4-5; Psalms 31:3). This pattern of waiting on God for divine guidance is quite observable in the lives of every excellent characters in the Bible.
Tuning Ourselves for Divine Direction
To be divinely guided by Him, you must acknowledge Him as the Creator and Source, Who made the heavens and the earth. He is the Alpha and Omega, the Lord of all, and His power and authority encompasses all things both seen and unseen. All thrones and dominions are under His charge.
However, beyond this, you must become a child of God to qualify for His fatherly guidance (Romans 8:14). The sonship status is the game changer in the narrative of every man’s existence; glorious destinies are confirmed inheritances of the children of God (Isaiah 8:18). And, by design, their steps are divinely ordered (Psalms 37:23).
In general, many people believe in the existence of God, but only those who accept the divinity of Jesus Christ and accept His Lordship are sons of God (John 1:12). We have this open access to God through Jesus Christ, Who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6).
It the positioning of a child that gives us direct link and access when we require God’s guidance. It is wisdom, therefore, to seek guidance from the right positioning of a child of the Kingdom.
However, in addition to this, we must be aware that some classes of freedom will not be secured without fasting (Matthew 17:18-21). Certain doors will not open, certain dark powers will not bow out, and certain clarities of direction, spiritual exactness and breakthrough cannot be accessed, until we engage in prayer and fasting.
Oftentimes, there are so many distracting voices desperately clamoring for the attention of the destinies of saints, thereby making it difficult for us to hear God's voice. There are so many evil spirits seeking opportunities to control or to seduce us out of the way of God. However, when we choose the discipline of fasting and prayers, we can subdue these distractions to connect to the voice of the Holy Spirit.
The voice of the Holy Spirit became louder and clearer to the apostles only when they ministered to the Lord with fasting (Acts 13:1-3). It was for the same reasons that Ezra declared a fast at a a desperate moment of national renaisance (Ezra 8:21-23).
Fasting is a very powerful spiritual exercise required to bring us into a realm where we can hear God's voice with clarity and precision. Through fasting, we discipline our bodies and release the treasures of God in our spirit to subdue our environment for our own good and for our assignments.
Through fasting we implore God to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. Through fasting we engage God's omnipotence to overcome our human impotence. And, surely, divine direction can be secured easily through fasting.
Friends and brethren, as you look up to the Holy Spirit, may your eyes open to see the right way to follow on your journeys of destiny. May your ears open to decipher the voice of the Holy Spirit in absolute clarity. And, may you and your family enjoy supernatural expansion and a fullness of God’s glory all through this year and beyond, in Jesus name. Amen. Happy Sunday!
Rhema Christian Church,
Otta, Ogun State, Nigeria.
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