Page 2 - Guidance and the Will of God | Truth & Tidings

on that later. The last aspect of God’s will is always understand these demanded param-
His permissive will whereby He permits us
to take our own course outside of what He
calls us to. In these experiences of life, we
often learn valuable lessons about ourselves
and our God. An example of this may be
Peter’s desire to step out of the boat to come
to the Lord Jesus. The particular will of
God was that they go to the other side, but
it was the permissive will of God that al-
lowed Peter to step out of the boat. Peter
was taught valuable lessons about his own
weakness, fear, and doubt as well as the
faithfulness, power, and care of his God. It
is interesting that we never read of Peter
asking again if he could walk on water with,
or to, the Lord Jesus. (For further study on
the permissive will of God, consider the
story of Balaam in the Old Testament.)
Assuming a genuine relationship with
God and an honest desire to know and do
His will, there are four areas that need to be
addressed.
1. Knowing the Word of God
There are no shortcuts. Devotionals are
nice, commentaries helpful, dictionaries
often necessary, but there is no substitute
for having a daily quiet time alone with
your Bible. Knowing God’s will for our
lives means we must know Him; His heart,
His desires, His character, and methods.To
young Timothy, Paul writes, “Meditate
upon these things; give thyself wholly to
them, that thy profiting may appear to all”
(1Tim 4:15). our lives, we need to ensure that we are sub-
When we consider the will of God in
Scripture, there are precepts (rules) and
principles which need to be considered.
The difference can be noted through the
example of family life. Parents have param-
eters that their children follow for their
protection and good. The child may not
2 TRUTH kTidings I The Will of God
eters while young, but with time and teach-
ing they will come to see them as a reflection
of the care and character of the parents. As
the children continue to grow, the parents
will have the delight of seeing their children
begin to live, not based on a response to pre-
cepts (rules) alone, but on directional prin-
ciples that were established by the parent’s
expression and example. The child no longer
operates based on “Mom says this,” or “Dad
says that,” but on an understanding that
they can or cannot do a certain thing because
it would violate who they are, in association
with their parents. A further aspect is a
young person, acting in obedience to the
precepts and principles because of a devo-
tional desire to please those they know love
them.
In like manner, the Word of God guides
our daily life and growth through demanded
parameters and directional principles that
reflect the care and character of our heavenly
Father. The result being not a pharisaical
keeping of precepts and principles, but our
devotional pursuit to, in all things, obey and
seek to please and glorify our heavenly
Father, knowing our Father desires the very
best for His children.
The demanded parameters of Scripture
given for our guidance are crossed over at our
peril. God has given us directives in His
Word that are in keeping with His holy char-
acter and are for our blessing and protection.
When we seek to know God’s guidance in
mitting to the authority of these moral abso-
lutes. These things include the “thou shalt”
and the “thou shalt nots” of the law, as well as
forbidden works of the flesh as listed in
Galatians 5:19. A general reading of the
New Testament will allow you to discover
many such other passages (Ephesians 4:17-