Direction Without Doubt - Part 1
00:00Welcome to the In-Touch podcast with Charles Stanley for Thursday, October 29th.The simplest decisions can become complicated when we're faced with too many options.Listen closely for biblical direction on making godly decisions with confidence and clarity.When you come to make very difficult decisions in your life, do you face them with confidence?Or do you find yourself being a little intimidated, maybe a little uncertain?maybe confused, maybe frustrated.There are all kinds of decisions we all have to make.Decisions about relationships, about our finances, about our jobs, about our future, about our health.
00:43In fact, all of us are where we are as a result of decisions we've made about ourselves that relate to us,whether it's physical, financial, job, whatever it might be.And so when we look at our circumstances and think, well, now, why am I where I am, where I am?because of some decisions that you've made or decisions that other people have made about you.Well, you had to make a decision after they made a decision to lay you off from your job,you had to make a decision whether throw up your hands and quit or to keep trusting Godand believing that somehow he was going to make a way for you.What I want to talk about in this message is direction without doubt.
01:24God will give you direction in your life.Then you don't have to say, well, I hope so.Maybe so. I think so. And oftentimes people make decisions and are never settled about the issue as to whether they really and truly believe that they made the right one or not.If, for example, you make a decision and things don't turn out the way you expected, do you conclude automatically wrong decision?Or could it be that God has placed you in a position that's very difficult because of something he wants to do in your life?It isn't what you expected, isn't what you signed up for, but God has placed you there.Then how do you respond?It's very important that you and I know of how to go about making decisions.
02:05Somebody says, well, it's very simple what I do.I just toss the corn, heads I will, tails I still will.And so, or somebody says, well, I read the horoscope and I believe that somehow, forget it.Or somebody says, well, you know, here's what I do.I just look at my choices and just make a choice and pray that God will help meand that somehow I'm just going to barrel on through.None of those are biblical ways to make decisions in your life,because some decisions are so critical, and some decisions are irreversible.
02:39You cannot change them.And so therefore, you and I should be wise and how we go about making decisions in our lifethat affect us or affect others, affect our family, people we love, people we work with.very important how we go about it. So what I'd like to do is I'd like to give you a pattern.You may do all of these things already, but maybe you don't. So put it this way. When suddenlya decision comes, do you have a certain way to think about it? Or do you just think, well, I've got tofigure this out. So what I want to do is to make it simple. It's simple, but not necessarilyeasy, but I can tell you this. It absolutely works every single time. Because you, you
03:23I know by experience is what I've been doing for years and years and years and I know that itworks and I know that God is in it because he loves us and he wants what's best for us.He's going to enable us to make a wise decision.So I want you to turn it, if you will, to the 25th Psalm.And I just want us to read one verse.We could read lots of them.But look at this 12th verse.And here's what he says.
03:48Who is the man or woman who fears the Lord?He will instruct him in the way.He should choose.Who is the man who fears the Lord?He will instruct Him.That is, God will give direction for our life.He will instruct Him, He says, in the way he should choose.Now, if you think about, for example, let's go back to the Old Testament.
04:10How did God answer the question of direction in the Old Testament?Sometimes it was by an angel, sometimes by God speaking to them personally.Sometimes, for example, God would give them some sign, and so visions, dreams,and all different kinds of ways to speak to people.Now, you and I live in the New Testament Day, and we have the awesome Word of God that settlesa lot of these questions automatically.But when somebody says, well, does God still speak to people personally today, and the answeris absolutely.
04:45God is willing to reveal himself.He's willing to speak to you very, very clearly, as clearly as hisnecessary if He knows your heart is right and He will know whether it is or not and thatyou're willing to do what He says do.So with that in mind, let's think about how God speaks and how He wants to speak to you.And so often God has spoken to people and they refuse to listen to him.There's a reason.Now I want you to notice in this verse, I want you to know this the first part of this.
05:14He asked this question, Who is the man who fears the Lord?Now watch this carefully.Then he says, listen, then he says.Following that, God will instruct Him, the man who fears the Lord, in the way he should choose.What does it mean to fear the Lord?Because He says, God will instruct that person in the way he should choose.When the Bible speaks of fear in God, there are two words, several words for fear, but primarily, we have two different kinds of fears.There is fear which is a fear of being afraid, being afraid of something.
05:45You say, I fear fire, a fear swimming.Or, and then there's the fear of which this verse means reverence.fear of the Lord is to acknowledge, to stand in all before him. The fear of the Lord means you reverencehim as the sovereign of the universe, the creator of all things, that he's the Lord God, he'somniscient, omnipresent, he's the master, he's merciful and holy. That is, when you and I come toGod, we're coming to this awesome God, who is our Father, but he's still up and above and beyond anythingthat you and I can describe. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. So when we talk aboutfearing God, we're talking about acknowledging who he is, acknowledging his authority, and his right
06:27to dictate to us and to show us what we should do in every single situation. All of us should havea fear of the Lord. The Bible says, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. When somebodysays to you and so-and-so is a wise man, then find out what they believe about God. He said,fearing the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. So we're talking about this awesome sense of authority,recognition, worship, and adoration of Almighty God. In light of who he is, he says, the person whofears the Lord, God will give him instruction and direction for his life. Now, with that in mind,what I'd like to do is I'd like to give you six words. There are phrases, but I want you to rememberthe six words. If you will follow this pattern, I can absolutely assure you, guarantee you,
07:15God will give you clear direction without doubt no matter what you're facing in life.That's what he desires to do.He doesn't desire to keep you wondering about something.And here's the first word.If you'll think about it for a moment, if you're in the process of making a decision,the first word is clear the pathway.There's a phrase, clear the pathway.So the pathway is what we are talking about.
07:42Now, what do we mean by that?You notice what he says.He says, the person who fears the Lord, God will enable them to make the right decision.Think about this.You and I are coming to the Lord to ask Him for direction for our life.Clear the pathway means simply this.Clear your heart of any known sin disobedience, whether it's an attitude or action.You've got to get rid of that.
08:05Think about this.You're asking Holy God to give you His mind to a sinful mind that is living in sin and intendsto keep on living in sin.and you're asking God to give you direction, he's not going to do it.Or you can come up with something, and you may make a decision that you think, well, I made the right decision.If you didn't ask God eventually, catch up with you.What I want you to say is this.The very idea of living in sin and asking God for his guidance, it's a contradiction.
08:34For example, sin, listen, sin is to the mind what fog is to the highway in front of you.When you're driving in the highway, 6 to 70 miles an hour, and all of a sudden, you come to thethis river and this fog has just covered the highway, totally and completely, you can't see 20 feet in front of you.Sin does to the brain, to the mind, what fog does on the highway.So when we say, clear the pathway, we're saying, look at your life and ask yourself the question,what is it in my life that doesn't fit who I am and my relationship to him that will hinder God from giving me clear direction?direction without doubt.He will make it crystal clear, but you have to start with a clean heart.
09:19Clean heart?Listen, clear mind.Heart's not clean.Your mind's not going to be clean because it all fits together.So you're asking God to show you direction for your life.The first thing you have to deal with is, what is there in my life?They would keep God from giving me very clear direction.I say again, if He gave you clear direction,
09:41You're living in sin, you keep at it, He's just condoned your actions.What will you do? Keep living in sin.And God could never, he would never abide by that.Now, you say, well, when you say clear the pathway, what do you mean?Two things.Number one, you've got to deal with sin, and secondly, if you really want God's direction,you have to bring your desires to a point of neutral.Listen, you have to bring it to a neutral.
10:11in the eyes of God, your eyes that, Lord, this is what I want.But if this is not what you want, I'll do whatever you say.In other words, it's a submission up to his will, whatever that is, so you have to bring it to a neutrality.You say, well, now, if I have a very strong desire, you mean I ought to give up my desire,you have to be willing to submit your will and let him bring you to the point of being neutral to this point.Lord, this is what I want.This is what I think is the right thing.But if this isn't, I want your will above everything else.
10:46I am committed to doing your will.I may not like it, but I'm committed to doing it.When you do that, you have opened the door for God to begin to bless you and give you clear direction.Because what you've said is, I have a mind of my own Lord, I have desires of my life.All of us have desires.And we've all had desires that are not the will of God, and we've all probably still have somedesires that are not necessarily the will of God. But when He confront you and you come tomaking the decision, you've got to be one to bring that to him and say, Lord, above everything
11:17else, I want what you want. God always responds to that. Then, of course, the second one isthis, and that is to exercise patience. Now, all of us want God to answer our prayer as soon aswe get through asking, because we're usually in a hurry for something. And we don't understand whyGod, for example, doesn't do it when we ask Him to do it.And there are always reasons for that.But let me just say this.When you have this sudden urge to jump and make a decision, back off.Ask yourself the question, does this look like God?
11:55Does this sound like God?Does this fit who God is as far as the principles of Scripture concern?Because we can all get in situations where people will want us to make a snap decision,a quick decision.To be patient means that I'm willing to trust God.If I say, God, I've got to have it now, and God knows I don't need it now, he's going to let me not let me have it now.What I'm saying is, I'm wiser than you are, and I don't trust you because I thought I should have it now, and you didn't answer my prayer.We act like children.
12:24We don't even realize we do.And so patience means, listen, I'm willing to submit to God's timing.And if something is not His will, we've already decided, no, I don't want what.it's not your will. And oftentimes people will pray for a while, and then they give up and they say,well, I prayed a whole week, and God didn't answer my prayer. Here's what I've discovered aboutpeople who pray a whole week. Usually it's five minutes a day. And they wonder, why isn't Godanswering my prayer? Why isn't He doing this? The scripture says many times concerning. For example,he says, my soul waits there only upon God. I'm willing to wait upon Him. Be strong and of a good
13:05courage. Wait, I say, on the Lord. And the scripture says in the 25th Psalm in verse 3,indeed, none of those who wait for you will be ashamed. That is, God promises us. He says,you'll never be ashamed for waiting upon me. Now, sometimes a person is going to ask you, well,what are you waiting for? And you say, I'm waiting for the Lord to give me direction, and they'llsay, well, how long do you have to wait? Because it's a foreign idea to them. The fact that you'reasking in prayer for God to do something, and you are saying, I'm waiting for the Lord.And here's what they're going to say.They're going to say, well, how do you know when God's speaking?
13:40And what they do, they open themselves up for a real message from you about how to find the willof God.So when they sort of need you a little bit about those things, don't take it personal.They don't have enough wisdom to understand how God works in helping us make decisions inour life.So sometimes when he says, wait, why does he say wait?not because it's not the right decision, but he knows what he's getting ready over here to make all that work perfectly up for you, so he says, I want you to wait.And I'll show you whether this is the right decision or not.
14:14He's working out things that you and I would never know about in our future.Then, of course, be alert to pressure.That's the third one.All of us have come to decision-making process in our life, and we've made the mistake of asking our friend, what do you think?And usually they'll say, well, if I were you, this is what I would do.They are not you.You have to be watchful for pressure because oftentimes people want you to make a decision.If you, for example, are dating someone and that person says to you, I want to get married,
14:47and they come back in three or four months and says, look, it's now never, you tell them never.For the simple reason, don't let anybody pressure you into doing something that you're not sure is the will of God,in something that's irrevocable.There are financial decisions that are irrevocable.There are health decisions that are irrevocable.And so don't let somebody pressure you, and people will pressure you in all kinds of ways.Now, there are two kinds of pressure.There is external pressure from other people who want to encourage you to make a decision quickly.
15:19And listen, everybody hears this on the phone.You pick up the phone, you don't know where that number's coming from,and you say hello, and they just start.And they don't stop, they don't start, you say, wait a minute, ma'am, and then you realize you'retalking to some machine.Sometime it's not a machine.Sometimes it's somebody who've been, they've been trained to just keep talking, thinking that'sgoing to talk you into something.
15:42People, a big time when it comes to not just encouraging, but putting pressure on people.And you have to be careful what is the will of God and what is somebody's pressure.And especially if they come on sweet and loving and kind and tell you all the ones.wonderful things that are going to happen if you make this decision and here's what you can bet on.Listen, here's what you have to do.You have to ask the question, does that sound like God?Mm-mm.Does that sound like God?
16:09You say, well, how will I know how God sounds?Read the Word of God.If you read the Word of God and listen, you fill your mind with the thoughts of God, you'll be able to discern whether something is of God, whether it's not.And so the whole issue of pressure, there's outside pressure that people put on us.And sometimes a person says, well, you know, here's a job, take it today or forget it.No matter how long you've waited, if you don't have clarity from God, don't do anything that you don't have God's solution for.And his answer, in other words, somebody says, well, I've waited and, you know, I'm desperate.Listen, God's not desperate.
16:49God has a will for your life.He will show you what to do.He will make it crystal clear in your life what you ought to do about any decision that you make.Now, there's another kind of pressure, and that's internal pressure.The internal pressure is this.I'm afraid, if I don't do this now, I'll miss it forever.I'm afraid I'm going to be rejected.I'm afraid of criticism.
17:13We have internal pressure that we place upon ourselves, and it has no basis, or maybe if youhave an issue with somebody accepting you or rejecting you, and that's all that importantto you, you'll make a wrong decision based on...on your own pressure. It may be that the other person doesn't care what you do, but you thinkthat they'll reject you if you don't make a certain decision. If you live a godly life, mark this down,you will be rejected. You live a godly life, you will be misunderstood. You fear that somebody'sgoing to reject you or they'll think, well, you're not godly, you're not Christian, you don't care.If you really cared, you'd make this decision. If you were thinking, in other words, we could go on and on and on about what
17:57people think. But the issue is, internally, listen, this is the final question. Not what doesshe think, he think, they think, what does God think? What's the will of God, not my friends?What does God want me to do in this situation? And God may have you to make a decisionof life that nobody else will understand. But you know that if you're doing what God's calledyou to do, he's going to honor that, he's going to bless you, he's going to provide for you,He's going to equip you.He's going to work in ways that you can't ever figure it out.And sometimes God will require us of something that we would never figure out until we take the first step.
18:36So there's external pressure, there's internal pressure, and you have to be discerning enough to know that if your friends tell you something,it may be that you'll have a friend who'll tell you something that is exactly what God wants.You have to be careful who you're listening to.And what you always have to ask and says, what are the consequences if I make this decision?Don't ever forget that word.Consequences always follow decisions.It may be good consequences or bad consequences.Consequences always follow decisions.
19:08And the reason people get in the mess that they're in financially, relationally, you name it, they don't count the consequences.Thank you for listening to Ders.direction without doubt. If you'd like to know more about Charles Stanley or InTouch Ministries,stop by intouch.org. This podcast is a presentation of InTouch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia.
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