Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - What's God's Will For My Life? | The Writings | Proverbs 20

Episode Date: October 15, 2024

How do I make a wise decision? Do you seek other people's advice? What's God's will for my life? In today's episode, Tanya shares how Proverbs 20 gives us wisdom on how to make wise decisions that glorify God. Read the Bible with us in 2024! This year, we’re tackling a group of Old Testament books traditionally known as “The Writings”— Psalms, Chronicles, Proverbs, Daniel, Ruth and more! Download your reading plan now. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it so that others can find it, too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: Proverbs 20

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life. In the time it takes to get to work. I'm Tanya Wilmeth. So a kind of dream of mine just came true a few weeks back when I got the chance to be a small group leader for girls in their 20s. These girls are amazing. I wish you could meet every single one of them. Maybe you will over the course of some of these episodes. But they have lots going on and they're in the middle of trying to make all kinds of decisions.

decisions about medical school, graduate school, career changes, dating, breaking off relationships, marriage. It seems like a super condensed time of life for making really big decisions. Now, sometimes I think they think that I have some kind of secret to offer because I've been through a lot of these decisions, but honestly, I don't. I just want to listen and ask good questions so they can make wise decisions. I'm probably better at telling them how to live with the decisions you've made than wise counsel on actually making them. But that's another episode. Today we're going to look at Proverbs chapter 20, along with some scripture to try to answer the question, how do I choose the right path? If you're in the middle of a big decision or

several small ones, you may face decision fatigue. Like things are too overwhelming and there are too many options to consider and you just want someone to tell you what to do. When that happens, who you turn to matters and how you turn to them matters as well. Proverbs 2018, says, plans succeed through good counsel. Don't go to war without wise advice. So the first piece of advice in choosing the right path is choosing good counsel. These are the opinions of people who have authority or experience in the things that are concerning you. When you talk to them, you might just want to be heard, but since they have authority and experience, you should also be ready to listen and to heed what they have to say. So with our kids, Air,

and I have learned to say, do you want me to listen or do you want advice? Sometimes we're not the ones to give the advice, but this is also a good reminder that those two things are distinct. When you're ready or when you need to make important decisions, seek actual advice, not just someone who will pander your ideas or cover your thoughts with false encouragement. I had to do this the other day with a relationship. I had hurt someone and I didn't know how to fix it. I called a friend that knows and loves both of us and asked for help. But it was hard to move from wanting comfort or validation to actually wanting restorative advice.

I think we all need to grow in this area, especially me. Now, the second piece of advice from Proverbs is to choose the best course in light of biblical text. In other words, if one course of action is, in opposition to what God says about living in His kingdom, then we should count that out. There are boundaries in Scripture about sex and marriage and finances that we should look at when we have those kinds of decisions. If it's not clearly in opposition to what God says, we should ask ourselves if we're trying to make it fit. James 417 says,

Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it. Now, this works the other direction also. Being in God's word highlights the past, that is more in line with God's will. It's like knowing God through Scripture and then knowing what pleases Him. The Bible calls Scripture a lamp to our path and the light to our feet. If you're really confused about something, ask yourself, how long has it been since I read my Bible? Since I prayed, more than just a quick arrow prayer. Okay. Now let's talk for a minute about the phrase, God told me to do this. Sometimes people say those words so we won't question their decisions. God told me to move. God told me to change jobs. Now, this is tricky, first of all, because how did God

tell you? And secondly, if God told you, what does the unbeliever think about God when that plan doesn't work out? Do they think God is a liar or untrustworthy? Tim Keller planted a church in New York City, and he talks about how people who ask him if God told him to start a church there. They would ask the question and he would respond that God didn't tell him, but it was on his heart. And he wanted to do it, and he was willing to do it, and it was hard. And he didn't know if it would succeed or not. And if it didn't, it would be really hard, but he knew he and his wife would still be okay. And he followed up that story by saying,

God's guidance is more something God gives than God does. As we move through life in a vertical relationship with God, we are actively getting God's guidance as we are making decisions. Proverbs 2024 says, The Lord directs our steps. So why try to understand everything along the way? We can be immobilized. If we try to understand everything or prevent any bad outcomes,

we can be empowered to move forward when we truly understand that our security lies in our relationship to God. Even if we go through something really hard, our future is entirely safe in him. Now, the third piece of advice, if you're stuck or confused, is to examine your motives and your decisions impact on others. This might be a layer that makes you uncomfortable,

but it's always helpful to realize that we are flawed, and our motives are flawed. Without our rescuer Jesus, we would only be able to operate under hidden motives. Now, even if our heart has to follow our actions, God gives his spirit to give light to our motives, so we can actually consider others, and we can actually take personal responsibility, one foot in front of the other, even if we don't want to.

Proverbs 2027 says, The Lord's Light penetrates the human spirit exposing every hidden motive. If you're discouraged over mixed motives, I encourage you to find your encouragement in the disciples. They sometimes wanted Jesus only for themselves. They got frustrated when Jesus wanted to feed the crowds. They got tired and fell asleep. while they were praying. They argued over who was more important to Jesus and who would sit his right hand. And Jesus loved them dearly. He was patient with them. One of them, Peter,

grew up, so to speak, to be the father of the early church. As Tim Keller said about his church, sometimes you just need to do it. We may not have all the information, we may not understand it all, but we can do things and learn from our failures. The people around us, learn more about Jesus from watching our story too. When Peter and the disciples were in a boat on a very choppy sea, they were far away from the safety of land when they heard Jesus' voice. And when they saw Jesus walking toward them on the water, Mark 14 says they were terrified because they thought he was a ghost.

Now we can see Peter's decision tree unfold before our eyes. He and the disciples were scared because of the storm. they were trying to decide what to do. They thought Jesus was still on the other side of the lake, where he went alone to pray earlier in the night. But then they saw Jesus walking toward them on the water. Now, Peter didn't think it was really Jesus. He thought it was a ghost.

So then he was even more terrified. But then they heard Jesus' voice, Take heart. It is I. Do not be afraid. At this point, Peter was still looking for comfort. information, Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water. When Jesus said, come, Peter got out of the boat. He started walking toward Jesus. But then remember, he looked around, the wind. He saw the storm and the doubt came in. He looked around instead of keeping his eyes on Jesus, and he started to sink. It was the worst case scenario. He made the wrong decision.

But no, Jesus took hold of him saying, oh you of little faith, why did you doubt? My favorite part of this story is the story that God told afterward. Mark said those in the boat all said, Truly, you are the son of God. Peter's faith grew. Everyone in the boat knew Jesus was the Messiah. The people on the shore heard about what Jesus did.

I think sometimes it's less about the decisions we make. And the real story is in how we handle our decisions and our decision-making process, how we handle ourselves in the middle of making the decisions. See, on our own, either we succeed and people think we're great, where we fail, and all our worst fears come true. When we're united by faith with Jesus, our successes and our failures point others to him. Our failures, probably more than anything, bring us closer to him. Are you willing to relinquish the control in that decision that you need to make?

Can you, without knowing all the outcomes, trust God with your biggest outcome? Will you take your eyes off yourself and your situation and let your mind focus on Jesus?