GUIDANCE

GUIDANCE

“As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the Sons of God”. “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit”. Thus we learn that divine guidance is the privilege, and more, is the very characteristic of God’s people. The grace of God which has saved them, has also conferred on them all things that pertain unto life and godliness, and next to the gift of His own Son, God’s chiefest gift, is that of the Holy Spirit; as the apostle has said, “Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God; who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts”.

Guidance must always be from without, and must depend on another and not on oneself. If I am ever so wise in heart and perfect in ways, these will not guide me, though they might shew I have no need of guidance; if, however, I know the need of guidance, I also confess that that is lacking in myself which guidance is to accomplish. But every true christian confesses to the need of divine guidance, and every christian is entitled to know it: it is as we have said, the very characteristic of God’s children, that they are led of the Spirit, and if they walk in the Spirit, they will not fulfil the lusts of the flesh; thus instead of following the leading of the fleshly mind and will, they will in all things be led of God.

If any one asks, as has often been asked, Am I in everything to know and to do the will of God? the answer is simple and affirmative; it is the believer’s ^[p. 57] privilege, so to walk as to please God, to be not conformed to this world, to be transformed by the renewing of the mind, so that he may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

God has indeed done His part, not only in willing our guidance, but in the gift of His Spirit in whose power we are called to walk. It is not the purpose of God that His children should walk in blindness, nor in doubt in the several steps of their path down here, any more than they should question His grace in their acceptance, nor the glory prepared which is to be the end of that path. Yet how many a saint who is assured of the love, and of the salvation of God, who waits for Christ’s coming with confidence and expectation, is found full of perplexity in the common matters of daily life, of duty, or of service, as though their God and Father, who has assured them an eternity of glory with His Son, was indifferent to the steps by which they tread their path through this present world, and to all that may befall them by the way. It is good to remember that the path of God’s people here is in the mind of God, not separated from its end, and that all His dealings with His saints, all His guidance and direction are only consistent with, and in view of that to which He has predestinated and called them. Our souls lose much, and the name and the testimony of the Lord lose more, because we separate our life on the earth from the glory to which some day we hope to attain. Hence the present life is often earthly, and formed on the world’s model, instead of heavenly in character and hope. From the manger to the glory, the life of the Lord Jesus was pursued in a consistent course, and from the moment when we learn our place and part with Him in death and life, our life should be formed on the same model.

There is no greater subject of exercise amongst faithful christians than that they should be found in all things in the way of God, and not in the fulfilment of their own selfish wills. To the attainment of this, there ^[p. 58] appear to us to be three things essential. First, subjection of heart and mind to the word of God; secondly, an acquaintance with the Scriptures which, given by inspiration from God, are able not only to make wise unto salvation, but also to furnish unto all good works; and thirdly, a habit of communion of soul with God. In-subjection to or ignorance of the word of God, or a habit of life and walk apart from fellowship with the Father and His Son, either, or all of these must put the saint outside the place of guidance, and render him incapable of discerning the will of the Lord; just as in nature, the child who either knows not; nor cares for the father’s word, and forsakes the intimacy of the father’s heart and home, is found like the prodigal in the life and habits of the “far country”. Moreover, in the degree, however small, in which these things may be deficient, will there be corresponding failure in the apprehension of guidance, and of the mind of God.

Through the insidious working of self-will many a heart which in purpose is upright towards God, is yet often in sore bondage in the many details of life and service. The difficulty of choice between two steps, and of decision on matters sometimes small, but sometimes which we may deem important, often involve deep heart searching and prayer to God for His direction. Could our own will, and the possible or apprehended consequences to ourselves, whether for gain or loss, be eliminated from such questions, the difficulty of choice would be small indeed. It is however the province of faith to guide the soul in these times of perplexity, and faith brings God into the scene, and looks not on its own things but on the things of God. Faith also knows God as Him who is after all the one most interested in the walk and welfare of His people, and who sees the eternal consequences of their steps, while they judge for the most part by the immediate and temporal results. Faith furthermore remembers that the Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly - that He is ^[p. 59] able to keep him from falling, able to lead along the right path, and in His own time both justify all His dealings with His people, and confirm them in compliance and contentedness with all His ways.

Now it is a great relief to the upright heart to remember that guidance is promised by God to His people, and that while it is His part to guide, theirs only is to be guided: “I will... teach thee” and “guide thee with mine eye”. “Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory”. This is the part of God, and whether we are conscious or not conscious of His guidance, He will not fail in that which He has undertaken. Guidance is not necessarily knowing that we are guided, but it is being guided - “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord” - and our business is to be in that state of soul in which He can lead us as the Father His children, though often by a way we know not. No doubt it is a happy and higher thing to be always so sensible of the movement of His eye and of His hand that all our ways may be ordered in communion with Him, but it is also blessed for the soul to be so sensible of self-judgment and self-renunciation, that the simple and happy heart can leave itself in His hands, and trust in His guidance as a matter of course. This delivers from bondage, and the legal state of so many, who are ever inquiring whether they are doing the right thing; while if the will is broken, the rule of a christian’s life should be that he does not suspect he is doing the wrong one. Still it is well to mistrust self, and the consciousness of the will at work, and sift it before the Lord, though we may in the end discover that the thing desired is the very thing He would have us to do. In nearness to God we solve these questions, as our heart and will become more and more fashioned by His guidance, so will it be not merely by coincidence but by habit that God’s will and ours are identical. If then both ourselves and our time are really at the Lord’s disposal, we can leave it to Him to dispose of us as He sees good; doing that which the hand ^[p. 60] finds to do, day by day, without bondage or distrust; and thus shall we be preserved from that perplexity and distraction which so hinders from communion and true testimony for His name.

But there are cases where the Lord will have us in real exercise, and in which we ourselves must choose for God, and it is in such a time that the habit of our life is then most felt for good or evil. If communion with God and His word be our habit, the hardest matters will be easily solved, while, if the contrary be the case, perplexity, ending in failure, must ensue.

The guidance of God is not for things spiritual only, but for the whole christian life. In his own affairs, in person, home, business, or in the world, the christian is to count on the leading of the Spirit. Many fail here, and while they look for spiritual guidance in their service to God, and to His people, and in their sorrows and difficulties, they lean to their own understanding, and trust their natural powers and common sense in the things of daily life. It is impossible to estimate the loss and damage to souls through this cause, and through neglect of that power which alone can keep them amidst the whirl, the conflict, and impurity of an evil world. The christian’s house, his home, his dress, his food, are all matters in which he is a witness either for or against the Lord, and all are deemed worthy of the notice of the Spirit of God in His word. Herein is the need which we noticed at the beginning for acquaintance with and subjection to that word, which God has given us by inspiration, and which He uses now by His Spirit for the cleansing of our ways and the perfecting us in the life of faith, and in the knowledge of His will.

The Lord give us to know more of His guidance, and be meet for it with hearts kept free for, and in fellowship with, Him. If we fail, He will not fail us, and so we need not be discouraged. He is our Shepherd, who makes us to lie down, and leads us, whether beside the still waters, or in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. He ^[p. 61] restores the soul. He is with us, whether in the valley, or at the table He has prepared for us, with the head anointed, and the cup flowing; we may say, Surely goodness and mercy shall follow us all the days of our life, and we shall dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. The Lord give us hearts, as the sheep of His hand, to follow such a Leader. “Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass”.