Not Yet

“When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth…” (John 16:13, ESV).

He had been cured of his throat cancer, but the treatment had left him unable to swallow for the last two years. In spite of multiple procedures at a major cancer center, he could still barely swallow his saliva, much less the Christmas meal his family had recently enjoyed. As a last ditch effort, he had been referred to a surgeon in New York who specializes in reconstructing the pharynx without removing the larynx.
“I’m trying to decide now whether to go through with it,” he told me. “I am praying for God to show me the right way to go.”
“Has God spoken to you?”
“Not yet.”

What is the deal in our asking God to help us in our practical decision-making?
Seems like most decisions should be A+B+C-D = X.
Do we really need to drag God into the practical issues of life?
Probably not, if we knew all the factors involved, if we fully understood the goals God has for our life within His redemptive plan, if we understood the eternal ripple effect of our very mundane decisions. But we don’t.
We are so limited in our understanding of life as it really is. Thank God, He is not.
You see A+B+C-D=X is missing a factor and can never add up correctly without it.
Oswald Chambers put it this way, “When you reckon things up, bring God in as the greatest factor in your calculations.”
For this reason Jesus said, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth…” (John 16:13, ESV).
Does this mean God will always make it clear to us in miraculous ways which direction to go in our personal decisions? Not in my experience.
Sometimes God speaks in clear ways that cannot be denied, leaving us with a clear mandate to follow. These times are nice but sometimes frightening.
Other times, we are forced to follow our own reasoning after offering our will up to the Father. And that’s okay as well, if we are abiding in Christ and wish to follow Him with all of our hearts.
As Oswald Chambers also said, “If we are saved and sanctified, God guides us by our everyday choices. The disciple who abides in Jesus is the will of God, and what appear to be free choices are actually God’s foreordained decrees.”
“The disciple who abides in Jesus…”

Dear Father,
Let me always come to you with my decisions and offer them up to your will, and then let me follow, the best I can determine with your Spirit.
Amen