CE 1 YEAR: 49 God’s Guidance II: Reason, Desires, & Decisions

Week 49

God’s Guidance II: Reason, Desires & Decisions

God’s gift of reason

Nothing is more important for humans than decision making, and nothing is more important for decision making than reason. This is reflected throughout Scripture. In the OT God gave instruction on how to decide if a town was practicing idolatry and needed to be completely destroyed (Deut 13:12-15). He did not promise miraculous revelation for such an important decision. Rather, He instructed them to investigate the situation, weigh the evidence, and by using reason, decide if everyone in the town should be killed.

The Book of Proverbs repeatedly encourages the use of reason to make wise decisions (1:1-4; 13:16; 14:8, 15; 22:3).

The Apostle Paul describes making very important decisions with reason, not miraculous revelation (Acts 15:36; 20:3, 16; Rom 1:13; 1 Cor 16:4-9; 2 Cor 1:15-16, 23; Phil 2:25; 1 Thess 3:1). Many believe we need some sort of miraculous or mystical guidance from God for such decisions. But even Paul usually made his own travel and missionary plans with careful reasoning.

The Apostle expected mature believers to use their reason in deciding court cases among them, with no need of divine revelation implied (1 Cor 6:1-5). He encouraged the use of reason to act wise toward unbelievers and to decide how to make the most of every opportunity to influence them (Col 4:5). He commanded us to think carefully so we would live wisely instead of foolishly (Eph 5:15-17).

Some assume that when we become Christians that the way we make decisions will be radically different. But the vast majority of personal decisions described in the NT were made using simple logic. God gave each of us a brain, and He expects us to use it.

Scripture repeatedly encourages us to get counsel and advice for making decisions (Prov 1:5; 11:14; 12:15; 13:10; 15:22; 19:20; 20:18; 24:6). Why? Because counsel is simply multiplied reasoning. It collects the wisdom of more than one person. And counsel often helps us think more deeply and clearly about a decision. Far too many Christians refuse to get counsel on important decisions for foolish or even sinful reasons. Be humble and wise and find godly, wise, and smart people for advice. Following God’s will in this will bless your life.

The Bible is clear that careful and wise reasoning is essential to a blessed, productive, and God-glorifying Christian life. Therefore, one of the Holy Spirit’s functions is to free our reasoning from the control of sin. This is the great difference between the reason of believers and unbelievers. God’s Spirit has dethroned sin as the dominated influence in our life so we can choose godly reasoning.

The “peace of God” in decision making is not something mystical or miraculous. It is the natural result of following good moral reasoning (conscience) which resolves guilt, and correct logical reasoning which removes doubt.

The God-given authority of human reason is demonstrated by the fact that only when He provides miraculous revelation are we to go against it. It would have been foolish and sinful for Gideon to lead 300 warriors into battle against a vast army (Judg 6-7). Except God sent an Angel to tell him to do something “foolish.” Likewise, God never wants us to go against good and wise reasoning unless He gives us a miraculous revelation to do otherwise.

Our dependence on reason is so God-ordained, that it requires nothing less than a miraculous revelation from God for us to righteously and wisely go against it. Of course, some will claim they have received such revelations through feelings or “signs.” But this will probably amount to human foolishness rather than biblical faith.

Obviously, people seek divine revelation instead of human reason because the latter can make mistakes. Where revelation stops, reason begins, and certainty ends. When we have a decision that is not discussed in Scripture, we are expected to use our own human, and potentially fallible wisdom. And this makes our decision making uncertain. But God has put us in a world where we can make mistakes, even serious ones. And He is not in the habit of providing extra-biblical miraculous revelation to change this. Which is why He tells us in Scripture to make careful decisions and seek wise counsel.

God’s freedom through desires

Your Dad in Heaven loves you. Like any good dad He loves to give you your desires. He treats His children as individuals, recognizing they have unique desires. He wants you to pursue your unique desire in ministry, vocation, and which good Christian person to marry. The freedom that God gives you in decision making is immense. As He told His first children: “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden” (Gen 2:16-17) except the one that would destroy them.

Unfortunately, mysticism denies that you have this kind of freedom in life. It claims there is one best decision that is God’s perfect will in all of these things. And if you miss finding that perfect will in these extra-biblical things, then you will miss God’s best.

Other Christians believe that God’s will is exactly the opposite of what they really want to do. They assume their desires must be wrong or wicked, and God wants to test their sincerity by making them do something they do not want to do. Or that they at least must be willing to choose the least desirable path in order to know God’s perfect will.

Fortunately, none of these popular ideas are true. Do you remember how we started this section? Your Dad in Heaven loves you. Like any good dad He loves to give you your desires. The work of God’s Spirit is to make your desires moral, not dictate extra-biblical direction through some sort of extra-biblical revelation. God certainly allows difficult things to happen in our life. But He wants us to pursue our desires in everything and anything as long as they are moral and wise.

In other words, God wants us to imitate Him in following our desires. Why did God choose and implement His plan of salvation? Because He wanted to (Eph 1:3-12).

The writings of the Apostle Paul are filled with decisions he made according to his personal desires. He wanted to go to Rome because of his own ambition and longing, not because of a miraculous revelation (Rom 15:19-20, 22, 24). Likewise, Paul encouraged Christians to evaluate special days, and decide the amount of a gift, according to their own desires (Rom 14:5; 2 Cor 9:7). God’s word speaks a lot about His desire to bless your desires (Ps 20:4; 37:4; 145:19; Matt 6:33).

We will repeat something you read in Week 44 on the freedom of free will from God. If you were to ask God what He wanted you to do in a decision that is not addressed in Scripture, do you know what He would say? “Do what you want, and I will bless it.” Do you believe that? Because if you don’t, you have an unbiblical perspective on God’s will and decision making.

In a nutshell, God’s will for all of your decisions is: 1) Obey Scripture with all your soul and strength, 2) Make wise decisions with your mind, and 3) Follow the desires of your heart.

Do you doubt the immensity of your free will? Does not God give you the freedom to choose what you will eat today, what you will wear today, and how you will spend your free time today? Yes! Indeed, the scope of the free will God gives you is great. And do not ignore how much God desires to bless His children.

You read the following in Week 21. Hard things will happen, but the overall experience of a child of God is tremendous blessings. The honest confession of any sincere Christian at the end of their life will be: “God was good to me.” This is because of who your Dad is. He is a very generous Dad who greatly enjoys blessing His sons and daughters.

God wants to generously bless your life in all kinds of ways. David proclaimed from his experience with God that He is the One, “who satisfies your desires with good things” (Ps 103:5). God is good and intends to be good to you.

You may struggle to believe this because you know you do not deserve such generosity. No one deserves the blessings or kindness of God. But God loves to give His children much more than they deserve (Ps 103:10). He, “gives generously to all without finding fault” (Jam 1:5). Your Dad’s blessings are not dependent on your performance. He likes to bless you even when you do not deserve it.

Your Dad in Heaven supports what you want to do more than you might imagine.

Decision Making

Decision making is hard! Mistakes can be painful. This is why mysticism is attractive. It promises direct guidance from God for all of your important decisions. But we will repeat, there are no biblical promises, examples, or instructions for a miraculous approach to decision making.

In fact, mysticism often leads people into wrong and painful decisions. Expecting some “revelation” from God tempts people to ignore the careful research and reasoning often needed for a wise decision. Mysticism’s emphasis on feelings leads people to decisions based on emotion instead of reason.

Contrary to mysticism, a lack of “peace” about a decision is not some sort of direct revelation from God. It could simply be the result of not having enough good reasons for your decision, or doing something against your conscience, or even violating Scripture.

Do not be so afraid of making decisions. Christians are often overly anxious about avoiding mistakes and become paralyzed about life. But knowing that your Almighty Dad is for you and is always working to bless you, will help you feel more freedom in your decision making.

You need to rely more on your Dad’s desire and ability to bless your decisions, rather than striving so hard to make perfect decisions. Again, your Dad is willing and able to bless all sorts of options! Remember, “God is for us” (Rom 8:31). The reason that some people look for mystical signs and feelings to make the “perfect” decision is because they do not trust in God’s ability and desire to bless a variety of options they choose. Do not rely on making a “perfect” decision more than your Dad’s love for you. Instead of asking for miraculous signs or revelation from God to make decisions, it would be more biblical and helpful to ask him to bless your decisions. God’s blessing is what is most important for the success of any decisions you make.

A vital motto of the Christian life is this: “Do your best and trust God to bless the rest.” Do your best to make good and God-honoring decisions, and trust God to bless what will often be imperfect decisions.

Of course, even godly and wise Christians make mistakes in important decisions. It is a part of being human and God has not promised us the ability to make perfect decisions. But we can always act morally in all our decisions and please God. We can trust that He is in ultimate control of everything in our life, even our bad decisions. Our Dad will love us in and through whatever happens in our life.

The example of getting married

We will summarize what you have learned the last several weeks with the example of a decision to get married. First, does God’s predestined will have anything to do with this decision? In Week 44 we described things that Scripture says God decides and does for us. Getting married and finding us a spouse are not among them. However, Jesus and Paul seem to say there is a supernatural ability to remain unmarried and undistracted (1 Cor 7:2, 6-7, 36-38; Matt 19:12). If God has given a person a supernatural ability to not desire marriage, then the Bible encourages them not to (1 Cor 7:28, 32-35). But if God has not given you such a gift, then you can assume He wants you to be married.

What aspects of God’s moral will are involved in the marriage decision? First, God commands that a Christian marries a Christian (1 Cor 7:39; 2 Cor 6:14-18). Far too many Christians knowingly ignore this clear command and suffer the consequences. Second, God commands that a Christian marry someone of the opposite gender (Lev 18:22; 20:13; Rom 1:26-7; 1 Cor 6:9-10). Thirdly, a previously married person must have biblical reasons for that marriage to be dissolved. The biblical teaching on this topic deserves more discussion than we can give here. Two rather clear examples would be if a spouse dies (Rom 7:2-3; 1 Cor 7:39), or a spouse is sexually unfaithful (Matt 5:32; 19:9). In such cases the other spouse is free before God to remarry.

Also, God’s prayed-for will applies. We can ask God to miraculously intervene to help us be married. He probably does not need to, but we can always ask.

How do other sources of guidance help us in the decision to be married? As noted last week, a father would seem to have authority over a daughter who is financially dependent on him. Therefore, his desires should be honored in such a decision. Also, wise and careful reasoning, counsel, and advice should be pursued. This would include asking others if they think you are ready to be married. Or evaluating sufficient agreement on faith, finances, and how to raise children.

After all of these things are considered, the decision of who to marry comes down to free will and your personal desires. God wants you to marry if you want to be married. God wants you to marry who you want to marry. He wants you to love them, but He also wants you to like them.

What is not a part of the marriage decision is a secret will in which we could “miss God’s best” by choosing one of two equally good candidates for marriage. Mysticism claims there is only one “perfect” person for you to be married to, or that you need some sort of miraculous looking “sign” to feel free to marry and to choose a particular person.

In 1 Corinthians 7, the Apostle Paul was giving instruction on how to make one of the most important decisions of your life: who to marry. If God was going to promise and provide some kind of “signs” or guidance for extra-biblical decisions, this would be it. But Paul says nothing of the kind. He simply says, if a person wants to be married, and has settled the matter in their own mind, then they should get married (1 Cor 7:36-37).

Many understandably want divine guidance in such an important decision. But your Dad has already given it to you in Scripture. Marry a Christian you like, and love them. Then you will be following God’s will in getting married. The key to a happy marriage is not how perfect your spouse is, but how much you love one another.

Practical application: Consider an important decision you need to make in the future. Apply the principles you have learned about decision making to this decision.

In your small group meeting this week, share praises and prayer requests and then discuss these questions:

1) What are some Scriptures that support the use of reason for good decision making?

2) Why is counsel so valuable for decision making?

3) How can good reasoning explain a “peace” about our decisions?

4) What must God do for us to know He wants us to go against good reason? How is Gideon an example of this?

5) Why does God give us freedom to choose a lot of things according to our personal and unique desires?

6) What three things make up God’s will in your decision?

7) What is the most important thing for the success of your decisions? How does this make decisions easier?

8) How can we always please God in every decision?

9) What aspects of God’s moral will are involved in the marriage decision?

10) What was most meaningful to you in this chapter? Why?