Florida Gators are the NCAA’s men’s basketball champion for 2007. So now I conclude my reason for the posts keeping up with March Maddenss.
In proverbs 16:33 it is written, “The lot is cast into the lap but it’s ever decision is from the Lord.” Based on that passage of Scripture there are people who make decisions in ways that are dubious… or at least questionable… and certainly not supported by the whole of Scripture.
On a lark, I flipped a coin at the beginning of the NCAA tournament to determine who would win. And as you might imagine, the flip of the coin missed so bad it’s not even funny. The coin had Indiana winning the national championship. Actually they lost in round two. So what do we learn from that?
Flipping a coin (Or things like that) is no way to discern God’s will. Some people try to figure out God’s will by doing what is called… “Putting out the fleece.” This is what Gideon did as found in Judges 6:36-40. This process is also called asking God for “a sign” to discern His will.
But Jesus said that looking for a sign was improper as foudn in Matthew 12:39. One reason is that signs and miracles can be counterfeited by Satan… which is what happened when Pharaoh’s magicians copied some of Moses’ miracles. Not only that, we know from 2 Corinthians 11:14 that Satan can appear as an angel of light to deceive us. Therefore it seems that by both Scripture and experience flipping a coin and looking for signs is not a proper method for determining God’s will.
My suggestion for discering God’s will for our life is simple. First… there are things we KNOW are God’s will because they are clearly revealed in Scripture. These are things like: Don’t steal, lie, commit murder, etc. Therefore if I am considering somthing that would require me to violate God’s revealed will in Scripture then I can be sure that is not a direction God would have me follow.
However, the greatest majority of decisions we have to make are not directly addressed in Scripture. When those situations present themselves to us… here’s what I suggest to do:
1. Gather all the available information…
2. Seek God’s guidance through prayer and reading Scripture…
3. Seek counsel from Christians more mature than yourself…
4. Make a decision…
5. Leave the outcome in God’s hands.