December 11, 2024
Small Groups

Which Way God?
January 17, 2007By Randy Kilgore

www.marketplacenetwork.com


So Abram said to Lot, "Please let there be no strife between you and me, nor between my herdsmen and your herdsmen, for we are 
brothers. "Is not the whole land before you? Please separate from me; if to the left, then I will go to the right; or if to 
the right, then I will go to the left.-Abram to Lot in Genesis 13:8-9 
 "How do I know what God wants me to do?"  
Especially around career choices, Christians often feel like they're on their own when it comes to knowing where God wants to 
use them. Many get stuck in the fork of the road because they're waiting for some magic sign that assures them they're headed the 
right way. Especially in our Western culture, this rarely comes.** Others never bother to consider God and spend their 
lives doing what they want, with little impact in God's economy and less respect from Him. 
So how do we sort through key decision-making moments in our 
working lives? Consider this template: 
- Ask yourself if your choices violate any of the principles of 
Scripture. If the answer is yes, then you have your answer 
already. This may sound simple, but among the most common 
counseling complaints I hear as a chaplain is "...I know the Bible 
says no, but it feels like the right thing to do!" God's Word is 
as practical and applicable in today's workplace as it was in 
the workplaces of the day it was written, and anything that 
violates those principles gets a hearty "no" from God. 
- Has God already made it clear what He wants you to do and 
you're simply ignoring Him or running away from Him? God is not 
the author of confusion (that's how the Bible refers to Satan), 
and He doesn't play head games with us. If He intends to use us 
in a specific way, He will make that way known to us if we're 
honestly seeking Him. If you study the lives of Moses, Jonah, 
Jacob, Joseph and others, you'll see that when God decides to 
use us in a specific manner, He will make it clear. If He has, 
then all the wrestling and rationalizing in the world won't 
change His course. We can either go willingly (Joseph) or go the 
hard way (Jonah). 
- Since God is most interested in being in relationship with us 
(remember "The Reason We Exist"), His heart is pleased when we 
seek to be faithful to Him. So, if we've passed the first and 
second tests in our decision-making process and are still free 
to choose, next we need to ask: "Is my heart's desire to be a 
faithful and useful servant?" If the answer is yes to that 
question, then if you go right, God will bless you in that 
direction, or if you go left, God will also bless you in that 
direction. Remember its fellowship and faithful hearts He 
desires even more than service. (For an example of this in 
Scripture, see Genesis 13:5-9, where Abram lets Lot pick which 
direction to go, even though Abram had God's promise of a 
blessing.) (Remember, though, that blessings are not always 
measured in material wealth or success. Those who teach such 
things abuse Scripture!) 
- What if God is silent? God's silence almost always means one 
thing: We already have all the information we need to make a 
decision. Either it's available to us in His Word and we've 
chosen to ignore it (as the Jewish leaders of New Testament 
times did when Jesus came as the Messiah), or we haven't 
equipped ourselves to be able to test what we hear because of 
our Biblical illiteracy (as the Israelites did again and again 
during the time of the Judges), or we're looking for a sign 
(which Jesus downplays as evidence of weak faith.) 
- God also uses common sense and circumstance to present us with 
His answers, but we have to be careful here because we often let 
what's best for us govern our decision instead of what's best 
for our faithfulness to God. 
- What if we don't know our Bibles well enough to test what we 
think we're hearing from God? The beauty of God is His ability 
to see our failures ahead of time and to plan for them. In this 
case, Scripture tells us to seek the counsel of godly older men 
and women. Most working Christians I know do a good job of 
asking for advice from older, wiser workers. The mistake they 
often make, though, is in asking older, wiser workers with 
little knowledge of Scripture. It is not nearly enough that our 
counselors are wise in the ways of commerce, they must also be 
wise in the ways of Scripture. Otherwise, the advice they offer 
is based on what seems best to them, and not on whether it's 
consistent with Scripture or in line with how God wants to use 
us. 
- This then opens another door for workplace counsel. If one of 
the most important aspects of decision-making is testing the 
options against the Word of God, then the counsel of pastors 
takes on new value. 
 
--Randy Kilgore
 
**(I say "western culture" because there are still many places 
in the East where it is difficult to have easy access to God's 
written word. Because God will be known to His people, in those 
places it is logical and reasonable to assume He will act 
supernaturally with greater frequency than He does in the place 
where He's made His Word readily available to us. Western 
Christians have ready access to Scripture, and thus to the 
primary way God reveals Himself and His will. That we choose not 
to study it is one of the primary reasons we don't know Him or 
His will.)

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I’m reflecting on one of my favorite passages in the book, ‘The Four Loves’ by C. S. Lewis. “In a perfect Friendship this Appreciative love is, I think, often so great and so firmly based that each member of the circle feels, in his secret heart, humbled before all the rest. Sometimes he wonders what he is doing there among his betters. He is lucky beyond desert to be in such company. Especially when the whole group is together, each bringing out all that is best, wisest, or funniest in all the others.
How about you? In a world where fellow believers are dropping like flies to immorality, discouragement, isolation, loneliness, and lack of true accountability, are you out there hacking it out alone? Perhaps even twisting in the wind…alone? Or are you choosing to travel with a company of committed likeminded warriors like my friends who are intent on helping this needy pilgrim remain on the right path until he crosses the line into eternity? If you are electing to go it alone, I wonder what the odds are that you will end well with God ?


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