Excuse me, but your purpose is showing. That’s right. The way one lives reveals the real reason for living. Actions really do speak louder than words.

RECAP: Questions to ask - Knowing God's will in a specific situation Has God given me the peace in my heart to follow this route, to work on it, and to make the necessary decisions? (Isaiah 26:3)

RESUME: The Framework for Knowing the Will of God

Whether we recognize it or not, every decision we make is made within a certain framework. Identifying and acknowledging the aspects of this framework is a good starting position from which to know God's will for a situation. The following questions are good ones to ask and answer:

•What am I? Created, human (not a god or some other animal), male or female, saved and justified.

•What are my circumstances? Where am I? Where do I live? Am I married or single? What responsibilities (like family or previously made agreements) do I already have? What tasks can I see around me that I could make a useful contribution towards or that nobody is doing and that need to be done?

•What ought I to do? In other words, what do I already clearly know to do but I am not doing?

•What ought I not to do? What am I doing that I already clearly and certainly know I should cease doing?

•What abilities, skills and resources has God already given me?

It is important to realize that answering these questions and then acting on the answers will not by itself tell you what the great plans of God are. The purpose of this exercise is to bring you to a position from which you can more clearly discern the will of God. In particular there is a danger that the above questions will cause a person to rely on their own strength and not to seek and expect the supernatural power of God to be used.

What will our life be like if we love God and our neighbors as God would have us love? This is a very, very, difficult question. It is clear that if we love God and our neighbors we will give food to a starving child, water to a thirsty stranger, shelter to someone who is homeless and cold. This intuitive truth is strong and basic. Is it always good to give a drink of water to a thirsty neighbor? There may be situations where we must choose to give water to one of two neighbors based on which neighbor must have the water immediately to live. There may be times when we are physically prevented from giving water to a thirsty neighbor, or when there may be other negative consequences of doing so. Yet it is clear that the basic, fundamental, statement "we should give water to a thirsty neighbor" is always true.

Training

When we, as humans, train our children we begin by showing them what to do, then by telling them what to do, later by advising them and eventually by leaving them to find out for themselves. This latter stage does not arise through parental apathy or negligence but because we know that they have to “find their own feet” and “learn from their own mistakes”. For a child to become a mature adult it must eventually be pushed out into the world and left to make decisions, good or bad, for itself. Now if this is how we who are made in the image and likeness of God train our children, how might we expect God to train his children — namely ourselves.

Obedience

Scripture lays a heavy emphasis on obedience, possibly more so than we would like it to. There is no point asking for advanced instruction if we have failed to implement the elementary lessons. Obedience is an unavoidable prerequisite to spiritual maturity. There is no point praying for guidance when we already know what to do and are simply refusing to do it. There is no point pleading with God for help when we have ignored the instructions. If it is any consolation to us, even a man like Moses got into trouble in this way: ...to be cont'd

In Christ,