Text: 1 Samuel 3:1-10
Topic: God's guidance

• Illustration: Ortberg and his wife went fly fishing and had a guide show them how to do it and where to go.
• Wouldn't it be great if you could get a guide for other parts of your life besides fishing? In dating, in key decisions, in all the twists and turns?
• The Bible says we do. God is a guide.
  • Illustration: Ortberg punctuates his point of God as our guide by quoting a series of scriptures: the story of Abraham, Psalms 23, James 1, and a few lines from the Book of Proverbs.
• Still, of all the facets of the greatness of God, the guidance of God can be the most confusing to people.
• Some people use the language of divine guidance easily: "The Lord told me to do this." Other people love God deeply, follow God, but honestly simply never find themselves having that experience.
• How do we actually experience the guidance of God?

• I want to start by going back to a story about Samuel in the Old Testament.
• The text tells us that "Samuel ministered before the Lord under Eli. In those days, the word of the Lord was rare."
• God was speaking to Samuel, but while Samuel knew he was being addressed, he did not know it was God. He had to learn how to recognize God was speaking to him.
• Let's apply this to us for a moment.
• Communication is a miraculous thing that we're able to do. It is, essentially, guiding somebody else's thoughts.
• When someone is communicating with you, all they're doing is causing you to think certain thoughts you would not otherwise be thinking.
• But it's different with God. God is infinite, which means God can guide your thoughts directly.
• But in my human limitations, it's possible for God to guide a thought in my mind, and I may not know it is God who is doing it.
• Something like this is what happened to little Samuel. He didn't know he was hearing from God. Eli had to help him.
• Prayer is not just me talking with God. If he wants to, God can respond to me.
• To have a personal relationship with God means I must be open to the possibility that the Spirit of God is prompting me, guiding me.
• None of us is infallible about whether or not we are hearing, or have heard, from God.
  • Illustration: Ortberg was running on the beach, when a man gave him a high five as if to say, I'm glad you're alive. Ortberg had this thought: John, that is a picture of my heart for you. I'm glad you're alive.
• Often the Spirit will prompt us with ideas: a thought to write somebody, to serve somebody, to confront somebody.
• When those thoughts come, the main thing is not to say, "Hey, God is speaking to me." What is important is that you actually do what the prompting is.
• I want to look now at some of the myths that keep us from experiencing God's guidance—some of the misguided notions that keep us from an interactive adventure in being led by the Spirit.

• We think God's guidance is just for prophets or missionaries or professionals.
• One story that shows how misguided this myth is comes from the Old Testament Book of Numbers—the story of a prophet of God named Balaam.
• The enemy of Israel, Midian, wanted to use Balaam to speak against Israel.
• As Balaam is riding a donkey to go to Midian, God sends an angel to turn Balaam back to Israel.
• The donkey sees the angel of God blocking their path, but Balaam doesn't.
• When the donkey turns aside, Balaam beats the donkey. This happens three times.
• Then "the Lord opened the donkey's mouth, and she said to Balaam, 'What have I done to you to make you beat me three times? … Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?'"
• God speaks through a donkey, proving that in his sovereignty, God can speak to and through anybody he wants.

• Think about this line of thinking as a parent. Would it be a good thing if a parent could make every decision for a child's whole life? No! What would that do for their development?
• As a parent, my main goal for my child isn't any particular outcome or event. My main goal is that he or she become a good person, a person of wisdom and courage and grace and mercy and love and truth.
• To become a good person, you have to think things out, exercise judgment, sometimes make difficult choices in the face of uncertainty, and then take accountability and learn. That process is indispensable for the formation of a human being.
• This means that when you pray and ask for guidance, sometimes God's response is going to be: You choose, because you'll never grow if you don't do it.
• Sometimes the reality is, I don't really want guidance. What I want is to be spared the anxiety that goes with freedom and choosing and being responsible.
• God's guidance is not about you reducing your anxiety in the face of choice. It's about you becoming the person God intended you to be.

• Illustration: I went to a Christian college, and the form this most often took was when somebody—usually a guy—would say to somebody—usually a girl—"God told me you're the person I'm supposed to marry." The best response to this is, "You tell God to tell me, and as soon as he does, I'll get back to you."
• All too often churches and church people can wallpaper over human difficulties with a veneer of pseudo-spiritual language.
  • Illustration: A kid tells his mother he killed a rat, but when he realizes the pastor is there, he says, "The dear Lord called him home."
• As a general rule, if you think an idea came from God, if you hope and pray, listen, get wise counsel, and believe an idea came from God, don't tell other people that to get them to do what you want. The goodness of the idea alone will be enough to convince other people.
  • Illustration: A worship leader had a plan for a service that wasn't going to work. He said, "The Lord gave me this worship order." The staff said, "No, the Lord does much better work than that."
• God generally speaks in and through community. You don't get to use "God told me" to trump the wisdom of community.
  • Acts 13

• 1 Kings 19:1-21
• Elijah had to wait and wait, and finally he heard a still, small voice—and not the big, spectacular, dramatic special effects we sometimes expect.
• I cannot hear God if I don't listen.
• Reading Scripture is a primary way we listen to God, because the Holy Spirit never leads us in a direction contrary to the teachings of Scripture.
• The promptings of the Spirit are generally in line with the gifts the Spirit gives.
• The Spirit generally leads people in a direction of servanthood.
• When you think the Spirit is prompting and it is consistent with the Scriptures and moves you in the direction of servanthood, be relentless about saying yes and obeying.
  • Illustration: The Ortbergs' fly fishing guide made them practice casting before taking them to the river.
• Part of following a guide is trust. A wise guide will sometimes take you where you did not want to go.
  • Illustration: Ortberg heard a prompting to confess a relational problem to his friend.
• Cultivate that muscle inside where when you think you're on a Spirit-guided adventure, you say, Yes, I'll do it, God. Speak, your servant listens.

• It's a myth that being guided by the Spirit is an optional and private matter.
• The Spirit was sent by Jesus. To have a relationship with Jesus means to be indwelt by the Spirit. It's about being used by God in his work in redeeming the world.
• Paul said, "And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there."
• Imagine if Paul had said no.
• When you say yes to being guided by the Spirit, somebody else gets blessed.
  • Illustration: Henri Nouwen insisted a mentally challenged man named Trevor join him at a lunch with prestigious people. Trevor ended up blessing the gathering.

• God still speaks. The Spirit still guides. The world still gets changed.
• If you're a Jesus follower, the Spirit is in you, and that is part of your adventure.
• Our God, the redeeming, creating, judging, comforting Father, is a guiding God.
• Whatever area of your life it is where you need wisdom, where you need guidance, just ask God.