God's Guidance in My Life: Examples and Lessons Learned
God's Guidance in my Life: Examples and Lessons learned
He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake. Psalm 23:3b
Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the
desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4
Case
Study #1 Welcome to Git-n-Go
"Hello, welcome to Git-n-Go." Hundreds
of times a day I would repeat this to the customers who would come into the gas
station I worked at for two summers as a teenager. I remember that during the
second summer I had a burning desire inside of my heart longing to become a
Bible teacher at a kid's summer camp. While I dreamt of teaching children, I
would proceed to restock the pop, cigarettes, and beer and once again greet the
incoming customer with, "Hello,
welcome to Git-n-Go."
Nine months
later, I met the director of a kids' summer camp located fifteen minutes from
my house who hired me to become the Bible teacher. That summer over three
hundred children prayed to accept Christ at the little chapel in the woods
where I taught the Bible. This experience taught me some important lessons
about how God can guide us.
Reflection
#1 God places desires in your heart and if you are faithful in the little, at
the right time and season, your desires may be fulfilled.
I had a
desire to teach the Bible to kids but it was not time yet. This meant that I
needed to simply be faithful at the gas station working hard and serving
people. Because I was faithful in the little then God could put me over much
more. Know that God is more interested in who we are than in what we do for him
and that if he puts desires in our hearts he will fulfill them on his time
schedule and not necessarily ours. This is why what we do when no one is
looking and when we feel bored is actually critical to what we may do when the
public spotlight may be placed on us and others will see us. Don't seek
success, connect to God and his kingdom and he will take care of the rest
(Matt. 6:33).
Case
Study #2 Decision not to go on mission trip.
As a
sixteen year old I remember God guiding me concerning a decision to not go on a
mission trip through a series of events. First, during prayer, I doodled a
picture of me riding a bike that instead of going forward was actually going to
go backward. I sensed that the Holy Spirit was leading me to change the course
of my direction about this trip. That evening while reading the Bible, the
scripture in 1 Peter 5 stood out to me about submitting myself to God and to my
authorities and that in due time he would life me up. That evening, I spoke to
my parents who told me they thought I should not go on that trip.
So
after having these different confirmations from different sources I went ahead
and backed out of the mission trip only to find out that three weeks later the
trip would be canceled. God was training me to hear his voice and follow his
direction.
Reflection
#2 God speaks to us in many different ways and confirms his leading. [1]
The
bigger the decision we are facing, the more important it is to get confirmation
from different sources. My decision to back out on the mission trip was
confirmed by all of these sources and proved to be God's leading in the end.
Always remain humble and submissive to God and to godly leaders you can trust
because they really love you. This will protect you and help you avoid major
mistakes. Trust God to speak to you and lead you and remember that it is easier
to navigate a moving vehicle than one sitting still so don't wait for an
audible voice from heaven before you do something for God.
Case
Study #3 You will go to New York City
In July
2000, during a time of worship I felt like God told me that I was to go to New
York City and learn how to do Sidewalk Sunday School at Metro Ministries. I did
not tell anyone about this and asked God to confirm this if it was his will. Six
months later at an Evangelism USA conference, leaders from Metro Ministries
gave me a personal invitation to be a part of the internship program. I had a
great peace about this decision as well as my parents blessing. I really had a
fantastic time and can recommend the program for others too.[2]
In
New York City, I met Femke who two years later became my wife. Femke is
originally from Amsterdam, the Netherlands and I remember as a teenager telling
God I wanted to be a missionary to any place in the world EXCEPT Amsterdam. Even after marrying Femke, I did not want to
go to Amsterdam, but one morning I woke up and as I wrote in my journal, I felt
God telling me that I was to move to Amsterdam as a missionary. Again, this was
confirmed repeatedly in many ways and now we are joyfully about to complete ten
years of serving God in Amsterdam as missionaries.
Reflection
#3
God will make
his desire for our lives clear and we can trust in him. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Lean
not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and he will
make your paths straight," is 100% true (Proverbs 3:5-6).
Don't
expect God to do things how you think he should do them or when you think he
should do them. Normally he does not, but later on you see that he is able to
do things even better than we had thought. Remember that life is not about the
destination, but enjoying the journey along the way. Be willing to say yes to
God in a lot of little things helps us say yes in the big things as well.
As
the two disciples on the Emmaus road walked with Jesus unaware, realize that
Jesus is walking with you and preparing you for things to come even when you
don't know it. One last thing; be ready to do whatever he leads you to do no
matter what the cost because following Jesus is the greatest, most fulfilling
adventure you could have in life. Being in the center of his will is not just
rewarding, it is a lot of fun.
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