GPS FOR LIFE

By Mike Moore, 11th June 2016

A young lady spoke to me about her faith. “I am open to believe in God, but only under the condition that he fulfills my demand that the relationship with a particular man will work out for me.”

I was a little baffled to say the least. “And if He doesn’t answer your request?” I asked. “Then I’m not interested in God,” was her reply. “In other words, you’re telling God what he has to do, or else?” She nodded her head, got up and left me sitting there.

Her reply may come across as arrogant, but in a way we expect God to answer our requests, too. The only difference is that we put it more eloquently and possibly a little more religious sounding. After all, shouldn’t God answer our prayers when we ask for something? Wouldn’t it be nice if the answers to our requests be like a vending machine? We pick what we want and God hands over the answer we want.

If you have a child, have you given it whatever it wanted? If you did, you wouldn’t be considered a very good parent. A child might pout and even throw a tantrum, but a good parent will not be intimidated. After all, as a loving parent, you want only the best for your child.

God only wants the best for his followers! We may not understand Him at the moment, but if we’re in love with Him, we’ll say, “Your will be done, Lord, even if I don’t understand the reason about your decision right now.”

“Unless the Lord builds a house,” says Psalm 127:1, “the work of the builder is wasted.” God wants to make a solid “house” out of us – a house that will withstand any storms in our life. This young lady that gave me that pat answer had no idea yet, what a good Father the Lord is. She, like many of us, wanted to be the builder of her own “house”. If then the “house” crumbles, we often blame God for it, when in reality it was our own doing. Psalm 121:7 says, “The Lord keeps you from all harm and watches over your life.” Handing over our life to Him, will make us secure and give us a clear direction.

One way to find security is to have close Christian friends. These are people who will say not what WE want to hear, but what God wants us to know! Some years ago we made the decision to start a fellowship for young adults. I had battled that idea for a long time and didn’t want to form a fellowship for young adults. I felt there were enough churches that could do that. Why begin something like this, I told myself. On the other hand, I wanted to follow God’s will and I wanted my wife to take an equal part in it.

I could have asked people to give their opinions, knowing probably fully well what answer they would give us. Instead we asked three spiritual leaders that we respected to pray about this decision. Neither one of them knew each other. I also was sure that they would pray and hear the Lord speak to them, and give us an honest answer. We decided that we would only pursue if all three of them gave us a “Yes- word.” One of the verses out of the Bible that stayed with me was Psalm 119:29 that asks God, “Keep me from lying to myself.”

When all three of them got back to us and replied, their answer was a clear “yes.” Begin with a fellowship for young adults. What began as a small house group developed into a church that still exists today and flourishes. Proverbs 13:20 reminds us, “Walk with the wise and you become wise.” When we have to make important decisions, our emotions can have a strong influence on us and therefore it is wise to ask for guidance from mature Christian friends.

Perhaps you are going right now through a process of searching and waiting for God’s answer for direction in your life. Saying, “I need God’s help,” is always a solid request. Saying, “I don’t need God’s help or others advice” is pride and will let us tumble down the mountain.

Proverbs 19:3 states, “People ruin their lives by their own foolishness and then are angry at the Lord.” I hope you’re not one of these. The best character trait we can have is to give our cares to the Lord. He has the right path for you!