Finding Clear Guidance | Timeless Truths – Dr. Charles Stanley

[Music] [Music] timeless truths a collection of classic sermons from dr charles stanley today's selection recorded in 2000 finding clear guidance [Music] when you face those major decisions in your life how do you feel that sometimes you feel a little frustrated maybe a little fearful you feel sort of uneasy maybe you're not quite sure a little unassured about making the right decision in fact it may be that you feel so much of that negativism that you sort of find yourself procrastinating and putting off making the decision because of fear of making the wrong decision well where do you turn when those kind of feelings come up when those kind of feelings develop in your life and you know that you have a decision to make and it can be something very critical they're all kind of decisions in life some of them are very simple and seem to be very uneventful and very unimportant then there are those that you and i know that are very important some very crucial and critical some absolutely expedient we have to make very very wise decisions very important decisions where do you turn well people turn all kinds of directions to help make those decisions and oftentimes they turn in the wrong direction but wouldn't it be just like god to give you and me the capacity and the wisdom and the know-how to make wise decisions wouldn't it be just like him to be able to give us clear guidance when you he knows that you and i need very very clear guidance about whatever it is that we are confronted with well that's what i want to talk about in this message because the question that i receive above all else is this how can i be sure i'm making the right decision how can i be sure i have very clear guidance about this how can i be sure i'm about to do the will of god so i want you to turn if you will to the 25th psalm there's only one verse i want to read because there are multitudes of verses in the bible that give this same assurance and i want us to look at one verse because this verse is a promise it's a word of assurance because all of us all of our life will be making decisions in fact life is sort of one continuous decision-making process from the time you're a child growing up which toy to play with all the way to adulthood and in those latter years of life of how to operate uh in those latter years so everywhere along the way we are making decisions listen to this one verse that we want you to notice in the 25th psalm verse 12 who is the man or the woman who fears the lord he will instruct him in the way he should choose look at that who is the man or the woman who fears the lord that is reverences god respects him submits to him yields to him seeks him desires to know his mind his will and his way who is the person who fears the lord he will instruct him in the way he should choose now it's very evident from the scriptures that god is willing to give us clear guidance about every single circumstance of life in fact i can't ever remember god saying at any point in my life here's what i want you to do now you figure that out that doesn't sound like god well i have some plans you figure out what they are i have a task and just go do it that isn't the way god operates god has given to each one of his children the indwelling presence of the holy spirit one of his primary responsibilities is to give us clear direction for our life god would not put us on this earth and expect of us to walk in his way walk in his will knowing that we would be bombarded with a thousand different ways and attitudes the world's ways all down to the centuries this isn't just the 21st century thing this has been going on since the beginning of time and that is how do we find clear guidance god is listen he is willing to give it he always has he's willing now the issue is how do we go about it well i'm sure that there are probably other ways what i'd like to do is to give you six short phrases these phrases will take you from the absolute first part of the decision all the way to the last part of the decision of finding clear guidance well what is the first one as i said they're very very simple but every single one of them is very important number one and that is clear the pathway clear the pathway what nor do you mean by clearing the pathway well simply this that god has to get us ready to hear his discernment that is his clear direction for life he has to get us ready and so when i say clear the pathway i mean clear it uh two things here first of all clear it of sin that is if i'm asking for god's mind because that's what we have when we're asking for clear direction what we're asking for is god what do you what are you thinking about this if i'm asking for how god thinks about something in my life i can't be tampering with playing with a part of tolerating any known willful sin in my life i'm asking for holy direction for my life with a sinful attitude so habits attitudes a conduct that is not becoming to who we are in christ jesus who we are as children of god has to go it has to be dealt with because here's what sin does sin fragments our thinking sin fragments our thinking sin fogs our thinking sin sort of disintegrates what's going on in us spiritually and so what happens is we find this bit of confusion and this is why some people seemingly can't make wise decisions they're frustrated they're confused they're disheveled in their heart and their spirit and uh they feel sort of mixed up and not exactly certain and uncertain and one thing sin always does it absolutely cuts out from under you your assurance about most anything in life and so the first thing that has to be dealt with clear the path of his sin because it absolutely will fog your mind and you can't mix god's holy mind with this fouled up mind of ours if it's contaminated with something going on in us that should not be so first thing i have to deal with is i have to i have to deal with this issue of sin but there's something else we have to deal with and clear the path of and that's strong desires we're all going to have natural strong desires i don't mean they have to be sinful desires but i mean we just have natural desires in life things that you want dreams that you have goals that you have and so it may be that what we want uh god wants us to have but we have to have clear guidance as to how to go about it it may be that god has set a beautiful goal for your life or he has something for your life that you really desire that you really long for something you've been working toward and you want to know how god do i go about this he desires to give us clear guidance he wants to deal with this sin issue number one because he takes advantage every opportunity god has to take advantage of drawing us close to him he will do so every time he has the advantage he has the opportunity he will take advantage of bringing our sanctification into more fullness bringing us into his likeness bringing us into the awareness that we need to trust him and rely upon him so well here's what he does we start out with our desires whatever there may be and uh he he has to bring us to the place of what i call uh submissive neutrality that is i have to get my strong desires over here and let god begin to work in my life to bring them to the point that i'm willing to say lord not what i want but what you want god this is what i want this is my desire but lord i want to be able to submit that yield to that and become neutral in my thinking and neutral in my desires because i really want what you want more than i want what i want because i know if what i want is not what you want what you want is better for me than what i want and so when i'm able to bring those strong desires into a place of submissive neutrality then i know that god is certainly working and that is the foundation that is the bottom line and the foundation of clear discernment is a clean heart a pure heart and clear and clear direction go together a pure heart and clear direction a heart that is that is has dealt with sin so the solution of the whole issue when it comes to sin is repentance god this doesn't belong in my life it doesn't fit i'm dealing with this i'm laying this down i want nothing in my life that will fog my mind and confuse and mix and intermingle my mind so that i miss your clear direction for my life the second phrase is this and that is to exercise patience patience simply means i refuse to rush ahead of god patience hear me simply means i refuse to rush in until i have clear direction patience says i'm willing to wait until i know that i've heard from god until i know this is his his choice this is his way this is his will now most of us probably live hurriedly we live on a fast track everybody i know lives in atlanta has to live on a fast track you won't get anywhere that's probably true in the whole world everybody seems to be rushing around and if we're not careful we'll rush right into something that god's not in patience very very important because this is where we get in trouble we got to have it today we want to move now and especially listen much of that depends upon the strength of our desire it depends on how strongly we want this and so the stronger my desire the more difficult i am or the sense of need that i have the more difficult it is for me to be able to wait until i have absolutely clear direction no matter what it may be that god has exactly in mind what you what you desire and yet he has a reason for causing it away which we'll get to in a few moments all right the third step which is so very important very important step be alert to pressure be alert to pressure whenever you're in the process of making a decision be alert to pressure because pressures will be there now there are two primary forms of pressure that you and i have to deal with and the first one is exterior pressure something on the outside what is that well people people will tell you what you ought to do how you ought to think and uh they'll give you their advice and they'll tell you that this is exactly what i would do if i were you and i want you to listen this carefully you think about how unreliable that is this is not to say that godly advice should not be adhered to but think about people who want to tell you exactly what to do and how to do it when to do it you think about this first of all they are coming from their personality their background the way they think everybody's thinking the the way they go about decision making the way they think you don't know about their fears you don't know about their anxieties you don't know what drives them you don't know what motivates them you don't know what governs their life and so first of all and they don't know you they don't know god's will and plan and purpose for your life so here's what they do they say here's what i think you ought to do what they're doing is they are projecting on you a plan that fits them and you are not them they say well if i were in your circumstances you know what in your circumstances that still doesn't change who they are where they're coming from what motivates them what governs them their personality their thoughts and what they know and what they don't know about god an interesting thing to me is that people so willing to give advice who know nothing about scriptural principles they take a verse of scripture and say well here's what god says here's what you ought to do well the question is what's the will of god you want clear direction you want divine direction you want godly direction you have to be sensitive and have to be alert to pressure because it's going to be out there now that pressure is going to come from outside it can come also not only from people but it can come from circumstances well these are my circumstances now watch this these are my circumstances and i have to make a decision and time is running out and so you're prone to move ahead remember this time never runs out on god time doesn't run out on god you get all kind of pressure but listen no matter what the circumstances if god hasn't told you if he hasn't given you clear direction if you don't have a sense of guidance from him do not step into something because of pressure of the circumstance or somebody's pressure on you it is an unwise thing to do and so we have to be careful be alert to pressure now that's external pressure the pressure from the circumstances the pressure from people but there's also internal pressure what is this internal pressure that would hinder me from getting clear guidance here's what it is number one fears anxieties over law of a fear of loss fear of failure fear of rejection fear of disapproval and so what happens oftentimes people are driven by motivated by compelled by other people's attitudes but sometimes compelled by listen these exaggerated feelings they have these exaggerated expectations they have of themselves well i must i should i ought and should art and musk will get you in a lot of trouble should arts and must or pressure or pressure points in a person's life i should have ought i must god isn't saying you should all you must he will give us very clear direction and that clear direction will come but if i submit and yield to the pressure whether it's external internal i'm going to get in trouble the next thing that i want you to notice is this and that is persistence in prayer now i didn't say just pray but persistence in prayer remember what paul said when he said when he said for example in thessalonians that fifth chapter he said pray without ceasing that doesn't mean you're walking all the time heavenly father thank you in jesus name oh yes how are you doing praise the lord glory to god that's not what we're talking about but he was simply talking about simply this listen when you're praying about something don't let go of it don't let go of whatever you're praying for that you're seeking you you're trying to find clear guidance on whether it's something you're going to buy something you're going to wear or somewhere you're going or your job your just your major in school whatever it might be he says pray without ceasing because here's what happens when you and i begin to pray god begins to do something in our life at that time that i think is extremely important and something that uh oftentimes we don't even realize what's happening here we are praying and nothing's going on we think lord i'm asking clear direction i'm not getting it you think about this when you and i are praying and we're talking to him we don't see anything around us changing remember what we started out with we started out with this strong desire over here we lord here's what i would really like to happen as you and i are praying we don't even realize what's happening little by little you know what he's doing he's sifting our request sifting our desire sifting these alternatives that we have when we're trying to find out which one to choose he's just sifting those we're talking to him he's speaking to us you know what he's doing we started out with have to clear the pathway he's dealing in other words he will bring he will bring to the surface those things that we didn't even realize were there attitudes habits uh prejudices in our heart toward or against or whatever things that we may want i don't want in our life and so what is he doing we are talking to him and he's bringing to our mind and heart these things what's he doing sifting out about sifting out of our desire category sifting these alternatives until finally we got three or four alternatives and one by one what does he do he eliminates them all till we find out his clear guidance you cannot listen if you try to find clear guidance simply running hither and yawn talking to this one talking to the other one asking this ask in that and not get on your knees before god seeking the one who has absolute infinite wisdom more than likely most of the time you're going to make a wrong decision and in big critical crucial decisions you cannot afford to make a wrong decision listen prayer is the heart and the core if you really want to find clear direction and you don't want to spend time on your knees then do it yourself and get what yourself doing will get you then for example there's another phrase i want you to jot down if you will that's simply this and that is to rest in god's promises now watch this carefully rest in god's promise we've started off with the foundation getting our heart cleaned out we want to be patient we want to check out the pressures that are coming our way uh absolutely for certain i want to be alert to these pressures we want to we want to be prayerful but we say rest in the promises of god think about this you and i he here's the most awesome resource there is in fact this book which is the word of god has the answer to every single time i need clear direction here it is you don't have to go to the public library or the private library or anybody else's library you've got on your on your table by your bed in your hand this morning you have listen you have the ultimate eternal infallible inerrant resource to know how god thinks how he acts how he works his ways his will his plan his direction somewhere in the word of god you'll be surprised how often you'll find a situation in the life of one of god's children that will be similar now the circumstance won't be the same but it is similar and you'll say well how did god work in that situation well lord how do you work in my situation that's the is you see that's the way we learn his ways if you don't know the ways of god you don't know how god thinks you don't know his principles then how in the world you're going to come to god and god's not going to cut off the top of your head pour the truth in send it back and say you got it that's not the way he operates he operates gradually through prayer gradually through reading the word this is why i keep talking about meditating upon god's word what are you doing you're just filling your mind with truth truth for example that you may read a passage that may be sort of meaningless to you today three months from now you'll come up to some decision god and god the spirit of god bring that verse to your mind what was oh don't know where that verse was you go back and all of a sudden comes off the page when you begin to meditate on some of those verses it'll just be like god has has tailored that verse just to fit you that's listen that is the awesome miracle of this book that's the awesome miracle of this book listen it will grab you a verse will grab you and give you direction that you've read over and over and over again and you come back and think well i never saw that before you know why you weren't where you are and therefore this is a different situation different circumstance same word same god who knew beforehand when you were going to get here and exactly when you were going to need it well let's just say there's one other phrase i want to give you and that is this simple phrase wait for the peace wait for the peace the word peace means to to be bound together peace speaks of harmony and oneness not disharmony not disorder not unrest frustration anxiety fear all those things that do not um meet what god is talking about here that is to make peace means to weave together so what are we talking about you listen to watch this we we've come from getting our pathway cleaned up backing off and waiting upon the lord psalm 62 5 my soul wait in silence upon god only one of the key verses in my own life psalm 62 5 my soul wait in silence not murmuring and fretting and fuming and criticizing blaming my soul wait in silence for god only my expectation is from him so we wait we avoid those pressures in life no matter where they're coming from and and who they're coming from we absolutely refuse to accept those we get on our face before him we come the resource of his promises and now what can we expect wait for the peace bound together here's what happens i want you to turn if you will to colossians chapter 3 and look at this wonderful verse verse 15. let the peace of christ rule in your hearts to which indeed you were called in one body and be thankful then he says look at this let the word of christ richly dwell within you with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs singing with thanksgiving thankful listen your hearts to god look at verse 15 let the peace of christ rule in your heart what does that mean here's what it means listen god's peace is god's umpire in our life when we're seeking clear direction let it rule that is when i come to a decision is there harmony is there harmony between what god is thinking and what i'm thinking is there that i ca has my has my decision and his mind are they woven together so that now we're thinking the same thing let peace rule the disturbance is over the turmoil is over the upheaval is over the uncertainty is over all of that's over and now peace is ruling around that is it's now i have very clear direction and evidence of that clear direction is my circumstances may not have changed people's attitudes may not have changed pressures may still be there but deep down inside he's told me exactly what to do and that i am committed to no matter what you know what can happen you can walk through those difficult circumstances and trying times and you can you can face those all those alternative decisions and you can come up with one that you're absolutely certain because you have this inexpressible inexplainable undeniable absolutely reliable certain sure promise from god you got it from him this is his direction for your life at this time in this question in this decision and that's what a good god's like he's just not going to leave it to us he wants us to have peace he wants us to have a sense of contentment now somebody says well but now wait a minute let's go back to that question you asked a while ago so we're saying that the final phrase the final phrase is look here look for the peace that is wait for the peace in other words you don't move to to view until you have clear direction this is why paul said don't be anxious about anything but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving a whole lot goes on that phrase by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to god and the peace of god which is absolutely unexplainable we'll garrison you about protect you give you harmony sense of oneness listen i do not know of anything in under god's heaven personally i don't know of anything i'm certain this is my conviction that's just my conviction there is nothing in the world that exists to compare to this and that is an awesome sense of oneness with god that is undisturbed that is absolutely certain that creates such wonderful harmony in your heart that no matter if the whole world falls apart around you nothing can shake that that's what god's after he's after such he's after to bringing us and you see we may start out here but his goal is to bring us into such wonderful harmony and oneness with him look our mind fits his mind and they go together you know what you'll be so certain that you have clear direction it doesn't make any difference what you hear what you see what you feel out there the thing that matters is you have the mind of god that's the promise he says we have the mind of christ and how do we get it we get our life cleaned out we clean up the path back off and wait my soul went in silence and unputting god only because my expectations from him [Music] i hear the pressure i feel the pressure i'm not giving the pressure i'm just going to talk to the father i'm going to claim his promise and i'm going to wait for the peace and one thing for certain there is no disappointment in jesus christ you

Channel: In Touch Ministries

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Keywords: Charles F. Stanley, Charles Stanley, In Touch with Dr. Charles Stanley, In Touch Ministries, Preaching, Bible teaching, Dr. Stanley, Intouch ministries, intouch

Id: YYQfL1N_vEQ

Length: 26min 39sec (1599 seconds)

Published: Sat May 22 2021