Are you facing a difficult decision and aren’t sure what to do? Have you ever wondered what you should be working on or what direction to go? Do you have a gut feeling about something or a strong preference in a situation? If so, how do you decide on a wise course of action? I’m convinced that the best approach is to seek God’s advice and direction as revealed in his word, the Bible and his Son, Jesus. Furthermore, God is actually calling you to trust and obey him in every decision. For those who do, he imparts his joyful, abundant life now and forever.
Visions, Dreams, and Promptings
God created you and deeply loves you (Genesis 1:26-27; John 1:1-4, 3:16-21). He cares about what concerns you, any issue both big and small (James 4:8; Matthew 6:25-34). Therefore he speaks through His Spirit to those who are listening. Sometimes, especially in countries where the Bible is not available, his word comes in a vision or in a dream. God told the prophet Joel and the apostle Peter, “And it shall be in the last days, that I will pour forth of My Spirit on all mankind; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams” (Joel 2:28; Acts 2:17). In addition to dreams and visions, most of the time, God’s word comes from reading the Bible, looking at Jesus’ example, or hearing his truth relayed through other believers. If you are open to him, God reveals his truth and then prompts you to act on it. He always has your best interest in mind. Therefore, in addition to God helping you with an immediate need, he calls you to himself. God wants you to be with him, to be like him, and to do what he does.
How to Be Certain
In our information age people are bombarded with messages, news, headlines, advertising, misinformation, and disinformation. Not only that, but your own heart can’t always be trusted. The prophet Jeremiah wrote, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9). Also the devil masquerades as an angel of light, but he is really the father of lies (2 Corinthians 11:14; John 8:44). So you may be wondering, if God doesn’t happen to audibly speak to me or directly appear in a vision, how do I know whether it is him speaking to me, if it is the devil deceiving me, or if it is my own wayward will luring me. The answer is simple: test everything against God’s word, the Bible. God has revealed what you need to know about his character, his wisdom, his will, and his love for you in the Bible and through Jesus who is described in the Bible. “The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul. The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes. The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever. The decrees of the Lord are firm, and all of them are righteous” (Psalm 19:7-9). No matter what the advice is, how true it may sound, what benefits it promises, how revolutionary it may seem, or how credible the source claims to be, if it doesn’t align with the Bible then reject it.
God does not play games. He doesn’t abandon you in the forest of life while wolves of deception close in, just to see if you can find a way out. Also he doesn’t tempt you to act wrongly. God equips you to live and to do what’s right. He shares his light and truth freely through his Spirit. Jesus taught, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:9-13). The Holy Spirit’s role is to comfort, counsel, correct, train, equip, and empower you to become like Jesus and to do what he does (John 14:26, 15:26, 16:13-15). Also God speaks through other mature believers, so if needed seek their godly input in order to help discern the truth.
Act on the Truth
God shares his wisdom, will, and vision so you can be saved, become like him, and carry out his mission of reconciliation. God gives people insight to proclaim the truth like Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Isaiah, or the women after Jesus’ resurrection did. God gives wisdom during a dilemma like he did with Joseph, Mary’s betrothed. God illuminates or confronts with his truth to adjust your direction like with Saul on the road to Damascus and later in his ministry to Macedonia, or with Hagar and Ishmael desperate in the wilderness. At times God challenges your established beliefs to realign them with his truth like he did with Peter in order to save Gentiles. In many countries God is appearing to Muslims and Hindus in dreams and visions to point them to Jesus. Sometimes God commands you to go like Moses, Joshua, Jacob, Gideon, or Jesus’ disciples. God told Joshua, “Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:8-9). Remember, when God speaks to you don’t make excuses like Moses did at the burning bush. Instead, respond like Isaiah, who said, “Here am I, send me!” (Isaiah 6:8). Isaiah wasn’t worthy or qualified, but God works through the ordinary and the willing to accomplish the extraordinary. Sometimes God reveals the future about his coming kingdom and activity like with Joseph, Samuel, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, John, and other prophets or with Mary at the news of Jesus’ birth, or with Peter, James, and John at Jesus’ transfiguration. To fully benefit from God’s truth you must see it as an invitation to participate in his character and purpose. You must respond with action and not just mental ascent.
In the movie, “Sound of Freedom,” based on a true story, one of the characters, Vampiro who was saved by God from suicide exhorted Tim Ballard, “When God tells you to do something, don’t hesitate.” God reveals his truth to you in order to help you and others. Therefore, humbly rely on him to make changes in you and through you based on that truth. James, the brother of Jesus wrote, “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up” (James 4:7-10). Confess any pride or wrongdoing and receive God’s cleansing forgiveness (1 John 1:9).
Sometimes acting on God’s truth will be costly, but don’t let fear keep you from doing so. Even though it cost him his life, Jesus trusted and obeyed God the Father. Therefore God raised him from the dead, restored his glory, and saved the world through him (Philippians 2:6-11). Be faithful, available, and teachable. Start with the one thing God most likely has already put on your heart. Follow through with it as Jesus would and leave the results to God. Jesus is the light of the world and the living word of God—his express nature to you (John 1:1-4, 8:12, 9:5). Looking to Jesus will guide you in what to say, what to do, or how to be. “In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word” (Hebrews 1:1-3). Like Jesus, act out of love for God and others, not out of fear or obligation. He will multiply your effort and include you in accomplishing his wondrous divine purposes.
Conclusion
Whether through dreams and visions, his word, his Son, his Spirit, or his followers, God graciously imparts wisdom and truth in order to help you and others make decisions, correct your course, change your perspective, enlighten your knowledge, understand the future, represent him, relay his message, and obey. Ultimately he wants you and others to be saved by responding to his truth by faith. Jesus taught, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven…Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:3, 8). If you want to see God, to know him, to live in his kingdom, to receive his wisdom, truth, and love, then humbly trust Jesus to save you. Ask him how to live rightly and follow through with what he tells you. Today and each day with every decision and in every relationship answer God’s call to draw close to him and help others do the same.