All of us want to know and do the will of God. That is one of the deepest desires of a believer. We want to be faithful to God as His children and obedient to His direction. We long for more than general direction for our lives. We want every step, every action to be what God purposes for us.
After all, Jesus said in the famous Sermon on the Mount that “not everyone who says to me Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 7:21).
Sometimes we go to great lengths to determine the will of God. Some believers regularly open their Bibles and read until a particular verse seems to speak to their situation. Once that verse stimulates their thinking, these believers conclude the verse is God’s direction for their particular situation.
Unfortunately this approach to determining God’s will can result in some weird and wrong actions and understandings. Several years ago in Mississippi a man attacked a rural store owner and his employees with an axe. In court the man claimed God told him to do it. He explained that the Sunday School lesson the week before had been about Elijah slaying the prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18). As the man pondered how that story applied to him, he opened his Bible and his eyes fell on the words of Luke 10:37 where Jesus said, “Go and do likewise.” He understood the direction to be to slay the store owners and employees because of some products in the store to which the attacker objected.
Communion with God
The passage in Luke is about the Good Samaritan and the verse commends practicing mercy and ministry, not murder and mayhem. The man got it wrong.
Christian writer Dallas Willard calls this approach to determining God’s will “biblical roulette.” Sometimes one may win, but the propensity toward tragedy is inescapable. Willard points out that communication with God results from communion with God. Without communion with God, communication will be negligible.
Knowing God
One can study the Scriptures until one is an expert about doctrine, Bible history and everything else yet still not know God. That is exactly what Jesus said to the priests and scribes in John 5:36–40. Jesus said these leaders diligently studied the Scripture yet God’s Word did not dwell in them. Jesus said they had never heard God’s voice and did not have the love of God in their hearts.
Nothing takes the place of a personal relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ. From that relationship, from that communion with God, communication flows.
Jesus makes this point in John 15:15 when He distinguishes between a servant and a friend. A servant, Jesus says, does not know his master’s business but a friend knows everything. Jesus called His followers “friends.” They had communion together and because they had communion, they had communication.
The last words of Jesus recorded in the Gospel of Matthew are “I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:20). That phrase takes on different meaning when we realize Jesus promises to be with us every day, every minute until the end of time. There is no time or situation where the Savior is not with a believer. There is no time or situation where God is not providing the personal, individualized care needed by each child.
Personal, individualized care implies personal, individualized communication.
That communication is part of our walk with the Lord. It is part of our prayer life as we not only share with God the burdens of our hearts but we listen to what the Holy Spirit says to us. Just as friends have honest exchanges in conversation, so Christians have honest exchanges with God through prayer. That is why Jesus calls us friends.
Another thing happens as we live in communion with God. Scholars call it spiritual formation. The apostle Paul described it as “being transformed into His image with ever increasing glory” (2 Cor. 3:18). It is the process by which the believer grows in grace to reflect the nature and character of the Savior.
In Matthew 13, Jesus describes people who see what God is doing but do not understand. He says they have eyes but do not perceive, ears but do not understand. Jesus contrasts that predicament with the disciples who can see and hear what God is doing. To help them, Jesus even explains a parable. It is part of that personal, individualized care provided by the Shepherd.
The disciples are changed by their experience with Jesus. Their nature is changed. Their character is changed. Their values are changed. They become more like Jesus. Later when Peter and John meet the crippled beggar on the way to the temple (Acts 3), they did not have to ask, “What would Jesus do?” They instinctively knew and healed the man.
‘Transformed into His image’
They saw with God’s eyes. They heard with God’s ears. They stood for God’s values. Through communion with Jesus they have been “transformed into His image with every increasing glory.”
Isn’t that what we desire?
It doesn’t happen playing Bible roulette. It happens when we live every day in communion with God, when we are transformed into His image so we see with God-like eyes and hear with God-like ears. Most of the time we won’t have to wonder what God would have us do in a particular situation. We will just know. And on those times when special guidance is needed, we will find it in the context of communion with our Savior, not in Bible roulette.
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