In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the importance of seeking God's guidance in making decisions. He encourages listeners to trust that God has better plans for them than they can imagine. The speaker shares personal stories and biblical references to illustrate how God guides and directs His people. He also emphasizes the need to commit oneself fully to the Lord and seek His wisdom through prayer and reading the Bible.

Just saying those words, silently now I wait for you, ready, my God, your will to do. Open my heart, illumine me, spirit divine. I had planned and hoped to speak on the subject, to know God's will and to do it. To know God's will and to do it. And I'd like to take as my text Ephesians 2.10, we were talking about Ephesians 2.8 and 9 last night in the gospel. So I'll read those again and then go on to verse 10. Ephesians 2.8, for by grace you have been saved through faith. And that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Now I'd just like to take that last expression and make an application of it. The good works that God wants us to perform have been prepared in advance. I believe God has a plan for your life and my life. I don't have to make the plan. God already has a plan. My responsibility is to find it and to do it. And to me that's success in the Christian life, finding the will of God and doing it. And I'd like to suggest some steps that we can take in that direction. And the first is this, I must desire intensely to know God's will. I mean if I just go casually through life sipping Cokes and just expecting some great revelation of God's will in my life, I probably won't get it. I must really be serious with God. I must intensely desire to know His will about everything else. Not with a thought that I'll see whether I like it or not, but with a thought whatever it is, I'm going to do it. Secondly, I must trust the Lord fully in this matter. Trust the Lord fully in this matter. Proverbs 3, verse 5. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not unto your own understanding. That's it. You put your trust completely in the Lord and you don't trust your own good judgment in the matter. Jeremiah said, Oh Lord, I know that the way of man is not in him. It is not in man that walketh to direct his steps. And I really think we have to come to that position where we get before the Lord and say, Lord, I don't know what's best for my life. If you just leave me to work it out according to my own great wisdom, I'll be mistaken. So I just want to trust you completely in this matter of guidance. The humble he guides in justice and the humble he teaches his way. And in that connection, I'd like to suggest to you this morning that God has something better for you than you could ever think or imagine. I believe that. God has something better for you than you could ever think or imagine. He knows options that you don't know anything about. He were to appear to me and say, OK, Bill, just map it out. Now, what would you like? Well, my knowledge is very, very limited. And God could have a wonderful life for me that I have no thought. In fact, that at the moment I might not even think was that great. And yet looking back, you can think what a wonderful way it has been. Jesus led me all the way. The third step I would suggest is this. Commit yourself to the Lord without any reservations. Commit yourself to the Lord without... This is where the trouble comes in right here. Number three is the tuffy. Romans chapter 12, verses 1 and 2. I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice unto God. That's it. That's what's tough. You know, it's amazing that we can trust God for the eternal salvation of our souls, and we can't trust Him to direct our lives here on earth. That's contradictory, isn't it? We can. And we do. Most of the people in the audience today absolutely have trusted Jesus Christ for the eternal salvation of their souls. But have we really yielded our lives, according to Romans 12, 1 and 2, to direct our lives down here on earth? If I'm going to obey Romans 12, 1 and 2, it means any time, any place, any task, anything that the Lord would have me to do. It means no reserve, no retreats. Praise God, it means no regrets, too. I think that was part of the theme of William Borden's life. No reserve, no retreat, no regrets. That's the third thing I would suggest to you. Commit yourself without any reservation to the Lord. I think it's tough for young people. They have such clear ideas of what they want to do with their lives. Now, I don't say that critically. I trusted the Lord Jesus Christ for my soul salvation when I was 18. But I want to be honest with you. I didn't turn my life over to the Lord for service for probably eight years. I mean, we talk about Lordship. There are great words in that, but are they real in our lives? I had such glowing ideas as to what I wanted to do with my life. And what it really was, was having been brought up during the Depression days, and seeing my parents struggle to keep a house from being foreclosed, I wanted to go into the stock market, make a quick kill, retire at 35. And I pursued that. Became an investment analyst in the First National Bank of Boston. And then, in great mercy, God brought me into the Navy, where I had a chance to teach the Word of God. I had never thought of myself as teaching the Word of God. And all that time I was doing it, the Lord was saying to me, Bill, this is better than developing ulcers over other people's money, isn't it? And one day a sailor came to me out there in Honolulu. He said to me, have you ever read the book C.T. Studd? And I said, no. He said, would you like to? And I couldn't think of any good reasons why I'd like to read a book with such a dull title, C.T. Studd. And I said, why, do you think I should read it? And he said, I think you should read it. I said, okay, I'll read it. He gave it to me on a Saturday morning when I got off duty. I threw myself on the grass outside. The B.O.Q. and I started reading C.T. Studd, Cricketer. I didn't stop for supper. Finished the book at midnight. I closed the book and I knew I'd never go back to the bank. You know why? C.T. Studd's life motto, he said, if Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for God. And that slew me. I could not answer the logic of that. If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for God. And that night I got down and for the first time in my life, I turned my life over to Jesus Christ for service. I said, here it is. Whatever you want me to do. And I want to testify to you and especially to you young people here today, I've had a wonderful life. If God had given me my choice, I couldn't have chosen as well as he's chosen. It's been really great. And I can only praise his name for it. Commit yourself to the Lord without any reservation. Then number four, stay current as far as confession of sin is concerned. Stay current as far as confession of sin is concerned. 1 John 1, verse 9. We confess our sins, be faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. I'm not going to dwell on this because we're going to speak about confession later on in the week, Lord willing. But this is very important. Let me say it this way. The previous one was commit yourself without reservation. If you commit yourself without reservation, you're available to the Lord. If you keep current as far as confession of sin is concerned, you're clean. And if you're available and you're clean, God can show his will to you. Just as easy as that. Romans 12, 1 and 2 makes you available. 1 John 1, 9 makes you clean. If you're clean and available, it's God's responsibility to show you. The next thing, number 5, is to pray continually for a revelation of his will for you. One of the lessons God has to teach us in this whole area is how to wait. And I confess to you, it's one of the hardest lessons for me to learn how to be patient and wait for God to act. I pray and I want the answer right now, but God doesn't work that way. He has other lessons to teach us, and one of those lessons is patience. Teach me your ways, O Lord, and lead me in a smooth path because of my enemies. And incidentally, when I pray for a revelation of God's will in my life, I ask the Lord to confirm the guidance in the mouths of two or three witnesses. I'm a very simple believer, as you've found out by now. And I say, Lord, if you only give me one indication of your will, I might miss it. But if you give me two or three indications of your will, I won't miss it. This happened in a very vivid way in 1965. I had been praying. There was a crisis in my life. It was obviously a change in career. I had asked the Lord for two or three evidences of his will. February 9th came the first. I got down on my knees. I said, Lord, I believe you've spoken. February 10th came the second. That's as clear as it could be. I said, Lord, I ask you for two or three. You've given me two. I accept you. February 11th, the third came. And I tell you, the guidance was so clear, if I had refused, it would have been positive disobedience. And God is willing to work with you like that. God is willing to show you his will in such a clear way that if you refuse to act, it would be positive disobedience. So pray continually for a revelation of his will to you and ask him to make it so clear that you won't miss it. Next, put yourself in a position to hear his voice by spending much time in the Word of God. Put yourself in a position to receive this revelation by spending much time in the Word. I don't think it's right to be really sincerely asking God for a revelation of his will and then have the Bible a closed book in your life. Your Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. That gives you the direction for the day ahead. Then, if it's a great decision in your life that you're facing, I would say number seven, try to get as much information as you can. I find that the more information I get about any particular situation, the easier it is for God to guide me. If I had any idea, for instance, that the Lord was indicating Zaire to me as a possible mission field, I'd go down to the local library and I'd try to get as much information about Zaire as I could. I would write to some of the missionaries out there, try to get some insight on the work. And as I got this information, it seemed to me that things would come more and more into focus. Get as much information as you can about whatever the particular situation is that seems to be the burden on your heart. And also, number eight, I list the pros and cons. I take a sheet and I make the big T on it. Here's the pros and here's the cons. It's not decisive. It's just a way that the Lord brings things together in a person's life. And usually in any situation, there are pros and cons. It isn't always crystal clear, only one direction. Number nine, I would say seek the advice of godly Christian elders. You're in a church, a fellowship, an assembly, you've got godly elders, men who know God through the Word of God and in practical everyday experience. They can see things you can't see. And there's tremendous safety and security in seeking the counsel of others. Be careful whom you go to. Sometimes, you know, when we're seeking counsel, we go to someone who might give us the counsel that we want. That's not the idea. You want somebody who'll be impartial and someone who has a spiritual insight who will be able to bring things out that you did not know. And then number ten, I would say this, resist the temptation to manufacture your own guidance. Resist it. Isaiah chapter 50, I don't know if you've noticed this passage, but it's one of the great passages in the Word of God on the whole subject of guidance. And I wish you'd all turn to it with me. Isaiah chapter 50, and I'll read verses 10 and 11. Who among you fears the Lord, who obeys the voice of his servant, who walks in darkness and has no light? Let him trust in the name of the Lord and rely upon his God. Look, all you who kindle a fire, who encircle yourselves with sparks, walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks you have kindled, this you shall have from my hand, you shall lie down in torment. Now, as I read that, you probably realized that number 10, verse 10, is the right way to get guidance, and verse 11 is the wrong way to get guidance. Look at verse 10, the right way to get guidance. You fear the Lord. I think fearing the Lord is more than just a reverential trust. I think it's an actual fear of doing what would displease Him, of walking in isolation from Him. Obeys the voice of an obedient heart to the Lord. Who walks in darkness and has no light? That's what we already said. I admit I don't know what's best. Lord, left to myself, it's all darkness, it's no light. I need your guidance in this matter. How do I get it? Let him trust in the name of the Lord and rely upon his God. But the wrong way to get guidance is to kindle a fire, encircle yourself with sparks, walk in the light of your fire. That's your own manufactured guidance. And in the sparks you have kindled. But what's the result? This you shall have from my hand, you shall lie down in torment. The torment of having walked in disobedience to the Lord, walked outside the circle of His will. So number 10 is resist the temptation to manufacture your own guidance. And number 11 we've already mentioned, be willing to wait. Be willing to wait. Psalm 32 says, don't be like the horse or the mule. And we're thinking especially here of the horse. The horse is always champing at the bit, anxious to get ahead, you know, anxious to get moving, to go forward. The mule is always lagging behind. Those are the two extremes in the whole realm of guidance. I would say in this connection, wait till the guidance is so clear that if you were to refuse, you would know you were disobedient. And if you're a young person and you think, look, there's a world perishing. I've got to know, I've got to do. Just remember the 30 silent years in Nazareth. The Lord Jesus could have talked. He could have been impatient, I suppose, during those 30 years, many of which were spent in the carpenter's shop. They were all part of God's training school for Him, if I can use that expression. What a wonderful thing it was. And then 30 years, He's led forth upon His public ministry. And in three, three and a half years, it's all finished. And provision has been made for the redemption of the world. God knows what He's doing. God has His timetable, and I have to be patient in waiting for Him. Isaiah said, whoever believes in Him will not act hastily. Haste is seldom used of God in a good way in the Bible. Do you know that? Haste is seldom used of God in a good way in the Bible. I suppose in the parable of the prodigal son, where the father runs out to meet him. Haste, that's good. There's haste in meeting the repentant prodigal coming home. C.I. Schofield said, faith rests upon the confident assurance that God can speak loudly enough to make a waiting child hear. Our part is to wait quietly until we are sure. God will honor you in that waiting time. Number 12, if you're praying for guidance and no guidance comes, God's guidance is for you to stay where you are. It's a good rule to follow in this whole realm of Christian guidance. If you're waiting for guidance and no guidance comes, God's guidance for you is to wait where you are. Darkness about going is light about staying. You had that with the pillar of cloud, the pillar of fire in the Old Testament. The children of Israel were not to move until the cloud moved. And that's true of us today. Until the guidance of the Holy Spirit comes, we're not to move. And then finally, number 13, while you are waiting for guidance, do the things that your hands find to do. While you are waiting for guidance, do the things that your hands find to do. Ecclesiastes 9.10, whatever your hands find to do, do it with all your might. Don't just kick back in a lazy boy and wait for God to show you. You can only guide a ship in motion, and God guides His people when they're in motion for Him. Isn't it a marvelous thing to think of a great God in heaven and we little nobodies down here on earth, and yet He's so intimately concerned with every one of us that He will show every one of us exactly what He wants us to do, and He can make it so crystal clear. How will God guide me? Well, I think first and foremost by the Word of God. By the Word of God. There are several ways in which He will guide, but He will guide by the Word of God. Remember we said put yourself in the position to receive His guidance by spending much time in the Word. God guides through the Word in a general way. You have the general outline of the will of God in the Bible. You know an awful lot about what the Lord wants you to do just by reading the Bible, but there are specific instances where you need specific guidance, and this is how God can do it in a very wonderful way. In our prayer meeting this morning, one of our brothers prayed for Steve Richards. I think Steve's life was revolutionized here years ago at this Yosemite conference, and Steve went out and worked in Turkey. I forget, 10 or 12 years, and Turkey is a tough country to work in, I don't mind telling you. And his family was raised out there in Turkey, and then he began to wonder, does the Lord want me to leave, maybe go to West Germany where I can talk to Turks and not be arrested and thrown into jail. And he was waiting upon the Lord, and he was praying, and he was reading the Word of God. What does God want me to do? And one morning in his daily devotion he read Psalm 37, verse 3, and in the Turkish Bible it said this, dwell in the land and feed on the faithfulness of the Lord. And that was God's voice speaking to Steve Richards, and on the basis of that, plus his own exercise of soul, they stayed in Turkey to continue their ministry there. Now, if you read that verse this morning, it probably wouldn't say too much to you. Why? Because you weren't seeking God at that particular juncture in a way that that verse would end. But it was God's voice speaking to Steve Richards, dwell in the land and feed upon the faithfulness of the Lord. We have a missionary in Madrid, Spain. His name is Dick Clark. And on New Year's Eve they were watching TV, and the tube went out. And that night before they went to bed, they talked, Dick and his wife. Should we replace the tube? Or should we get rid of it? You know, there was exercise of soul about it. And so they prayed about it and they went to sleep. In the morning they had their usual Bible reading and time of prayer. And that morning the reading was in Psalm 101. And this is what they read, I will walk within my house with a perfect heart. I will set nothing wicked before my eyes. And they got rid of the tube. Not bad. You didn't know television was in the Bible, did you? There are two other verses that deal with television in the Bible. It says the word of the Lord was precious in those days. There was no television. Well, it doesn't say that. It says there was no open vision. But just let me paraphrase it. The word of the Lord was precious in those days. There was no television. It says something. Do you know that this generation is biblically illiterate? Because people know more about the late night show than they do about Ezekiel. Absolutely true. I must go on. Can God guide you through the word of God? He can. Last year we had a young fellow in the DITP. His name is Scott Nordstrom from Omaha, Nebraska. And his father runs a Christmas tree farm in Omaha. And every year before Christmas he hires about 15 people to work there in the Christmas tree farm. But he depends on Scott and Debbie, too, to be there. And Scott wanted to come to the discipleship intern training program. But he thought about his father, and he thought about the land there that needed work at that particular time of year. And those two words were in his mind a lot. The land and my father. And one Friday morning when he was helping his father, the Lord gave him Mark 10.29. It said, Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or land. Father or land for my sake. For the gospels, who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time, and the age to come eternal life. And the words father and land jumped out of the verse at him. And then the Lord gave him Mark 1.19.20. And they left their father in the boat with the hired servants and went after him. And God guided him through those two verses, two passages, to come to the discipleship intern training program. And he spent the year with us. There was another young fellow at the same time praying. Dave Reeve was his name. And he had applied a year before, and he didn't have peace about coming a year before. He said, Oh, I think God has lessons for me to learn in my work, in my secular occupation. And so he delayed. And then a year later, he asked the Lord to confirm the guidance if he wanted him to come to the discipleship intern training program. A day later, he was reading in Isaiah 30, and he came to verse 20. And this is what it says, And though the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your teachers will not be moved into a corner anymore, but your eyes shall see your teachers. Now, if I had read that this morning, it wouldn't have said too much to me. But he read that verse, and that was God's guidance. And he came to the program, and God has greatly used that young man. Can God guide through his word? I'll say he can. Years ago, there was a lady serving the Lord up in Alaska. But because of her faithfulness to the Lord, she lost employment up there in the school system. And she came back to the lower 48 in weakness from a recent surgery. But the Lord began to speak to her about Alaska again. And she got a letter asking her to come and help in a certain Christian work there in Alaska. And she said, There's no use, I'm too old. What can God do with a 58-year-old woman in Alaska? And one day, the Lord spoke to her through Psalm 39, verse 5. My age is as nothing before you. And she went to Alaska and served. And she just went on to be with the Lord a short time ago. I think she was 100 years of age when she went home to be with the Lord. My age is as nothing before you. Some of you older folks have been sitting here thinking, Well, it's good for young people to hear what he's saying. Listen, you're never too old to be obedient. She was obedient at 58 years of age. Some of you might be thinking at this point, Yeah, but there's a problem here, McDonald. What about, here's a couple and the husband has contracted cancer and it seems that he's going to die. And they read in the Bible, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God. And they claim it as a promise for God and he dies. You know, that's a problem, isn't it? Now that has happened. We had a young man who went through the program and that's exactly what happened to him. And they were reading one day and it said, I shall not die but live. But they claimed that as a promise for God, but he died. Well, how do you get around that one? Well, I'll tell you how I get around it. Daniel chapter 3, 17. You remember those then said, Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace. And he will deliver us from your hand, O King, but if not, but if not. And when I claim these promises from the Lord, I say, but if not. I believe you've spoken to me, Lord, through your word. I claim the promise through your word. But if you have something else for me, that's okay too. As for God, his way is perfect. Secondly, God speaks to us through the counsel and advice of other believers. Preferably spiritual, mature believers. Sometimes God can even speak to you through an unsaved person. I've had that experience in my life. I was praying about going overseas and I wrote to an unsaved friend of mine. He'd been with me in the service and I said, All I'm waiting for is a green light from the Lord. And he wrote back and he said, Your letter came to me at a time we were preparing a brochure for the European Travel Commission. And he said, If all you're looking for is a green light from the Lord, he said, why don't you adopt the slogan on our brochure? And out of the envelope fell the brochure and it said, Why wait till sometime? It's so easy to go to Europe now. And he's still unsaved. But God spoke. That was one. That was only one indication of God's will at that time. But God spoke through that. An unsaved fellow. Don't limit God. As Father Taylor said, Let God be God. And I certainly agree with what he said about the sovereignty of God. Don't try to box him in. He can use such wonderful methods and so diverse. But let me warn you that when the call of God comes to a person, almost invariably, escape routes open up. So if you don't want to take the call of God, you can take it. When C.T. Studd, who was incidentally raised in a very wealthy family, he was a cricket champion in England. And when the call of God came to him, his friends said, You're crazy. Let me just read you what it said. You're mad leaving your cricket and going to be a missionary. Couldn't you wait until you finish your cricketing day? Couldn't you make more of an impact for God as a cricketer? Why go as a missionary to a place where they've never heard of cricket? They said, You're mad. And this really often happens. When God is really dealing with our souls, our friends can come along and say, Whatever you do, don't do that. Just expect it. If you're going to walk in the will of God, you're going to have the opportunity to take an escape route, to go out a back door if you wanted. It will prove the reality of your sincerity. And then God guides by the marvelous converging of circumstances, too. By the marvelous converging of circumstances. You know, some years ago, George Verver came and spent a night or two at my little place. And he said, Bill, I'm going to Toronto to have a meeting. And he said, I'll be back Tuesday. Well, there was a fellow in Buffalo, New York, who was praying about going overseas as a garage mechanic with Operation Mobilization. Frank Buss. And George had heard about him. So George wrote to Frank Buss and said, Look, I'm going to be in Toronto for a meeting. Why don't you come over and let's meet? So George went there and had the meeting at the end. Frank and Betty Buss went up to him at the end. And he said, Look, we're going to have a prayer meeting. We're going to have a night of prayer. He said, Why don't you come to the house with us? So they went to somebody's house for the night of prayer. And Frank had been praying, Does God want me? I've got five kids. Does he want me to pack up and go to Belgium and serve as a garage mechanic? But anyway, the night of prayer is going on. And at two o'clock, Betty says, Frank, don't you think we should go home? You've got to get to work in the morning, you know. And Frank said, I think we should go home. Right then, George came and said, Look, if I could drive to Buffalo with you, he said, I could get a cheaper flight back to Chicago. So they said, Well, fine, why don't you come? Well, they got back to Buffalo, but it was too early for the flight. So they said, Well, you just come into the house. Frank had been praying, and this is so remote, it's incredible. Frank had been praying, Lord, if you want me to go overseas, you arrange it so that George Verver comes inside my house. They did. So they get back to Buffalo, and George Verver is in the house. Well, let's see, husband, wife, five kids, George Verver. They had to rearrange all the beds in the house. And the way it finally ended up was George Verver and Frank Buss were sleeping in the same bed. And George is that kind of a guy. He just puts his head back in the pillow and goes off to sleep. And Frank is there, left to his own thoughts. And the Lord is saying to him, Okay, Frank, he's right beside you there in the bed. What else would you like me to do? And he packed up and went to Belgium to serve the Lord there. The marvelous converging of circumstances. I tell you, God's ways are really wonderful. And then I believe God does guide you by the subjective witness of the Spirit, by the witness of the Spirit. And I have to be careful here when I speak of that, because I believe that primarily the Spirit of God witnesses through the Word of God. But I also believe that God can give you peace, that the peace of Christ can umpire in your heart when you're moving in the direction that God wants you to move in. I call that the subjective witness of the Spirit of God. Colossians 3 verse 15 says, Let the peace of Christ umpire in your heart. And I really believe that when you're moving with God, you have peace about it. You really do. You have peace about it. Sometimes guidance is very clear. Sometimes it's not so clear at all. Usually God only leads one step at a time. He doesn't show the complete picture. But let me miss it. I believe that. No one who wants to know the will of God and do it ever misses the way. And finally, you know, a lot of people, they think about the will of God and all they can think of is snakes, scorpions, and spiders. But that isn't what I read in Romans 12 to both effect. And I want to tell you that's true. God's will is good and acceptable and perfect. If you want to have a good life and a life of fulfillment, you'll find it in a life poured out in service for the Lord Jesus and accomplishment of His will. Shall we pray? Blessed Father, we pray that you will forgive us for making our own fire, kindling our own fire and walking in the sparks of it, thinking that we know better than you and allowing our own desires and prejudices to have precedence over your will. Oh, Father, we pray that young and old here in this conference might supremely desire to know your will, even if it means a change in career, even if it means a complete upsetting of all our previous plans, even if it means mobility not being anchored down. Father, we pray that we might sincerely want to do your will. Make it real in our lives, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.