Fall 1983
I Will Guide Thee with Mine Eye
Wade Taylor
President of Pinecrest

“I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.” Psalm 32:8

Divine guidance speaks of receiving direction or understanding concerning a particular circumstance or need from a source apart from ourselves. The term divine guidance tells us the source of this information is the Lord Himself.

The above prefaced scripture is an absolute promise: “I WILL instruct thee and (WILL) teach thee in the way which thou shalt go.” That is personally and uniquely, the Lord has committed Himself to instruct and guide us. Instruct means an impartation of understanding apart from any personal knowledge or ability we may have. “And teach thee” is an inner working by the Holy Spirit of this instruction to guide our path or course of life. It is a deep inner response to the will and desire of the Lord for us.

Many think of guidance as limited to receiving a prophetic word or an inner impression or prompting. Guidance is far more than this: Guidance is a way of life. The students at Pinecrest are taught that the knowledge of what they will do or where they will go when their time at school is finished should not come as an instant revelation just before they leave, but rather should progressively develop within them during their entire stay at the school in preparation for this time.

It is often possible to tell what someone is thinking or desires by their facial expression. “I will guide thee with mine eye” means we have come to such an intimate relationship with the Lord that we can know His thoughts toward us by the very sense of His presence.

At the end of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 7) there is an account of two people that built houses. One built his house on a foundation of rock. The other built his on sand. Then a storm came and raged against these two houses. The house built on rock stood, while the one built on sand crumbled. The thought here is that the foundation of our life is far more important than the superstructure. The only foundation upon which our life can be built is the understanding and acceptance of the completed work of the Lord Jesus Christ, who died on Calvary’s cross in our place. We stand in Jesus—justified and righteous in His righteousness—not in any righteousness of our own. Nothing can be added to this. It is a finished work, the foundation upon which our life must be built.

“A house build upon a rock” means establishing a relationship and walk (rock) with the Lord and separating myself from all things (sand) that would tarnish this relationship. We must value and maintain an on-going sensitivity to the presence and anointing of the Lord in our life.

There is a principle called divine approbation. This word means “favor.” When Jesus was baptized, as He came up out of the water, the dove descended and the Father spoke and said, “THIS is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” God is not a respecter of persons, but there is such a thing as cultivating favor with God. We can attract the attention of God.

“The king’s daughter is all glorious within: her clothing is of wrought gold. She shall be brought unto the king in raiment of needlework: the virgins her companions that follow her shall be brought unto thee” (Ps. 45:13, 14). The bride is one; the companions are many. The bride is a part of the daughters, but is singled out from among them. There is a difference made—a separation. When a young man is attracted to a young lady, all at once this lady stands out from all others. This young man now has a “single eye.” She responds, and her interest in all other young men ceases. There is now a “focal point:” her interest in all other young men ceases. There is now a love toward one person. As this relationship is cultivated, the ability to relate one to the other, to understand and to communicate with each another grows.

In the Song of Solomon 5:12, the Lord talks about a dove’s eye. A dove’s eye is unique in this sense: The retina of its eye is such that it has no side vision. When a dove fixes its gaze on another dove, it sees nothing else. It is not distracted by side activity. This has caused them to be referred to as “love birds.” A horse has side vision and needs blinders, bit and bridle to keep it on its course. In Psalm 32:9 the Lord says, “Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee.” The Lord can guide us with a strong hand or audible word if He so chooses, but would rather guide us through an intimate relationship—eye guidance. An employer tells his employee what to do. At the end of the week the employee says, “I have done all you have told me to do. Now pay me.” Our Lord is looking for those who are motivated by a love relationship, not by the need to be paid. He seeks to establish a love relationship with us as bridegroom-bride, not that of employer-employee. In this love relationship, we must come to know and to fully trust the Lord.

As an example: we may hear the Lord prompt us in an area of guidance, and obey. Then something much more important comes along. We then expect the Lord to speak much louder and clearer because of the greater importance or seriousness of the situation. Our relationship with the Lord now takes on the characteristics of an employer and employee. Thus, the Lord may withdraw for a time to prevent this from happening. As our Heavenly Bridgroom, He seeks a bride. The daughters are many, the bride is one. The bride is the one that has attracted the attention of her Lord. The approbation (favor) of the Lord rests upon the one that has this unique relationship with the Lord wherein He will begin to guide and direct her life.

Many times this guidance will be in areas that are not important so that we may learn the principles of guidance. Then there will be understanding when a serious need for guidance arises. The Lord can put bit and bridle in our mouth to direct us, but would rather guide us through an inner relationship wherein we become so close to the Lord that we through His very presence understand what He desires.

“We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:10

“For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His son that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.” Romans 8:29

These brethren will look like Him for as they follow Him they take on His characteristics. “We know that all things work together for good to them that love God . . .” (Romans 8:28). This good is that we are being made like Him, conformed to his image and likeness. The “good” is not that the circumstances are necessarily good, but that they produce His image and likeness in our lives. Since we are called according to His purpose we must understand that this purpose is to change us. The will of God is not our vocation or location, but rather the process of being changed into His image and likeness. Our vocation or location may aid or hinder this process. Knowing Him and understanding is guidance for my life will quicken this process. “We are His workmanship, created . . . unto good works . . .” Good works are the situations, circumstances and places we find ourselves in that will produce a response that will begin to etch the very image and likeness of our Lord within us. This is the will of God, an overcoming life that allows Him to change us.

Each one of us is a distinct personality. Each one of us needs a particular environment and “working” in which the image and likeness of the Lord Jesus can be perfected in our life. “But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love” (Eph. 4:16). “Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man . . .” (Eph. 4:13). This word perfect means mature. It does not mean perfect in the sense of without flaw. A one-year old child who takes three steps and falls is perfect. This is what should be happening at this age. But a three-year old that did the same is not perfect. “Perfect” means we function at the level of our spiritual age. We are to grow into the maturity of the Head, the Lord Jesus Christ.

A principle of guidance is that we learn that which is truly a word from the Lord, and that which is not. “That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive” (Eph. 4:14). This is guidance. We need understanding to know what is a word from the Lord. “We are His workmanship . . .” (Eph. 2:10). The Lord’s desire and intention is to bring His people to spiritual maturity. We are the product, He is the workman. When we have attracted the favor of the Lord upon our life, He begins an intensified work to bring us to maturity.

The Lord has placed each individual in a particular “workshop:” situations that act as cutting tools, and sandpaper to form the image of the Son in our lives. One plant grows best in the desert; another in a rain forest. This “plant,” the potential that we are capable of, needs a particular environment in which to “grow” (mature) best. We must know and submit to His will and purpose for this to be accomplished. In my personal life I wanted to go to Philadelphia to start a church, but I had asked the Lord to “plant” me in the right environment for my growth, and He sovereignly sent me to Pinecrest.

The enemy told Adam and Eve that it was alright to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He told them this would make them “as God.” To be “as God” means we will be independent from the rule of God, free to go our own way. But our own way will never produce or bring about the maturity the Lord desires for us. The most profound thing we can ever do is to submit our life back to God, to renounce our independence and come under the government of God, to give the responsibility for the development of our life to the Lord; not to be self-made, but to be God-made. There is no way that we can etch the image and likeness of the Son upon our features and change ourselves to look like Him. We must turn our life over to the Father, who knows what the son looks like and desires to produce sons in this image and likeness.

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:10). To be “His workmanship” means that I have placed myself completely within His hand. To be created in Christ Jesus means He has a purpose and we are to be brought into the flow of this will and purpose. “Before ordained” means that before you or I were born, the Lord had a prepared purpose for your life. There are no accidents.

“Guidance” means we are actively seeking and cooperating with the Lord in this outworking. “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure” (Phil. 2:13). This tells me there is a specific circumstance that will best equip me for the eternal ages. He will guide us through this as we love and fellowship Him. We will mature as we allow Him to have His way in this working.

He will make the arrangement. All we need do is give Him permission to move us through this, and then maintain the place of intimate fellowship where we can respond. He will guide our life and we will reach the destined point.