Summer 1994

Divine Guidance
Wade E Taylor

"I will instruct you and teach you in
the way you should go; I will guide
you with my eye" Psalm 32:8 NKJ.

Divine Guidance means to receive understanding or direction from a source apart from ourselves. The term "Divine" tells us that the source of this information is the Lord Himself.

The above prefaced Scripture is an absolute promise: "I WILL instruct you and (I WILL) teach you in the way you should go." That is, personally and uniquely, the Lord has committed Himself to instruct and guide us.

To "instruct" speaks of an impartation of understanding apart from any personal knowledge or ability we may have. To "teach" is the activity of the Holy Spirit whereby He guides our path in the outworking of that which He has enabled us to know.

To accomplish this, the Lord "imparts" Himself to us and then provokes from deep within us an ability to respond to His will and purpose. We must become sensitive to His indwelling presence in order to be led by His "eye." This speaks of guidance that is apart from any outward force or pressure.

"For who knew the mind of the Lord, that he should instruct
Him? But we have the mind of Christ" I Cor 2:16 Worried.

Many think of guidance as limited to receiving a directive word, or to an inner impression or prompting. Divine guidance is far more than this - it is a way of life.

This "instruction" rarely comes as an instant revelation. Rather, it is the result of prolonged times of fellowship with the Lord, wherein He works this understanding deep within us. Only then will He be able to say to us, "I will guide you with my eye."

We sometimes can tell what a person thinks or desires by their facial expression. As we expand our times of intimate fellowship with the Lord, we likewise will begin to discern His thoughts toward us through our spiritual senses, or the sensitivity that we have developed as a result of our being in His presence. Now we can begin to experience being led by His "Eye."

The Sermon on the Mount ends with an account of two people who built houses (Matt 7:24-27). One built his house on a foundation of rock. The other built his on sand. Soon, a storm came and raged against these two houses. The house built on the 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.

This "rock" foundation upon which our life is to be built is established by our understanding and accepting the completed work of the Lord Jesus Christ upon Calvary's cross. We are justified and made righteous by His righteousness alone, not through any goodness of our own. Nothing can be added to this, it is a finished work - the rock foundation upon which our life must be built.

This "house built upon a rock" speaks of our establishing a relationship and walk with the Lord (rock) and separating ourselves from all other things (sand) that could weaken this relationship. We are to greatly value and consistently maintain an on going sensitivity to the presence and anointing of the Lord in our lives.

There is a spiritual principle called "Divine Approbation." This speaks of "Divine Favor." When Jesus was baptized, He came up out of the water as a Dove (Holy Spirit) descended upon Him. As this took place, His Father rejoiced by saying, "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased."

There is such a thing as cultivating favor with God. We can attract a special attention of God upon our lives.

"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" Psalm 45:13-14.

The Bride is one; the companions are many. The Bride is from among the daughters, but is singled out from them. From this moment of separation, a difference is made. The Bridegroom now has a "single eye" towards her. As she responds to this interest on His part, her interest in all other young men ceases.

There is now a "focal point" of relationship, and her interest takes on a directive love toward one person. As this relationship is cultivated, their ability to relate one to the other, to understand and to communicate with each other grows.

In the Song of Solomon 5:12, the Lord speaks of a dove's eye. This is because the retina of its eye was created so it has no side vision. When a dove fixes its gaze upon another dove, it sees nothing else. Thus, it is not distracted by any side activity. This is why doves are referred to as "love birds."

A horse has side vision and needs bit and bridle to keep it on its course.

"Do not be like the horse or like the mule, which
have no understanding, which must be harnessed
with bit and bridle, else they will not come
near you" Psalm 32:9 NKJ.

The Lord can guide us with a strong hand, or with an audible word if He so chooses, but He would rather direct us by means of an intimate relationship with Him, which speaks of "eye guidance."

This love relationship with the Lord can be compared to a Bride who has a single eye towards her Bridegroom, whereas an employee looks for compensation. An employer gives the employee instructions, then at the end of the week the employee will say, "I have done all you told me to do, now pay me."

Our Lord is looking for a "Bride" who is motivated through a love relationship, not "hirelings" who expect to be paid. In our love relationship with the Lord, we must come to fully trust Him, that we might unconditionally submit ourselves to Him.

For example, we may obey the Lord's prompting in a given area of guidance, and then something of even greater importance comes along. Therefore, we expect the Lord to speak much louder or clearer because of the greater importance of the situation. Our relationship with the Lord now takes on the characteristics that exist between an employer and employee. Thus, the Lord may withdraw for a time to prevent this from happening.

Many times, we will receive guidance in areas that are not of any particular importance so we may learn the principles of guidance. This will prepare us to rightly respond when a serious need for guidance arises. The Lord can put "bit and bridle" in our mouth to direct us, but He would rather guide us through an inner relationship wherein we draw so close to Him that, through His very presence, we understand exactly what He desires. We have come close enough to see which way His eye is looking.

"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.

"For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate
to be conformed to the image of His Son that He
might be the first born among many brethren" Rom 8:29.

These "brethren" will look like Him, for as they closely follow Him, they take on His characteristics.

"We know that all things work together for good
to them that love God" Rom 8:28a.

This "good" is that we are being conformed to His image and likeness. It is not that the circumstances are necessarily good, but that they are producing "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 primary issue in our being in "the will of God" is not our vocation or our location. Rather, it is the process of our being changed into the image and likeness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Knowing Him and understanding His guidance for our lives will quicken this process. Thus, our vocation or location may either aid or hinder this process.

"For it is under His direction that the whole body
is perfectly adjusted and united by every joint
that furnishes its supplies; and by the proper
functioning of each particular part there is brought
about the growing of the body for its building up
in love" Eph 4:16 Williams.

"Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and
of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect
man" Eph 4:13a.

This word "perfect" means "mature." It does not mean perfect in the sense of "without flaw." A ten month old child who takes two steps and falls is perfect. This is what should be happening at this age. But the three year-old who does this is not developing properly. "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.

To rightly discern that which is a word from the Lord, and that which is not is an essential principle of guidance.

"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.

Our Heavenly Father has each of us placed in a particular "workshop" - situations that become cutting tools and sandpaper to form within us the image of His Son. One plant grows best in the desert; another in a rain forest. This "plant" speaks of the potential of which we are capable, and the particular environment we need in which to best "mature."

We must both know and submit to His will and purpose for this to be accomplished. In my personal life, I desired to go to Philadelphia and pioneer a church, but I had asked the Lord to "plant" me in the right environment for my growth; therefore, He sovereignly sent me to Pinecrest.

The enemy told Adam and Eve that by partaking of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they would be "as God." This meant independence from the rule of God, free to choose their own way. But our own way will never produce the maturity the Lord desires for us.

The most meaningful thing we can do is to submit our lives back to God, renounce our independence, come under His governmental rule, and return the responsibility for the development of our lives to the Lord - not to be self made, but to be God made.

It is not possible for us to etch the image and likeness of the Son upon our features and change ourselves to look like Him. We must turn our lives over to the Father, who knows what the Son looks like, and who greatly desires to produce sons in His image and likeness.

"Divine Guidance" means that we are actively seeking and cooperating with our Heavenly Father in this outworking of His desire and intention.

He will make the arrangements. All we need do is give Him permission to move us through the necessary processings, and as a result, we will reach the destined point.