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The personnel manager had advertised a job opening and a large group of applicants flooded her office waiting room. The first young man was ushered into her office and she began explaining the job to him. She said, "We need someone in this position that can make fast decisions; someone who can really think on his feet. Can you show me that you’re capable of doing that?" Without a word, the man got to his feet, stuck his head out the door and announced to the waiting applicants, "OK, you guys. You can all go home—the job’s been filled." (Oh, by the way, he got the job.) Mark Twain wrote, "I must have an immense quantity of mind. It takes so long to make it up."

Life is a series of choices and decisions. We know that success is basically a matter of making wise decisions. When you make dumb decisions, you tend to fail in life. We make our decisions and then our decisions make us. And because every decision has a consequence, decision making can be very stressful because you don’t know what the outcome may be every time. Have you ever been afraid of making a wrong decision? Some of you may be facing the stress of indecision right now. Should I hold on or let go? Should I get in or should I get out? The stress of indecision can really get to you.

James 1 tells us that a "double minded man is unstable in all of his ways." The Greek word for "unstable" literally means "to stagger like a drunk." When you can’t make up your mind in life, you’re going to stagger through life, bouncing off walls like a pinball in a pinball machine. Even after making a decision, we start "second guessing" ourselves—"Did I do the right thing?" We waver back and forth and that causes stress.

There is an antidote to the stress that comes from decision-making. It is found in the fourth phrase of the 23rd Psalm: "He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake." The antidote is to let God guide you. "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want." The good Shepherd not only feeds us but He leads us. He not only provides, but He also guides. The good Shepherd not only protects, but He directs. God says, "I will guide you through this life if you will trust Me."

Guiding us on "paths of righteousness" merely means the right path. In other words, David is telling us that God will keep you on track. It is SO EASY to get off track in life. It is so easy to become preoccupied with trivia, majoring on the minors. God is the One who can keep you on track in life.

Some of you have tried this…you’ve asked God to guide you, but life is still confusing. Why is knowing God’s will so difficult? Is God playing a game with us? Is He hiding green Easter eggs in tall grass? Does God get some kind of perverse pleasure watching us struggle through the maze of life, wondering what we’re supposed to do? Of course not. God wants to guide you. He wants to guide us more than we want to be guided. He wants us to know His will more than we want to know it.

One problem is we often look for the wrong thing when we’re trying to find God’s will.

• Some people go for the mystical approach. They are looking for a feeling. They want to be "swept off their feet" by some emotion where they can say, "That is how I know what God’s will is."

• Others are more logical. They want a methodical approach to God’s will—a mechanical approach. They want a recipe or formula—five ways to always know God’s will for your life. But God’s will is not a recipe.

• Some folks take a magical approach. They are looking for God to give some fantastic sign. He’ll write it in the sky or send them a text on their I-phone.

All of these approaches lead to frustration and can cause us to miss God’s will. God’s will is not a formula or a recipe or something He wants you to be fearful or frustrated about.

How to Receive God’s Guidance:

1. I Must Admit that I Need a Guide.

This is a tough step, particularly for men. When do we stop and ask directions when we’re lost? It is not the nature of a man to stop and ask directions. That’s why we’re thankful for GPS systems. We don’t stop and ask, so we stumble and get confused. Sheep, by nature, tend to wander and get off the path. They need a Good Shepherd and so do we, because we tend to wander.

Is. 53:6 "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way." This is the real problem why we don’t know God’s will. Most of the time, we don’t want to follow God or anybody else, whether we’re a believer or not. We want to go our own way. We don’t want to admit we need direction or a guide.

Sheep have poor vision and can’t see very far. Instead of saying, "He’s blind as a bat," we should say, "He’s blind as a sheep." Because of poor eyesight, sheep don’t know if the path they are on is going to go off a cliff or lead them into a fire. They need someone to guide them. We’re like sheep. We can’t see into the future. In fact, we don’t really know what may happen this afternoon. God made you so you can’t see into the future. Why? So that you would depend on Him. So He could be your guide.

Since sheep and people don’t see very well into the future, we tend to stumble. Prov. 14:12 "There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death." We’ve all made decisions that appeared to be right at the time, but it later turned out to be wrong.

Some paths lead to dead ends. They lead nowhere. That is why it is so easy to get off track. Like wandering sheep, we are prone to stumble. But the first step is just admit, "God, I need help."

I’ve often had people tell me that God never speaks to them. They probably don’t really want Him to. They may not think that they even need a guide. Ps. 25:9 "He leads the humble in what is right, & teaches the humble his way." Being humble, means I admit that I need a guide.

2. Ask in Faith for Directions.

Matt. 7:7 "Ask, & it will be given to you; seek, & you will find; knock, & it will be opened to you." God wants you to learn to ask. James 1:5-6 tells us how to get wisdom: "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, & it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven & tossed by the wind." God wants to direct your life. But you need to have two things lined up: You have to ask the right person—God. And you ask with the right attitude—in faith, expecting an answer.

Have you ever asked God for something but you didn’t expect to get it? Of course you have. That’s one reason why you didn’t get it. God works in our lives according to faith. At times we say, "God, please guide me" and we walk away without waiting for guidance. We just immediately start to work. We ask for wisdom but we don’t really expect Him to do that.

However, God has promised wisdom. Now what is that? Wisdom is seeing life from God’s point of view. Wisdom is the ability to make decisions the way that God makes decisions. He tells us if we will trust Him and listen to Him, He will guide us. But we must ask in faith.

3. Listen for God’s Response.

Right now, this room is filled with radio, television, and cell phone waves. You can’t see them, but if you had the proper reception you could tune in and hear or see. A radio can pick up the reception because it was created by its inventor to pick up radio waves. God designed you to hear His voice. There is a receiver in you to get guidance from God. Out of all the creatures God created and put on earth, only human beings have the ability to tune in to God to hear what He says.

If you don’t hear God, then,

• You have the receptor turned off - You've never established a relationship with God

• You’re away from it all the time.

• You’re on the wrong channel.

God speaks all the time—we’re just not tuned in. Job 33:14 "For God speaks in one way, & in two, though man does not perceive it." We don’t understand if we’re not tuned in.

What "channels" does God use? He uses Scripture, first and foremost, teachers, impressions, circumstances and even pain. He doesn’t always speak the same way. The Bible is the road map. But He’s also given us a compass—our conscience. And He’s given us a Guide—the Holy Spirit. If you’re lost it may help to have a road map or a GPS, but it is even more helpful to have someone who’s been there and who can actually guide you. You need to read this Book everyday (the Bible). If you don’t, it’s like having the phone off the hook. God can’t get through to you.

It’s impossible for me to figure out every need of our diverse congregation. But as I prepare my sermons, I ask, "Lord, You know who is going to be there Sunday and You know the tough week they’ve been having. You know what they need to hear so help me say something You want to say to them."

We talked about this recently, but God speaks through impressions and inspirations. There are two extremes here: the rationalist says, "God never speaks through impressions," while the mystic thinks every impression is from God. That is obviously NOT true. It may just be a bad burrito. Acid indigestion. Remember, the devil can give impressions, so please test them.

God uses circumstances to speak, particularly pain. "There are no atheists in fox holes." When you life is on the line, everyone believes in God. Prov. 20:30 "Blows that wound cleanse away evil." We learn though pain.

God is speaking all the time. Are we listening? In all of the Apollo Space launches to the moon, they constantly had to do mid-course corrections. Every second they were re-correcting. That is why daily contact with God is so important.

If you listen, you’ll get on God’s path. If you don’t, you’ll tend to live on your own path. Our path could lead us to broken dreams, broken hearts, broken lives and broken homes. Our society is broken and fallen down because people are not following the right path God intended for each of us to follow.

No matter how far off the path you may think you are this morning God can bring you back on. At times, God may lead you onto a path that doesn’t necessarily make sense. It may be hard to understand, which is step 4:

4. Trust God, When I Don’t Understand.

You are not God. A prime example is from the Old Testament when the children of Israel were finally set free from Egypt after 400 years of slavery. Moses had told Pharaoh to "Let my people go," and Pharaoh said he’d had enough, so get out. They leave. The whole nation if marching out to freedom and the first obstacle is the Red Sea. They are flanked by uncrossable mountain ranges and in front of them is water… lots of water. Behind them, in hot pursuit, is the Egyptian army that has changed its mind and has decided to come and slaughter them all. What is God going to do now? The path looks like a dead end. But God knew exactly what He wanted to do. He was preparing them for a miracle. He was preparing them for deliverance. He had not made a mistake, because He could see things they couldn’t see. He opened the Red Sea and they walked through it. Ps. 77:19 "Your way was through the sea, your path through the great waters. Yet your footprints were unseen."

You may be facing a dead end right now—financial, emotional or relational…but it may not be a wall—it could be a door. God truly CAN make a way.

Life is a journey. Prov. 4:18 "But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter & brighter until full day." Is it fully light at dawn? No. But as the day progresses, it gets brighter. As you go on in your life, things can become clearer and clearer. One day you’ll stand in the full light of eternity and see why God chose that path particularly for you.

What do you do in the meantime? Prov. 3:5-6 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, & do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, & he will make straight your paths." Don’t try to figure it out on your own.

Please don’t judge a path God leads until you get to the end. Do not criticize an unfinished plan. Have patience and one day you’ll realize why it was all happening. You will see for sure that God does NOT make mistakes. Do not "lean on your own understanding."

Ps. 37:23-24 "The steps of a man are established by the Lord, when he delights in his way; though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the Lord upholds his hand." God created you with a custom plan. He has a path for you to walk down. You do have choices. One day you’ll stand before God and He’ll ask, "Did you take the path I led you on?" If you say, "No, Frank Sinatra and I did it our way," He’ll say, "Then have it your way." But your way doesn’t lead to heaven. The Bible says that the path you get on leads to destruction. It seems right, but it leads to death.

Don’t try to copy someone else’s life. You were meant to be what God meant you to be period. God wants you to be you. And He wants to be your guide along the way. There is a tongue-in-cheek obituary in the book entitled, Don’t Die Before You Live: "John Smith—died at 35. Buried at 68."

When it comes to decision making, God wants to remove the stress of it. He is our Guide who will walk with us and when we stumble, it’s ok. Remember what we just read from Psalm 37: "Though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the Lord upholds his hand."

Our ultimate question today is whose path are we going to follow in life? Your career track or God’s plan for your life. I’ll be honest with you. The path of righteousness is not necessarily the convenient path. It is not necessarily the easy path or the most popular path. It may not necessarily be the path in life that is going to make you the most money. It may not be the path that is the least risky. So…why should you follow God’s path? Prov. 12:28 "In the path of righteousness is life, & in its pathway there is no death." God says, "Go My way and you get the good life on earth and eternal life in heaven. You go your way, that seems right unto man, and it leads to death. It’s your choice." Let’s pray.

Please visit us at our next worship service.

We offer "An Unchanging Word To A Changing World"

In Christ,
Bill Bratley - Pastor