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NASB | Isaiah 27:11 When its limbs are dry, they are broken off; Women come and make a fire with them, For they are not a people of discernment, Therefore their Maker will not have compassion on them. And their Creator will not be gracious to them. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Isaiah 27:11 When its branches are dry, they are broken off; The women come and make a fire with them. For they are not a people of understanding, Therefore He who made them will not have compassion on them, And He who created them will not be gracious to them. |
Bible Question:
In the last 5 months it seems like I just always know what God wants me to do. Do I stay at my job or find another one? Do I get out of a relationship or not? These are really big decisions that didn't take me anytime to make because it was like God burned it in my heart before I even asked. Of course I prayed for confirmation to make sure it was Him and not satan trying to trick me and it was always confirmed. Is this discernment? I don't mean to ask stupid questions, but I'm really new at this. |
Bible Answer: I just spent a week at a summer camp teaching teenagers about discerning God's will for their lives, and here is what I glean from Scripture regarding what our role is: 1. Know God's moral will as it is revealed in the Bible. The Bible is God's self-revelation, in which He gives us everything we need to know about what we must do to honor Him (2 Timothy 3:16-17). If one does not know Scripture, s/he does not know what God's will is. Knowledge of Scripture is a lifelong pursuit, and it does take time, but it is a must for anyone wanting to know what God's will is. 2. In making decisions, analyze the situation, and analyze your motives. Our motive should always be to live our lives so that in every way God is glorified (Deuteronomy 6:5; 2 Corinthians 5:20; 1 Peter 2:9-10; 1 Corinthians 15:58). Nothing less should be our goal. There are some actions we take that neither honor nor dishonor God (e.g. the color shirt we decide to wear, in most instances). Likewise, there may be one or more avenues available through which we may bring honor to God. In both these instances, we have freedom to choose wisely. Once we understand that God is sovereign and that we can't "mess Him up" and that He already has taken our future decisions into account and that he has prepared good works for us to walk in (Ephesians 2:10), we can rest comfortably that God will honor and bless our God-honoring decisions. That does not mean that there aren't necessarily better decisions and worse ones. For example, there are both pros and cons to attending a Christian college rather than a secular university, or marrying this Christian rather than that one. Therefore, both our motives and situations must be carefully evaluated, to see both that we are seeking to honor God and that the likely outcomes of our decisions will bring us the results that we desire. 3. Making wise decisions based on our analysis is the final step. Rather than calling for us to ask God for divine revelation at every fork in the road, the Bible calls us to be wise decision-makers (James 1:5). After doing (1) and (2) above prayerfully, and realizing that God has given us freedom to act within the boundaries of his moral will, we are called to the responsibility of making a decision, of getting off the fence and pursuing one course of action or the other. If we truly trust in the sovereignty of God, if we truly follow his revealed will as set forth in the Bible, and if we pursue wise courses of action, we know that Romans 8:28 will be a reality in our lives. Hope this helps! --Joe! |