Photo by Karsten Winegeart
The short answer is, of course, he is.
Last time I expounded upon a portion of my life-verse, Proverbs 3:4-6.
“Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he’s the one who will keep you on track.”
Proverbs 3:6 The Message
Another translation says it this way:
“Seek his will in all you do,
and he will show you which path to take.”
Proverbs 3:6 The New Living Translation
Last time I mentioned that, these two translations paint two distinct pictures that I believe will be helpful.
“Listen for God’s voice in everything you do.”
The act of listening is a proactive process.
It means you are paying careful attention to the spoken word so you can fully grasp what is being said.
However, it represents a challenge in modern culture.
For example,
Are you listening to understand, or to respond?
One will bring peace and comfort, while the other tends to bring strife and contentions.
“Seek his will in all you do”
While listening for God’s voice implies paying attention so as not to miss what is said, seeking carries the connotation of searching for—in this case, God’s will for your life.
This translation paints a different picture of knowing God’s will for your life.
The question is, where do you seek?
Although the answer may seem obvious—God’s word, the Bible—our complex world offers many options.
For example,
Ask your pastor
Read a book
Talk to your community
Use a chatbot
Each of these options can offer tools to help you in your search.
I was amused when I asked Gemini (Google search), How to know the will of God.
This is what it (Gemini) said.
“To know God’s will, pray for guidance, study the Bible to align your understanding with divine principles, seek godly counsel from trusted individuals, and observe your circumstances and inner peace as indicators of His leading. Through a combination of these approaches, you can surrender your desires, trust the Holy Spirit’s guidance, and move forward with confidence in God’s plan.”
What a great response.
While each of these options can help, the idea is that you are actively involved in finding God’s will.
Jesus tells us in the New Testament book of John that the third person in the triune Godhead, the Holy Spirit, will be present to help.
“But when the Friend comes, the Spirit of the Truth, he will take you by the hand and guide you into all the truth there is. He won’t draw attention to himself, but will make sense out of what is about to happen and, indeed, out of all that I have done and said.”
John 16:13 The Message
God the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth, and he will be there to help you. The challenge is developing a relationship with the Holy Spirit so you are familiar with God’s promptings.
This takes time and lends itself to the original context of Proverbs 3:6.
The language of the King James Bible says, “In all thy ways,” which suggests a path or journey leading to a specific destination.
Uncertainty abounds the first few times you travel this path because you are unfamiliar with it.
However, the more you travel it, the more comfortable you become because it becomes more familiar to you.
I like the picture the New Living Translation paints of Proverbs 3:6, because it shows me the process of time that it will take to know God’s will for my life.
In other words, it takes patience, and humans (especially Americans) are not the most patient species on the planet.
Bringing it together
One translation paints the picture of someone actively listening, their head cocked and eyes focused on what is being said. The picture is one intended to catch every word that is spoken.
The other translation paints the picture of someone actively looking, leaving no stone unturned as they journey along a path. They are moving slowly so as not to miss anything.
The two paintings paint a third picture.
It is someone whose heart is completely attuned to God, shutting out all distractions.
This is how you find God.
I recall a story is told about the renowned Evangelist Charles Spurgeon (at least, I think it was Spurgeon) where an assistant of his was awakened in the early hours of the morning by the sound of mumbling and paper rustling. They got up and found Spurgeon diligently flipping through page after page of his Bible. The unnamed assistant asked him what he was doing, to which he replied, “The answer, I know it is in here somewhere.”
In other words, he was searching, leaving no stone unturned. He was confident the answer was there (because he had walked the path many times before) and was diligently looking for the answer.
Therefore, when it seems the Lord isn’t talking, your part is to patiently listen and actively search the Word of God until the answer presents itself.
That can be both encouraging and disheartening, but it is part of the growing process in our journey to a close personal relationship with God.
The call of the Spirit is going out across the land for light bearers and (wisdom-speaking) truth givers to bring the words of life to a lost and dying world—one person at a time.
The journey is exciting and scary, and I am thankful for everyone willing to follow along as I take it.