Seeking God's Will: Don't Run Ahead of God

When Life Forces Difficult Decisions

When you make plans, do they include God? In difficult situations, do you find yourself making a quick decision just to give yourself a direction? Making a decision in difficult times is hard and waiting on God is often harder.

Some of life's hardest decisions come during our greatest losses. How do we deal with loss? A loved one dies, a spouse leaves, a job ends, what is our go-to response in these situations? We often have a close friend that we confide our problems to. Maybe we don't even really want advice, just a listening ear. Maybe it is difficult for us to listen to others, especially God. Do we remember to seek His will?

How do we deal with the consequences of our actions when we have made bad decisions? Do we face them head-on or do whatever possible to avoid them? Most people find it hard just to admit they have done anything wrong. And the consequences, well, most of us run from those.

The lies we've told that have caught up with us, the prideful attitudes that we have to answer for, so many of us try to look the other way and avoid the shame and guilt of admitting our decisions were failures. We aren't always the people we want to be. In Isaiah we find out that Israel was not always the people they wanted to be either.

Israel Sought Help Instead of God's Will

In Isaiah 30, the sinful nation of Israel is under threat from the Assyrians. They sought answers but like most of us, in the wrong places. They weren't close to God. They weren't faithful to Him, so when this threat loomed they sought help, not from God but from Egypt. In their fear, they saw Egypt as a source of protection instead of fleeing to the One who had always watched out for them. Israel looked to Egypt instead of seeking God's will. They should have had faith to trust God.

But you see, they didn't reach out to God because they believed God was doing nothing. In their unfaithfulness they weren't spending time with Him, honoring Him, loving Him, or worshipping Him. Like an unfaithful spouse who thinks their partner is never there for them, mainly because they are finding pleasure in someone else's company, they had abandoned God.

Why Israel Refused to Listen

Israel had "devised plans, but not of My Spirit." They took counsel, "but not of Me," God tells them. God calls them "lying children." Indeed they were acting like children. They were like children who were afraid of the dark, even though their parents had reassured them over and over. Hadn't God always been there for them? All they had to do was ask and wait.

These "children" told the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us right things; Speak to us smooth things, prophesy deceits." They only wanted God's prophets to tell them what they wanted to hear. They wanted to hear lies that would comfort them. Things to calm their souls that would not require change. So often when we face decisions, it means change, and often uncomfortable change.

Later, in the New Testament, we receive a warning that people will act similarly in the end times. They will desire to hear only what their "itching ears" want to hear (2 Timothy 4:3-4). Anytime we seek comfort over truth, trouble follows.

Returning to God Brings Rest and Confidence

In Isaiah 30:15 the Lord tells His people,

“In returning and rest you shall be saved; In quietness and confidence shall be your strength.”

When we rest in God, we trust in His providence. We rely on Him. Doesn't the strength of quietness and confidence sound wonderful? Instead of casting about in chaos looking for answers here or there, unsure of what we should do, we can find rest in God knowing He is our strength. God is not a God of chaos. When we repent and return to Him, then we turn away from a failing self-reliance that does not seek His will. Rest and quiet confidence describe the heart attitude we need to discern God's will when we seek Him in difficult times.

Why We Resist God's Will

But then God tells Israel, "But you would not." Those words make me sad. I remember times in my own life when I "would not." And there was eventually a deep regret. Why wouldn't I? Because I thought I knew what was right for me.

"There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death." Proverbs 14:12

And Proverbs 19:21 reminds us,

"There are many plans in a man’s heart, Nevertheless the Lord’s counsel—that will stand."

You can make plans, but just don't forget God in the midst of them. When things change and plans fall through, trust that if you have prayed and relied on God more than yourself, then that change is for the good.

Waiting on God Leads to Blessing

God seeks to show His children goodness and compassion, just as He showed Israel time and time again (Isaiah 30:18). He is above all a loving Father. When we say, "I will not" like a stubborn child, He will be patient for a time, but then discipline comes. Don't be surprised if it hurts. Not because God is cruel but because He wants us to see that our poor decisions have consequences.

In this same verse God promises us something. He says we will be blessed when we wait for Him. Waiting can be so hard, but it serves a purpose in God's plan. When we wait and finally receive an answer, then we can look back and see God at work because God's plans are greater than we can imagine.

The Teacher Who Shows Us the Way

God talks about His children enduring "The bread of adversity and the water of affliction," (Isaiah 30:20). For a time we may experience the discipline of God for our actions. In Isaiah, Israel's troubles were the result of decisions made without God. God promises to hear our cries and answer us. God tells Israel, their Teacher won't hide from them any longer, they will see Him with their own eyes. They will hear, "This is the way, walk in it."

Many scholars believe this is a foreshadowing of Jesus our great Teacher who showed us our way back to God through His cross and resurrection. Through His Holy Spirit, God continues to guide us as we submit ourselves to His Word. Are you listening? He will faithfully show us the way we are to walk, even though we may have to wait for His guidance. We need to train ourselves spiritually to trust Him. How do we do this?

How to Seek God's Will Every Day

We trust God's will for us by studying His Word, by listening to Him in prayer, by praising the ways He has always been there for us in the past, and by hearing believers' stories of God's faithfulness. We live a life of sacrifice, dying to self, so that we can truly live with Him.

Of the things we have held up as idols before God, "You will say to them, “Get away!” (Isaiah 30:22). Idols interfere with seeking God's plan for us. When we live in God's will, we will not want to do anything that hurts our walk with God. If only in my own life I had said that sooner! And then God promises blessings.

The spiritual life you wanted, but always seemed to struggle to achieve, the blessings that always seemed out of reach for you, God will provide. He doesn't make us rich, nor does He promise a life without suffering, but spiritually we will have a peace and joy that surpasses our understanding. He gives Israel and us a "song" and "gladness of heart" (Isaiah 30:29).

Trust God to Fight Your Battles

For the Israelites in Isaiah 30, God promises the annihilation of their enemy Assyria. We see this fulfilled in 2 Kings 19:35-37. God's will was done.

What enemies do we need God to destroy? Could it be addiction, sorrow, or pain? Seeking God's will, we should first examine ourselves. What sins seek to destroy us, and what bad decisions do we need to lay at the feet of Jesus? Then let us cry out to Him, "Show me the way, so I can walk in it."