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What
big ones? Changing job, changing house, changing church and so forth. Maybe we are not facing major decisions like this. So we then have no alternative but to start with less important ones: joining a new club, where to go on holiday, take up some new pastime.
In all these matters it is not what we want but what he wants. And any apparently small matter could turn out to be extremely important because we never know where a decision will lead. Still less where it will lead when God makes it for us! That is one of things that makes being a (Spirit led) Christian really exciting.
So pray and ask for direction in all these things. The Holy Spirit lives within every Christian. If we have conviction of this, then we ought to have little difficulty in turning to ask Spirit's direction. But...
Third Essential The greatest problem we have in seeking God's will is our own will. It repeatedly gets in way. It is like trying to push a ball down under water. Every time we relax pressure it shoots back to surface. So third essential is that we must be sure we are following God's will and not our own. We do not want to be looking for confirmations which merely confirm our own preferences.
One excellent method is given by Ignatius of Loyola. He recommends that, whatever our own preference is in a given decision, we should pray for grace to want opposite. If you have a desire to move house, pray for desire stay in your present house. As grace comes from God over a period, we shall eventually arrive at a kind of equilibrium position where we are indifferent as to whether we stay or move. The we are in a position to hear God speaking to us.
Following Is Forsaking Following God's will is forsaking our own. That is rarely easy, especially in world we live in today. The media, not least TV, constantly tells us in all manner of ways that we need to fullfil all our own desires if we are to be happy. One current advert tells us that, whatever we want, "You are worth it".
But can you honestly say that, however much you have responded to such adverts, you have actually been truly happier as a result of buying product? Most likely not, because happiness is God-shaped and only doing his will, in big and in small things, can really bring us happiness.
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About The Author: A K Whitehead Web Site: www.christianword.co.uk. Experience: Over twenty years in Christian healing, teaching and writing. Qualifications: B.A., M.Phil., Camb Univ Cert in Religious Studies This article may be reproduced on condition that it is unaltered and that all this information is included.
