How to Know God's Will for Your LifeSample

How to identify the voice of God

God speaks to us in many ways. But what does his voice sound like? How do we identify it?

Let me tell you how God guided me years ago in the establishing of a Bible College.

1.The desire of my own heart. Since my teenage years, there was a growing desire to teach God’s Word. I don’t remember when it started but there it was. It was comfortable and easy. And it only grew stronger with the years.

2.Acknowledgement by others. In my twenties and thirties, I found myself being invited regularly to conduct seminars and teaching programs.

3.Unusual circumstances. Just before I turned 40, the senior pastor in our church died unexpectedly. This resulted in events that changed my future radically.

4.Prophecy. An overseas friend I had not seen for years prophesied that although I felt cornered, he saw me carving a new way that people had not seen before.

5.Revelation. I visited Sweden to minister there and the morning I woke up, I had a short vision, like a brief video playing in my head, of a new College called Tabor.

6.Confirmation. Wherever I went in Sweden, I saw things in the churches and training institutions that I felt could be implemented in the new College.

7.Testing. When I returned to Australia, the vision was tested by strong opposition.

8.Consultation. I consulted several wise people.

9.Spreading a fleece. I asked God to do four specific things that I could not orchestrate myself to confirm my sense of calling: all of them came to pass.

10.Subsequent events. Within 24 hours, another couple joined Vanessa and me in the project; people began to make gifts and offered prayers for us; four decades later the College is solidly established and its ministry is thriving.

In normal circumstances, I would not expect anything like this level of direction and confirmation--two or three indicators would be fine--but with such a major operation it was important to be sure.

Each of the factors in finding and knowing the will of God that we have looked at in this series is relevant and important. Whatever else is happening, we must do what we absolutely know is God’s will for us and that is to be conformed to the image of Jesus. Like the redeemed in Revelation, we want to follow the Lamb wherever he goes (Revelation 14:4). If we do that, even though we make mistakes from time to time, we cannot go far wrong.

What next?

·Go back over all the memory verses in this Bible Plan and see if you can still remember them. Keep them as a list in some convenient place (e.g. on your phone or beside your bed).

·Memorise this line (including the reference): Follow the Lamb wherever he goes! (Revelation 14:4).