Day 6: More Principles for Seeking God’s Guidance—Conscience, Common Sense, and Circumstances

Besides directly communicating with God (through prayer and His Word), He gives several secondary means for discerning His desires for us. We’ll look at three of these secondary factors today.

Principle #2: Conscience—How Does This Decision Affect My Love for God and Others?

Our conscience represents the ethical dimension of decision-making.

An option may appear to be sound on the intellectual level, but it may be unsound on the moral level. We cannot avoid the matrix of personal relationships in our decisions.

The apostle Paul often stressed the importance of living with a clear conscience. For instance, in Acts 24:16 he says, “I also do my best to maintain always a blameless conscience both before God and before men.”

God has implanted an intuitive sense of right and wrong in each person. As we grow in Him, our conscience becomes more sensitive and more attuned to His desires. When we reject the input of our conscience, the proper response is to confess it (1 John 1:9), not cover it up. Failing to respond this way will place us under a burden of guilt and steal our joy. Even worse, we can sear our conscience (1 Timothy 4:2) and become calloused by repeatedly rejecting its warnings.

Principle #3: Common Sense—Does This Decision Reflect Good Judgment?

A Christian may be committed to the Lord, willing to obey where He leads, communicating with Him in prayer and Scripture, and enjoying a clear conscience. We still may not know which option to choose in a specific situation. Within this framework, common sense can and should play a key role in our choices. Outside of this framework, common sense may simply feed the me-first mentality.

God was not erratic or capricious in the way He designed the universe. He is not haphazard in His design for our lives. He gave us minds and wants us to use them to evaluate the consequences of our actions.

The Scriptures tell us to “think so as to have sound judgment” (Romans 12:3). We should be level-headed, not rash, in how we evaluate our gifts and opportunities.

Paul, for example, stayed where there were open doors and left when his life was threatened.

Common sense has limitations and should never be our only criterion for discerning God’s guidance. Sometimes, He leads us to do things that are contrary to our concept of good judgment. We are often too nearsighted to see the goal He has in mind. Because we see such a small piece of the puzzle, we should always be willing to submit our thoughts and plans to Him.

Principle #4: Circumstances—How Does My State of Affairs Relate to This Decision?

God is in control of the circumstances of our lives. He “works all things after the counsel of His will” (Ephesians 1:11). He causes “all things to work together for good” to those who love him and are called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28).

Notice the word “together” in Romans 8:28: In isolation, some things that happen to us may not seem beneficial. But God uses them in combination with everything else for our good.

Similarly, God does not allow our circumstances and temptations to overwhelm us without offering us the grace to endure (1 Corinthians 10:13).

Because of God’s care and involvement in the details of our lives, we should be sensitive to the situations in which we find ourselves. All of the following factors—and more—play a part in God’s direction:

• Finances
• Aptitudes (natural and learned)
• Education
• Experience (personal, professional, etc.)
• Family
• Spiritual gifts

Let’s say a Christian is considering a job possibility and realizes her ability, education, and experience do not at all match the qualifications for the job. She should be very hesitant to take another step even if the job opens up to her.

God often works by opening and closing doors as we come to them, but this should not be our primary means of guidance. Just because a door is open does not mean we should go through it.

It’s easy to misread circumstances and interpret them in ways that flatter our preconceived plans. This is like the farmer who wanted to be an evangelist. When he saw a cloud formation that looked like “PC,” he took it to mean “Preach Christ” and left his farm. He never thought it could also mean “Plant Corn.”

Tomorrow we will look at three final principles for seeking God’s guidance.

Day 6 Scripture Readings:

Acts 24:16

Romans 12:3

1 Corinthians 16:8–9

Proverbs 16:9

Isaiah 55:9

Romans 8:28