Session 13 – Personal Spiritual Formation

Decision Making and the Will of God

 Recap:
o First – develop a personal relationship with Christ
o Second – knowing God
 Know of God not about God – know in a relational kind of way
 How do we know if we were following the path God wants us to follow?
o Walk by faith, trust His leading – not knowing what the outcome is but knowing who holds the
future
God’s guidelines for decision making
 The circle of the sovereignty of God
 There are 3 factors:
o Personal Factors
 Like and dislike
o Moral Will
 What we should do and not do
 Ex: stealing is wrong
 Something we know already – moral revealed from the Scripture and our conscience
o Wisdom
 The sovereignty of God has to do with the fact that God know and governs all things – he is in charge and
reigning over the universe
o According to his plan and purposes – including the messiness of this world
 Evil and suffering are also in the control (governing) of God
o They are not caused by God but controlled by God
o We are living in a fallen world and God is redeeming this fallen world
 The plan of God is to rescue us from this fallen world caused by evil and sin
o But we also have to acknowledge that there is still evil
o The consequences of that is still part of this world as He rescued us and secure us for the world to
come
 God is in full control of everything
o All things proceed under his governing oversight and care
 Sovereignty of God surrounds all the factors in decision making
o God is in charge of the smallest detail too – including the personal detail of our life
o We might not be able to see all of that things from our point of view.
 God sovereignty doesn’t directly affect our decision – it affects our attitude
o We accept the sovereignty of God – where God as King had everything under His rule
 We accept it by faith – knowing who God is
 o Attitude: we are not full of anxiety and paralyze by fear due to decision
 God intervenes in ways we cannot control – we can trust the circumstances and the results to Him because
He is sovereignty in control
o One of the biggest problem with all of us is that we want to be in control – we want to control the
outcome of things in our life
o We don’t have absolute control on these things – but we trust that God does
 This gives us:
o Freedom – in the process of my free will decision making, God fulfills His sovereign purpose
 We don’t have to feel anxious about our decision
o Rest – we make our plans with an attitude of humble surrender, trusting Him with the final result:
“If God wills” if it doesn’t work out, fine
 Rest of the soul – God is in control and He loves us
 We belong to Christ who is ruling things according to the will of God the father and we are
connected in Him through the Spirit
 We don’t shoot for failure or stop caring – but we do things that are pleasing to God
according to the context of life He has given to us
 God gave us the freedom to have a relationship or choose things that we want – but
sometimes it doesn’t work out
 We can be at peace knowing that we have freedom (we will not be paralyzed due to bad
decision because God is in control of our life)
 It is the relational trust
o Trust God in control – He wants what is best for us (this is what we need to trust)
 None of us trust God’s perfect sovereign, that is He is the King and He governs all things
o But as we develop that trust in God – it relieves us of having to be in control ourselves
 Everything does not depend on us in the ultimate sense
 We participate and are responsible for our life, we were held accountable by God for our life
– but He is in charge of us, we belong to Him.
o He is in control of our most personal, intimate matters
 God’s sovereignty encourages an attitude of utter dependence and trust
o James 4:13-16
 You are not in ultimate charge of your life – we belong to Him, not He belong to us
 Submit to God – attitude of dependence and trust
o Psalms 138: 8
 “The Lord will accomplish what concerns me”
 God has our back
 God is on the lookout for us
Does knowing God’s will require a sixth sense? – NO!
 Rather spiritual maturity is:
o Growing in our understanding of the Word
  And seeking how to apply it in our life – that helps us grow in Wisdom
o Growing in our wisdom
 As we grow in wisdom – we learn what God’s will is clearly
o Growing in our submission to God’s revealed will and His sovereign designs
 Plenty of scriptures tells us that this is what Gods will is – His revealed will
 Nothing is a mystery – God tells us what is right and wrong
 In making good decision – our spiritual maturity is involved
o Immature child make bad decision – but they learned from their mistake and listen to their parents
because they have feel the consequences
 In human nature, our maturity affects our decision – we learned as we go along and
experience as well as listen to wisdom of other people
o God is the source of spiritual maturity – He used other people to help people grow in spiritual
maturity
 It is a matter of growing in Wisdom
 The result is: Peace
o Not a sense of peace as God’s signal you’ve chosen what He wants
o Instead, it’s a peace that says: “I feel good about the decision I made”
 “I feel good” – needs to be supported by things that are consistent with Christian thinking
and the Word of God
 There are multiple sources and people that can be a reference for us – people that are mature
spiritually
o What is you have no peace? Then you may be violating wisdom
 You should pause
 it is about spiritual maturity
o nobody is perfectly mature – but they can grow to make better decision
 As we grow spiritually, we learn how to be more confident in the decision that we made
 A better, wise, correct decision
o We can listen to other that is wiser of us
 Don’t think that we are in control of ourselves
 It is a decision that I feel good about – knowing that what we pursue doesn’t violate the Christian
understanding
o God’s rule
o Dependence on God – asking Him for wisdom
o I feel good because I have done what I should do to make a wise decision
 The decision might not be perfect
The Wisdom Model in summary:
 In the absence of a clear, definitive, special command of God, make the wisest, most expedient choice
 Guidance is simple – If God has not given you a direct command in Scripture, do the wisest and most
desirable thing
 o Sometimes the process is quick
o Sometimes the process takes a long time
o It all depends on the circumstances of each decision
Model:
 The basic fault here is disregard of a principle that is writ large in Scripture - too large perhaps for some to
see.
 The principle is that the right course is always to choose the wisest means to the noblest end – in the
big picture, the advancing of God’s kingdom and glory.
o Care about what God thinks about your decision – God wants what’s best for you
 You should do what brings honour to God
 Moral law delimits the area within which the choice must be made
o We don’t have a freedom to do what God doesn’t wants us to do
o We have to stay consistent to what we know what is right and wrong
 God given wisdom then leads us within these limits to the best option...
 God enables us to discern this by prayerfully using our minds, thinking how Scripture applies, comparing
alternatives, weighing advice, taking account of our heart’s desire, estimating our capabilities.
o Praying to God – asking him to use our minds
 Some call this common sense. The Bible calls it wisdom. It is one of God’s most precious gifts.
o Biblical common sense
Apply:
If those who apply the wisdom model, trusting in the sovereignty of God
 Seek to discern the will of God by prayerfully using their minds, thinking how Scripture applies,
comparing alternatives, weighing advice, taking account of their heart’s desire, and estimating their
capabilities