If you were to ask my dad to name his parenting super power, he’d almost certainly spout off a self-deprecating answer like “giving lectures my kids ignore.” I’d say he’s partly right: he’s always been great at delivering thoughtful insight and advice. But the lecture term is his alone (my brother and I have never viewed his words in that way). And his “lectures”—though not always heeded—have never gone ignored.
I’m fortunate to have a wise and invested father who is willing and able to offer wisdom and guidance. Not everyone has this privilege. Thankfully, every one of us is just a prayer away from the ULTIMATE advice-giver and source of all wisdom and truth . . . if only we can remember to pause and ask God for His input.
At camp last month, our teaching pastor gave an excellent talk on how to discern God’s wisdom, framed around two verses from Psalm 25. The message has stayed with me and I wanted to share a few takeaways, as well as some of my own insights, from these verses.
“Show me your ways, Lord” (Psalm 25:4a)
We begin with the assumptions that 1) God hears us when we come to Him; 2) He has an opinion on what is best for us; and 3) He is willing to share His ways with us. However, we must come to Him with humility and a willingness to hear what He has to say.
“Teach me your paths” (Psalm 25:4b)
One commentary points out that this request “appears to mean more than the first, and may be illustrated by the case of a little child who should say to his father, ‘Father, first tell me which is the way, and then teach my little trembling feet to walk in it.'” We aren’t just asking God what we should do, we are asking Him how to do it, which involves a deeper level of intimacy and relationship. When we walk along a path with someone, we are spending time with them, getting to know them, walking in step with them and (possibly) becoming more like our walking companion. I think this process of learning God’s paths has less to do with the specifics of where He is leading us and more to do with who we are becoming as we walk with Him; the focus is on the journey rather than the destination.
“Guide me in your truth and teach me” (Psalm 25:5a)
Our pastor pointed out that God’s wisdom is more like a compass than a GPS. He won’t give us straightforward instructions, but He will set us in a direction that will lead to holiness, truth, and flourishing.
“For you are my God and my savior” (Psalm 25:5b)
This is probably the key phrase from this passage: even the best wisdom is ultimately futile if we have not yet surrendered our lives to the Lord, acknowledging that He is the savior of our souls. To quote our pastor again, “our surrender is more important than our strategy!” And if we are willing to trust God for our ultimate salvation, we can surely trust Him to lead us in our day-to-day decisions.
“My hope is in you all day long.” (Psalm 25:5c)
Even when we know God is available to offer His guidance and we (theoretically) trust that His way is best, we may still ignore His wisdom. Our sin can blind us from recognizing God’s right path, and it can harden us against following that path despite knowing it is the way that God has deemed best. The solution, though easier said than done, is recognizing that our hope cannot be in earthly enticements like comfort or excitement or success. Our hope can only be in the One True God, whose path for us may not look like the one we would have chosen for ourselves.
Our pastor ended his message with some excellent questions for discernment when facing a big decision.
- Is there clear Biblical direction on this issue? (There are not a lot of black-and-white answers in Scripture, but that doesn’t give us license to ignore the answers that ARE crystal clear.)
- As I pray, how do I sense God’s guidance? (I’ve personally never heard God speak audibly to me, but I’ve definitely sensed His leading during times of fervent prayer.)
- How are mature disciples counseling me? (This speaks to the importance of surrounding ourselves with other mature believers.)
- Am I open to a genuine answer, whether it is yes, no, or wait?
- How is my soul being formed by this decision? (Keeping in mind that God is more concerned with who we are becoming than in the specifics of our choices.)
With Father’s Day approaching, I hope you are able to spend some time this weekend loving on the awesome dads in your life—whether that’s your own dad, your father-in-law, your kids’ dad, or any of the other men who are investing in the lives of younger generations. And it is my hope and prayer that we can all use this special day to spend some time with our Heavenly Father, thanking Him for being a GOOD Dad who loves His kids, teaches us His ways, guides us on the right path, and is our ultimate source of hope and salvation.
