Erik Weihenmayer is blind, yet on May 25, 2001, he reached the peak of Mt. Everest. Erik suffered from a degenerative eye disease, he lost his sight when he was 13, but that didn’t stop him. Ninety percent of climbers never make it to the top of Mt Everest, 165 have died trying since 1953, yet Erik succeeded. One of the main reasons Erik made it is that he listened well. He listened to the little bell tied to the back of the climber in front of him, so he would know what direction to go. He listened to the voice of teammates who would shout back to him, “Death fall two feet to your right!” so he would know what direction not to go. He listened to the sound of his pick jabbing the ice, so he would know whether the ice was safe to cross. When we take a perilous journey, listening well can make all the difference.
Life is a perilous journey. You and I need to listen well and we need to listen to the right source. We need to listen well to the guidance of God through the Bible to make it to our destination. Today we’re going to talk about “Following God’s Guidance.” How can a book written by men dead for at least 2000 years be relevant to your life in the year 2006? How can stories of an ancient middle eastern nation of long ago have any usefulness in your modern life today? We deal with issues like: Should I try to change jobs or not? How should I handle my finances? Should I go back to school for more training? How can I raise my children to avoid the problems of today’s decadent culture? The list could go on and on.
The Bible doesn’t deal with the issues I have to make daily decisions about, or does it? How can the Bible actually help me make decisions in life? How can God’s Word provide guidance for my life? NLT 2 Timothy 3:16-17 All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It straightens us out and teaches us to do what is right. It is God’s way of preparing us in every way, fully equipped for every good thing God wants us to do. God can guide us through His Word, because: (1) God is the same today as He was when the Bible was written, He hasn’t changed; (2) Sin is the same today as when the Bible was written, it hasn’t changed; (3) Man is the same today as when the Bible was written, people haven’t changed; and (4) Basic issues of life we face today are the same fundamental issues people have always faced. So today I want to answer the question “How can God guide our lives?”
To hear more about this topic, listen to my November 6, 2005 message entitled Following God’s Guidance
Pastor Dan
Came across your blog tonight and been having a browse, been seeking God about direction, recently and been trying to figure out exactly how God guides us. I have looked in the bible, bible studies, and everyone has given ideas and quite complicated answers, or 7 keys to hearing God etc etc, but your sermon has hit it on the head for me, to read His word, seek Godly counsel and have a sense of peace in my spirit… So simple, so thank you for this post, its confirmed whats God been speaking to me about getting into His word. May He bless you in building His kingdom. Dan 🙂