“If therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.” (Matt. 6:2222The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. (Matthew 6:22).) People would like a convenient and comfortable means of knowing God’s will, as one might get a receipt for anything; but there exists no means of ascertaining it without reference to the state of our own soul.
28
Moreover, we are often of too much importance in our own eyes; and we deceive ourselves in supposing some will of God in such or such a case. God perhaps has nothing to tell us thereon, the evil being altogether in the stir we give ourselves. The will of God is perhaps that we should take quietly an insignificant place.
28, 29
Further, we sometimes seek God’s will, desiring to know how to act in circumstances in which it is not His will that we should be found at all.
29
Be assured that if we are near enough to God, we shall have no trouble to know His will. In a long and active life it may often happen that God, in His love, may not always at once reveal His will to us, that we may feel our dependence. particularly where the individual has a tendency to act according to his own will.
29
It is then the will of God, and a precious will, that we should be able to discern it only according to our own spiritual state. In general, when we think we are judging circumstances, it is God who is judging us—who is judging our state. Our business is to keep close to Him. God would not be good to us, if He permitted us to discover His will without that. It might be convenient just to have a director of consciences; and we should be thus spared the discovery and chastisement of our moral condition. Thus, if you seek how you may discover the will of God, without that, you are seeking evil. It is what we see every day.
30
One Christian is in doubt, in perplexity; another, more spiritual, sees as clear as the day, and he is surprised, sees no difficulty, and ends by understanding that it lies only in the others state of soul.
30, 31
As regards circumstances, I believe a person may be guided by them; scripture has decided that. It is what is meant by being held in with “bit and bridle” (Psa. 32:99Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee. (Psalm 32:9)), whereas the promise and privilege of him who has faith is, “I will instruct thee, and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.” (Psa. 32:88I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye. (Psalm 32:8)) He warns us not to be as the horse and mule which have no understanding of the will, thoughts, desires of their master. It is needful to hold them in with bit and bridle. Doubtless that is better than to stumble and fall, and strike against Him who reins us in; but it is a sad state, and such is it to be guided by circumstances.
31
Here however, there must be a distinction drawn between judging what one has to do in certain circumstances, and being guided by them. He who allows himself to be guided by them always acts in the dark as to knowing the will of God. There is absolutely nothing moral in it, but an exterior force drags along. Now, it is very possible that I may have no judgment beforehand of what I shall do: I know not what circumstances may arise, and consequently I can take no side. But the instant the circumstances are there, I judge with a full and divine conviction what is the path of God’s will. That demands the highest degree of spirituality.
31, 32
As to impressions, God can suggest them, and it is certain that He does in fact suggest a thing to the mind; but in that case, the propriety of the thing and its moral character, will be as clear as the sun at noonday. In. prayer God can remove from our heart certain carnal influences, which, being destroyed, leave room to certain other spiritual influences to take their place in the soul.
32
One person may not have enough spiritual discernment to discover what is good: but the moment another shows it to him, he understands that it is the truth. All are not good engineers, but a simple wagoner knows a good road when it is made.
32
Again, the case should never exist of a person acting without knowing the will of God. The only rule that can be given is, never to act when we do not know what is the Lord’s will.
33
If I do something with the full certainty that I am doing the will of God, it is clear that an obstacle is no more than a trial of my faith: and it ought not to stop me.
33
God never permits Satan to act otherwise than on the flesh.
33
The rule that we should do what Jesus would have done in such and such a circumstance is excellent, where and when it can be applied. But are we often in the circumstances wherein the Lord was found?
34
It is often useful to ask myself whence comes such a desire of mine? I have found that this alone decides more than half the embarrassments that Christians meet with. The two-thirds of those which remain are the result of our own haste and of our former sins.
34