We often think of life as a mountain climb, an ascent where we make linear progress to a summit and can ‘arrive’ at a peak with satisfaction. In truth, life is more like a meandering river where there are twists and turns we cannot predict and where our own progress often feels more like two steps forward and one back (on a good day) and one step forward and two steps back (on a bad one!) It can be notoriously difficult to view our own progress and we often feel like we have to learn and re-learn the same lessons over and over again.

We have seen David’s growth in mercy and trust as he struggled with Saul’s campaign to end his life and how he spared Saul’s life when he had the opportunity to kill him, not once but twice (see 1 Samuel 24 and 26.) We might be forgiven for thinking that David has reached a good place of trust and confidence in God. But in 1 Samuel 27 we see once again that the real battle takes place not ‘out there’ but in our own minds. David thought to himself, “One of these days I will be destroyed by the hand of Saul. The best thing I can do is to escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will give up searching for me anywhere in Israel, and I will slip out of his hand.” (1 Samuel 27:1)

Despite the assurances of Jonathan, Abigail and even Saul that God’s will will be accomplished and he will be king of Israel one day, despite his own confidence that the Lord would deal with Saul, David now ignores the prophetic word of Gad to return to Judah and once more flees to Gath to serve Achish, a foreign king. Pragmatism dominated his thinking. Weary with being on the run, a semi-permanent base in Ziklag seemed preferable to the fugitive life. The plan seemed to work; he ended up respected by Achish at this point. This life seemed easier, somehow, than believing that God would sort it all out in His time.

It can be extremely difficult to wait for the Lord (Ps 27:14). But Paul makes it clear that the spiritual life can only succeed when we take captive every thought to Christ. (2 Cor 10:5) We have to guard against wrong thinking by allowing our thoughts to be founded on truth (see Phil 4:8) and to essentially take down the lies of the world in order to re-wallpaper our minds with the truth. We have to remember the dangers of going it alone and seek the fellowship of others who believe the truth. We must also guard against weariness, especially the weariness of doing good (see Gal 6:9). Elijah, after that great victory over the prophets of Baal, felt exhausted and wanted to die, believing himself to be the only one left on God’s side. It took rest, refreshment and God’s gentle whisper to his soul to remind him of truth. (1 Kings 19) We do well to learn from David and Elijah so that troublesome thoughts don’t cause us trouble too.

This evening we continued looking at how to live according to God’s will. In Colossians 1:9-10, Paul prays, ‘We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way.’ (Col 1:9-10) We see from this that to know God’s will fully will mean more than ‘working out’ something according to reason and common sense (useful though these are); we need God’s Spirit to reveal to us the mind of Christ (see 1 Cor 2:13-16).

The first step to finding out God’s will in specific areas and circumstances is to ask God for wisdom (see James 1:5). James goes on to differentiate between spiritual wisdom and worldly wisdom in James 3, and we see again the emphasis on spiritual understanding and wisdom. We can’t hope to find out God’s will through rational means alone, for His w ways are often counter-intuitive and paradoxical.

Some pointers to finding God’s will are:

1. Is what I believe God is saying in line with Scripture? God will not contradict His word. Isaiah tells us to consult God’s instruction; anything else is counterfeit. (Is 8:10)
2. Confirming circumstances (such as Abraham’s servant experienced in Gen 24 or Paul experienced in Acts 16:6-10) can help us to know God’s will.
3. Prayer and fasting are key to understanding God’s will, for these spiritual disciplines help us to sharpen our hearing and tune us in to God. Prayer and fasting are ways that we remove the distractions of the world in order to concentrate our minds and spirit on God.
4. The counsel of the saints can help us enormously as we pray and seek God’s confirmation, but we have to be careful here, as people are fallible and do not always advise us rightly. Nonetheless, it is good to share our situations with others who will pray and seek God for us.
5. God’s peace is given in many situations where we are seeking to know God’s will to guard our hearts and minds. (Phil 4:7) It is often the ‘green light’ we need to step out into new ventures.
6. Trusting in God’s sovereignty is ultimately all we can do when seeking His will. Prov 3:5-6 reminds us to trust in the Lord with all our hearts and not to lean on our own understanding. When we truly believe God is in control and guiding our paths, then we can rest in His ability to lead and guide us along right paths for His name’s sake.

This evening, we looked again at the subject of living according to God’s will, highlighting four areas which the Bible explicitly teaches us are God’s will for His people:

1. The need to love unconditionally (see John 13:34-35, 1 John 3:1-2, 16-18). We love because God first loved us, but this love needs to be practical (see also Matt 25:40). No matter what our love language, we must learn to love not only our friends, family and other believers but even our enemies (Matt 5:44-45)
2. The need to forgive freely (Matt 6:12-15) – even if this means repeatedly forgiving! (see Matt 18:21-35). Again, our forgiveness flows from the fact that God has forgiven us (Col 3:13, Eph 4:32). It does not mean we pretend nothing bad has happened or condone sin, but we leave God to sort out the judgment and punishment and build bridges, becoming peacemakers.
3. The need to be holy (1 Thess 4:3-6, 1 Pet 1:15-16). This includes sexual purity (see 1 Cor 6:18-20) and means finding out what pleases God so that we can refuse to conform to the world’s standards. (1 Pet 1:14)
4. The need to do good (1 Pet 2:15, Eph 2:10) so that others can see God’s light.

It can be hard to discover God’s personal will for our lives, but as always, we need to listen for the voice of the good Shepherd and know that He will direct us (Is 30:21) As we delight ourselves in the Lord, He will give us the desires of our hearts and lead us in right paths.

‘United we stand, divided we fall.’

This slogan has much truth in it. Unity is highly prized in the Bible (see Ps 133, Eph 4:3) and should be the aim of all Christians. Jesus prayed for unity among His followers based on the very unity that exists in the Godhead. (John 17:20-23)

Unity implies wholeness and togetherness, but is not the same as uniformity. The diversity within the church is God-given and to be embraced in the same way that a body is made up of many different functioning parts but is still one body (see Rom 12:4-8, 1 Cor 12:12-26). ‘Churches Together’ accepts this diversity in form (how we choose to worship, sometimes with liturgy and choral music, sometimes with spontaneous prayers and modern songs, for example) but strives to work together on core truths, sharing the good news of Jesus Christ.

The church is meant to be the place where unity and diversity fit together like pieces of a jigsaw, where all are accepted and valued, but a common, higher purpose is served.

Unity within an individual is also necessary. This is often called integrity, wholeness or congruence, when how we live is not compartmentalised. We are called to wholeness and not to fragmentation, to lives that are undivided. David prayed, ‘Give me an undivided heart’ (Ps 86:11), a prayer which is the first step to unity in every area of our lives.

Dave spoke this morning from Matthew 17:22-23 on the subject of destiny. Often, we ask ourselves the question ‘What will tomorrow bring?’, and even try to find out the answers ourselves. Some ways of doing this – horoscopes, consulting mediums etc. – are wrong, but Jesus knew that His destiny was to die. He told His disciples this on many occasions, but they failed to understand. Jesus was steadfast, knowing that God’s plan for His life meant increasing opposition and ultimately a painful death.

This was not simply random or the consequence of evil men, but part of God’s plan for our salvation. Christ’s suffering worked for our benefit. He was punished for our sin by death, but this led to our freedom and life. Jesus was condemned and suffered not only the physical agonies of crucifixion but the sense of being cut off from God. He embraced this as His future (Heb 12:2), knowing what it would achieve for us.

Our destiny, therefore, is not a mystery. Our destiny ultimately is determined by our relationship with Jesus, by the decisions we make to follow the truth and to embrace Him.