Guidance in the Book of Acts
0 comments | Posted by Steven Layson on 28 Jun 2009 in From Steve's Study ::
One of the big issues that confronts us when we read the book of Acts is the question of God’s guidance of His people. This struck me particularly this week as I was reading today’s Bible reading (Acts 8:26-40). In this passage we read that And angel of the Lord said to Philip, ‘Go south to the desert road that goes down from Jerusalem’ (vs 26); and that The Spirit told Philip, ‘God to that chariot and stay near it’ (vs 29); and that the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away (vs 39). What did this look like for Philip I wonder?
My questions were raised further when I started to consider some of the different ways God guided his Apostles throughout the book. For example:
- Jesus himself told them what they should be doing in ch 1.
- Two men dressed in white (presumably angels) told them how Jesus would return in the same chapter.
- The Apostles used Scripture, their own reasoning and casting lots to find the replacement for Judas at the end of the chapter.
- They used their own wisdom to choose the first Deacons in ch 6.
- God told Ananias in a dream to go and speak to Saul in ch 9. The same was true for Peter in ch 10 & Paul in ch 16.
- It was a committee discussion that guided the decisions of the Jerusalem Council in ch 15.
- And the list goes on ..
What conclusions can we draw from this? How are we to seek God’s guidance in our own lives? How do we know what he wants from us?
It’s very hard to answer these questions from the book of Acts as we’re looking at a very specific situation where God has very specific outcomes in mind.
A few things can be said however. Firstly, it is important to realize that God is in control of all things, and it is he who will bring about his purposes. God is able to speak through dreams and the like (he is God after all!) but these will likely not be the norm.
It is interesting that the first example of guidance in the book is that of Jesus’ command. It is no accident that the early church devoted themselves to the Apostles’ teaching for it is through the Apostles’ teaching that they heard what Jesus’ will was for their lives. If we want to know what God’s will for our life is, we need to turn to the pages of Scripture.
Thirdly, the place of plain old common sense is interesting. I guess it shouldn’t surprise us that God chooses to use us as his instruments (this has been his way of operating all along) & as bearers of God’s Spirit it is always helpful to seek godly Christian counsel in making decisions.
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