Stuff That Matters In Life

When you are posed with several options or courses of action, and all of them are good, how do you decide which one God wants you to choose? How do you determine God’s will?

I’ve been reading biographies of famous Christians, the children’s versions in story form. They are easy and fun to read, so engaging that you wouldn’t want to put it down. It only takes a few hours to read one.

So far I’ve read George Muller, C.S. Lewis, Gladys Aylward, Hudson Taylor, Mary Slessor, Amy Carmichael, William Carey, and John Wesley.  The life stories of these missionaries and influential leaders gave me a glimpse of how God lead people’s lives, those who were committed to serve Him.

For Hudson Taylor, he was very sure God spoke to him and told him to go to China. Often when he had to make a decision, he would pray until he got an answer from God. He would get impressions from God on specifically what to do.

William Carey, on the other hand, seemed to have much the course of life determined by circumstances. For instance, he was called to India, but his wife did not want to go. He was ready to go without her, but at the dock to board the ship to India, he was not allowed to go on without the required permit.  Circumstances delayed his trip, allowing time for his wife to change her mind, and for additional money to come in that paid for her fare to eventually go with him to India.

While Hudson Taylor and William Carey had a very definite place they felt God called them to, Amy Carmichael changed her place of ministry a couple of times. At first, she wanted to go to China. But instead she served 15 months in Japan. Though her work in Japan was thriving, she felt called to India, where she ended up the rest of her life.

I understand that these children’s version biographies are limited. They cannot give the details of these missionaries’ lives. I am sure their decision making processes of being led by God were much more complex and deeply more personal than a couple hundred pages of narrative can describe. But still, it made me think, and I saw a bit of how God works from these stories.

1. Open and closed doors of circumstances is only one of the ways God speaks, though it seems to be the most practical way. Most people depend on circumstances to decide for them, that if the opportunity is not there, then it must not be God’s will. Gladys Aylward proved that wrong. She felt so strongly called to China that after she was rejected by mission organizations, she saved up money working as a maid for almost a year, bought her own ticket and went to China on her own. How many of us would’ve taken the rejection of missionary organizations as a No from God? After all, the people on the board who advised her not to go were Christians. Lack of resources and support, and no experience and training did not stop Gladys Aylward. A female traveling by herself, she encountered danger and near death experiences going through war zones in Russia, yet she made it to China. Against all odds, she became a woman of influence in China that even Hollywood took notice. Her life was made into a movie starring Ingrid Bergman (The Inn of Sixth Happiness.) Amazing!

2. That brings me to the second point, that you should not approach seeking God’s will with a formula. God is a person. If you want to know what he wants, you have to get to know him. That’s the privilege we have, and the beauty of it, as children of God. He is not a God who is afar and unknowable. He can do more than what you can imagine.

3. There is always a risk. Even if you know for certain God’s will, the road ahead is not easy. And troubles along the way does not mean you chose wrong. The missionaries suffered severe storms on the ships going to their destination, they were persecuted, rejected, had difficulties with other Christians. Determining God’s will for your life doesn’t mean choosing a trouble-free life.

4. If you truly want to serve God, you can do that anywhere. You can’t go wrong wherever you end up.  On the 4-month trip from England to China, Hudson Taylor and his team brought just about every crew member on the ship to the Lord, including the most belligerent first mate. “Our minds are kept in peace as to the future.” Hudson Taylor wrote. “Were we never to reach China, we should all rejoice in the work God has done on the Lammermuir.”

5. Seeking God’s will is not passively waiting for something to happen. Gladys worked overtime, and ate sparingly to save money for her travel expenses. Hudson Taylor went for medical training in London because he knew those skills will be useful in China. William Carey learned other languages that helped him later in translation work. Someone said, God cannot steer a parked car. I wouldn’t say that he can’t, but it makes more sense to keep moving forward, and it’ll be easier to see where to make the turn.