Guidance

Packer gives us six pitfalls and some sound guidance on the topic of guidance. This is a mix of Packer & Warren (you can probably discern which is which!).
First the pitfalls:

1. Unwillingness to think, and an over-reliance on 'inward impressions'. Over the years, I've met many people who clearly think they have a super-spiritual hotline to God who tells them the sorts of things he never tells me! In fact, it's just that these people are controlled by feelings rather than thinkings, and the Bible doesn't tell us to feel our way to knowing God's will, but to think and consider; "Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways, and be wise!" (Prov. 6:6). This is a repeated theme throughout the Bible, and we ignore it at our peril.
2. Unwillingness to think ahead. I myself need to listen to this - I'm prone to act too quickly without thinking through the long-term consequences. "Listen to advice and accept instruction, and in the end you will be wise." Which leads into no. 3...
3. Unwillingness to take advice. Other people may be able to see us with greater objectivity and realism. Our heart may be ruling our head, and we need to hear some sound, rational, biblical sense. "The way of a fool seems right to him, but a wise man listens to advice." (Prov. 12:15).
4. Unwillingness to suspect oneself. Packer writes, ' 'Feelings', with an ego-boosting, or escapist, or self-indulging, or self-aggrandising base, must be dedected and discredited, not mistaken for guidance. This is especially true of sexual, or sexually conditioned, feelings. As a biologist-theologian has written, 'The joy and general sense of well-being that often (but not always) goes with 'being in love' can easily silence conscience and inhibit critical thinking. How often people say that they feel 'led' to get married...when all they are really describing is a particularly novel state of endocrine balance which makes them feel particularly sanguine and happy'.' "Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts." (Psa 139:23).
5. Unwillingness to discount personal magnetism. Just as we need to be aware of our own propensity to self-deception, so too we need to realise that others, while well-meaning, may be deceiving themselves, and others. This may be especially true in the arena of church leadership - a strong, magnetic leader can attract many blind followers. So Paul warns the Thessalonians, "Test everything; hold fast to what is good."
6. Unwillingness to wait. We are naturally impatient. But God's plans include eternity. The Thessalonians were suffering at the hands of some trouble-makers. Paul's advice is, be patient and persevere. God will judge the trouble-makers in his own time (see 1 Thes. 1).
   

But I do disagree with Packer on one point. "When in doubt", he says, "do nothing, but continue to wait on the Lord." There may be times when that is sound advice. But I can't say I was certain that God wanted me to be a physio, or go to Oak Hill, nor even St Peter's! If I'd waited for certainty, I might still be bored out of my skull (earning 'loads o' money'!) at Lloyd's of London. Sometimes, we have to act on the basis of sound advice from godly people, and on the basis that nothing in scripture forbids this particular course of action.

More on the theme of guidance tomorrow.