“Throughout all their journeys, whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the people of Israel would set out.” – Exodus 40:36
There was once a time when it was quite easy to literally follow God. When His visible cloud presence moved, the people of Israel got up and followed it. When it didn’t move, they didn’t move. Things are somewhat less obvious these days. However, following God doesn’t have to be as hard or mysterious as we sometimes make it! So how do we follow God in 2021?
To understand God’s will for your life, the path you should take, or a decision you should make, begin with God’s Word. God always wants you to do what He already said to do and to not do the things that He already said not to do. God is not random or chaotic – His revealed will doesn’t change. So know your Bible well. Read it daily to refresh yourself on what God has already told you. What does God’s Word say about your decision?
In your reading, pray for God’s Spirit to speak to you, to make particular passages stand out anew. Then do what He says. Don’t do what He says not to do. This addresses a surprisingly large percentage of our so-called dilemmas. Nonetheless, we do sometimes encounter decisions where two or more options are biblical, godly, moral, ethical, and legal. So, what then?
Invest significant time in prayer. Consider fasting to accompany your prayer. Ask God to lay verses on your heart for guidance. Ask Him which path will likely glorify Him more. Ask Him to speak to you. That’s seldom an audible voice. Instead, you’re asking Him to give you a prompting or impression of where He would have you go. Ask for clarity and discernment to make sure that impression isn’t coming from your own heart or the Adversary.
Ask God to speak to you through His people, then seek the advice of mature Christians you trust. Ask them to pray with you for a period of time and to share whatever God lays on their heart.
If you’re still unclear after searching God’s Word, seeking God’s will, and consulting God’s people, then perhaps it’s truly a matter of choice. In that case, make your decision, pray for God to be glorified in that choice, for Him to walk with you down that path, and for Him to give you the wisdom to realize if becomes the wrong choice.