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Study Three: The Conditions: Part One

Study Three: The Conditions: Part One

STUDY THREE

The Conditions: Part One

Read Exodus 3

God’s promises to guide cover every imaginable situation. All we need to do is take the hand he stretches out. But it is here that the hardest question arises: How, exactly, do I take his hand?

He has said over and over, “I will guide you.” But there are so many promises with conditions attached, conditions that seem impossible to fulfill. The promises seem to say, “I will give you the light you are asking for if . . .” When I read what follows the “if,” I find that a great deal is asked of me in exchange. Who does God think I am, that I can meet such demands before he will answer my prayer?

What are the conditions God attaches to the promises of his guidance? There are several.

The Recognition of Who God Is

Key thought: The best kind of beginning, when we are wanting to know the will of God, is to concentrate first on God himself. The briefest effort to do this will humble us.

  • Read Isaiah 43:14–15. Who is God according to this passage?

    How does knowing that God is your Redeemer help you trust in his guidance?

    How does knowing that God is your King help?

  • In Exodus 3:14 God reveals himself to Moses by the name Yahweh (the Lord). As Exodus 3 makes clear, Yahweh means “I am.” What does it mean to you that God is the great I am?
  • Immediately after revealing himself to Moses as I am, God promises to deliver the Israelites from their slavery in Egypt. How does this illustrate the guidance of God?

    • Belief

    Key thought: Faith means believing that God means what he says.

  • God has promised to guide you. Why is faith in this promise a precondition of accepting God’s guidance?
  • Is it possible to truly believe that God will guide you if you don’t have faith?
  • Describe a situation in which lack of faith kept you from accepting God’s guidance.

    • The Obedience of Faith

    Key thought: Even a casual look at God’s Word shows me that a relative goodness won’t do. I am none of the things I am told I need to be in order to expect God’s guidance. However, what we can’t do, Someone has done for us. Jesus is our Guide, and he is himself the Way.

  • Read Psalm 25:9–10. Whom has God promised to guide?

    Does this mean that you have to be good if you expect God to guide you? Why or why not?

  • Study Romans 8:9–16. Briefly describe what Paul is saying in this passage.

    According to this passage, who enables you to obey God?

    How does knowing this fact comfort you and assure you that God will guide you?

    • The Glory of the Name

    Key thought: If we did not have God’s unequivocal promise, the words “Guide me, for the sake of your name” would sound outrageously presumptuous. But the truth is that God said he would do just this. There is nothing presumptuous or precarious about it. The validity of the divine word is at stake, and that is a very sure foundation.

  • Write out Psalm 31:3.

    Why does the psalmist appeal to God’s name as a reason for asking him to provide guidance?

  • One of the names ascribed to God in Isaiah 9:6 is “Wonderful Counselor.” What is a counselor?

    How does knowing that God is a Wonderful Counselor assure you of his guidance?

    Read Isaiah 9:1–7. Who is this Wonderful Counselor? (See Matt. 4:12–16.)

    • Making a Beginning

    Key thought: To believe one thing—this one promise that God will guide us, for example—is a baby step. It is a beginning of a walk with God. The steps that follow will be like the first one in that they contain the element of faith. If God means it this time, he means it the next time. I take him at his word now, and I will hear another word tomorrow.

  • Hebrews 11:1 tells us that “faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see” (NIV). Why is it important to be sure and certain if you are going to take the steps of faith necessary to walk with God?
  • Think of what it is like to walk somewhere. Why is taking the first step so important?

    Why is it equally important that you don’t just take the first step?

  • The road of life may have varying degrees of difficulty. But the Pioneer has traveled it before us. There will be no ravines he cannot cross. He knows the way; he has been over every foot of it.

    How does knowing that Jesus has been over the road assure you that you can trust his guidance?

    • Applying God’s Truth to Your Life

  • What obstacles stand in the way of your recognizing that God will provide guidance for your life?
  • Reread Exodus 3. God promised to deliver the Israelites from their slavery in Egypt. From what forms of slavery do you want God to deliver you?
  • What is the most important lesson that you have learned from this study of the conditions for God’s guidance?

    • To Do This Week

    Each day identify a specific circumstance in your life in which you sense the need for God’s guidance. Pray that God will enable you to take the first step in trusting him to guide you in that circumstance.

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