Tuesday, October 20, 2015
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It's not uncommon for me to meet a truck driver who says, "Yeah, as I travel across the country I know what station you're on and we listen to that program. I listen to Christian radio across the country." Well, that's nice to hear. And so I've learned from truckers, of course, that CB radio is very important to them. Actually, a few years ago, there was a national craze of CB radio. And we actually picked up some words in our vocabulary from that time. The CB invasion left us with words like a policeman is called a "Smokey." Your name is your "handle." When everything's OK, you're supposed to say, "10/4 good buddy." I like the phrase that CB'ers use when they want to see if you're tuned in. They say something like this, "You got your ears on?"
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "When You Need To Know God's Will."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from 1 Samuel 9. In this chapter, God wants to introduce a young man named Saul to his destiny. He's about to become, by God's choosing, the first king of Israel. Now, God needs to get him to His representative, Samuel, so Saul can find out what his assignment's going to be. And we see what made Saul a man that God would turn to - to be Israel's king. It's a trait that will serve you well if you need to know God's will right now, and I'll bet you do.
First Samuel chapter 9, some excerpts, "Now the donkeys belonging to Saul's father, Kish, were lost. And Kish said to his son, Saul, 'Take one of the servants with you and go out and look for the donkeys.'" Well, they went out and looked, and looked, and looked. And it says, "When they reach the district of Zuph, Saul said to the servant who was with him, 'Come, let's go back or my father will stop thinking about the donkeys and start worrying about us.' But the servant replied, 'Look, in this town there's a man of God. He's highly respected, and everything he says comes true. Let's go there now. Perhaps he will tell us the way to take.'"
Well, they begin to do that. Saul says, "'Let's go.' So they set out for the town where the man of God was. And as they were going up the hill to the town, they meet some girls coming out to draw water. And they asked them, 'Is the prophet here?'" And the story goes on to say that they asked the advice of these girls in finding where Samuel was.
Now, let's stop. There's a valuable trait here. Maybe you saw it in Saul. He's got his ears on "good buddy." Everywhere he goes he's listening for the advice that will lead him to God's will. He listens to his servant's advice. He's not too proud to seek the advice of a man of God. In fact, he'll even seek information from some little girls. A person is leadable by God when his ears are always open to a word from the Lord; when He's always tuned to the Lord's channel.
You never know where God's direction's going to come from. It might come from someone who works for you or with you. It might come from a Christian, or maybe through an unbeliever. Maybe it'll come from a godly stranger. It could come from a child, as part of it did here for Saul. Maybe from a radio program you just happened to pick up, an article you read, or a family member.
Maybe you're wondering, as it says in this passage, what way to take. You say, "Well, I'm just not sure what God wants right now." Well, get your spiritual ears on and listen for His voice everywhere you go, with everyone you're meeting.
You know, Jesus said several times in John 10, "My sheep listen to My voice and they follow Me." And He said, "They know my voice." You've got to be able to recognize the voice of God speaking to you throughout the day. You know how you do that? You recognize voices you listen to a lot don't you; the people you hear all the time? They don't even have to tell you who it is. You need to be spending time in God's Word on a regular basis so you know how to recognize the voice of God.
Look, it's not the whole answer to finding God's will. But it is the next step. I mean, each of these people had something to say from God - the people that were in Saul's pathway. They gave him the clue as to the next step in God's plan. That's how God leads you. Take a step, see a step. Take a step, see a step.
You never know who God's going to use to show you that next step. So, always stay tuned to His channel, waiting for the message He wants to give you. Got your ears on?