God's Way and How to Find it

"There is a path which no fowl knoweth and which the vulture's eye hath not seen:
The lion's whelps have not trodden it nor the fierce lion passed by it". Job 28:7-8.
What a wonderful blessing for those who really desire to walk with God, to know
that there is a way for us to walk in! God has prepared a pathway for us in which we may
walk with all possible certainty, calmness and fixedness. It is the obligation, no duty of
every child of God, every servant of Christ, to be sure that he is walking in God's way. This
may seem a strong statement; but the question is, Is it true? If it is true, it cannot be too
strong. No doubt it may, in the judgment of some, seem a little overly self
confident...dogmatic perhaps that in such a day as in which we live, and in the midst of such
a scene through which we are passing, that we are sure of being in God's path. But does
Scripture tell us? It declares "there is a way", and it also tells us how to find and how to
walk in that way. Yes; the same voice that tells us of God's plan for our salvation, tells us
also of God's pathway for our feet; – the very same authority that assures us that He that
believeth on the Son of God shall have everlasting life", (John 3:36) assures us also that
there is a way so plain that "the wayfaring men, though fools shall not err therein"(Isaiah
35:8).
This is a great mercy – a mercy at all times, but especially in the day of confusion and
perplexity like the present. We are deeply affected to note the state of uncertainty in which
many of God's people are found at the present moment. Now this is not referring to the
question of salvation, but that we have now before us this path, the Example of one who
walked in Truth – If He lived in this day and age, what He should do, where He should be
found, how He ought to carry himself in the midst of the lack of Truth around us. These are
things that are lost to many of us. There are many of us who, were we to tell the true
feelings of our hearts, would have admit that we were in a thoroughly unsettled state – to
confess that we know not what to do, or where to go, or how to temper ourselves of our
humanity? Now, the question is, Would God leave His children, would Christ leave His
servants, in such darkness and confusion?
Does a servant know the will of his master? Does a child not know the will of his
father? And if this is true in our present relationships, how much more may we count upon it
in reference to our Father and Master in Heaven. When Israel of emerged from the Red Sea,
and stood upon the edge of that great and terrible wilderness which lay between them and
the land of promise, how were they to know their way? The trackless sand of the desert lay
all around them. It was vain to look for any footprint there. It was a dreary waste in which
the vulture's eye could not discern a pathway. Moses felt this when he said to Hobab,
"Leave us not, I pray thee; forasmuch as thou knowest how we are to encamp in the
wilderness, and thou mayest be to us instead of eyes" (Numbers 10:31). How well our poor
hearts should understand this touching appeal! How we crave a human guide in this midst of
perplexity! How fondly the heart desires for one whom we deem competent to give us
guidance in moments of darkness and difficulty!
And yet, we may ask, what did Moses want with Hobab's eyes? Had not God
graciously undertaken to be their guide? Yes, truly; for we are told in Numbers chapter 9
starting at verse 15 that "On the day that the tabernacle was reared up, the cloud covered
the tabernacle; Namely the tent of the testimony, and at evening, there was upon the
tabernacle as it were the appearance of fire, until the morning. So it was alway: the cloud
covered it by day, and the appearance of fire by night. And when the cloud was taken up
from the tabernacle, then after that the children of Israel journeyed; and in the place where
the cloud abode, there the children of Israel pitched their tents. At the commandment of the
Lord the children of Israel journeyed, and at the commandment of the Lord they pitched: as
long as the cloud abode upon the tabernacle, they rested in their tents. And when the cloud
tarried long upon the tabernacle many days, then the children of Israel kept the charge of the
Lord, and journeyed not. And so it was, when the cloud was a few days on the tabernacle;
according to the commandment of the Lord they abode in their tents, and according to the
commandment of the Lord they journeyed. And so it was, when the cloud abode from even
unto the morning, and that the cloud was taken up in the morning, then they journeyed;
whether it was by day or by night that the cloud was taken up, they journeyed. Or whether it
were two days, or a month, or a year, that the cloud tarried upon the tabernacle, remaining
thereon, the children of Israel abode in their tents and journeyed not, but when it was taken
up they journeyed. At the commandment of the Lord they journeyed: they kept the charge of
the Lord at the commandment of the Lord by the hand of Moses" (Numbers 9:15-23).
Here was divine guidance – a guidance, we could say, quite sufficient to render them
independent of their own eyes, of Hobab's eyes, and the eyes of any other. What touching
grace is here! and yet what faithlessness! Moses asked Hobab to be their guide, and that, in
the very face of God's provision – even the cloud and the silver trumpet, then will God leave
His place in the centre of the tribes, and go before them to search them out a resting-place.
And did not He know the wilderness well? Would not He be better for them than ten
thousand Hobabs? Might they not fully trust Him? Assuredly. He would not lead them
astray. If His grace had redeemed them from Egypt's bondage, and conducted them through
the Sea, surely they might confide in the same grace to guide them across that great and
terrible wilderness, and bring them safely into the land flowing with milk and honey.
But we must remember that, in order to profit by divine guidance, there must be the
abandonment of our own will, and of all confidence in our own reasonings, as well as all
confidence in the thoughts and reasonings of others. If we have God as our Guide, we do
not need our own eyes or the eyes of a Hobab either. God is sufficient: We can trust Him.
He knows the way across the desert; and hence, if we keep our eye upon Him, we shall be
guided in light.
But this leads us on to the second division of our subject, namely, How are we to find
God's way? An all-important question, surely. Where are we to turn to find God's pathway?
If the vulture's eye, so keen, so powerful, so far-seeing, hath not seen it – if the young lion,
so vigorous in movement, so majestic, hath not trodden it – if a man knoweth not the price
of it, and if it is not to be found in the land of the living – if our minds say, It is not in us, – if
it cannot be gotten for gold or precious stones – if the wealth of the universe cannot equal it,
and no man can discover it – then where are we to turn? where shall we find it?
Should we turn to those great standards of orthodoxy which rule the thought and
feeling of millions throughout the length and breadth of the world? Is this wondrous
pathway of wisdom to be found with them? Do they form any exception to the great, broad,
sweeping rule of Job 28? Assuredly not.
What, then, are we to do? We know there is a way. God, who cannot lie, declares
this, and I believe it; but where are we to find it?
"Whence, then, cometh wisdom? and where is the place of understanding? seeing it
is hid from the eyes of all living, and kept closed from the fowls of the air.
Destruction and Death say, We have heard the fame thereof with our ears". (Job
28:20-22).
Does it not seem like a hopeless case for any poor ignorant mortal to search for this
wondrous pathway? No, it is by no means a hopeless case, for
"He understandeth the way thereof, and He knoweth the place thereof. For He
looketh to the ends of the earth, and seeth under the whole heaven; to make the
weight for the winds; and He weigheth the waters by measure. When He made a
decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder, then did He see it
and declare it; He prepared it, yea, and searched it out. And unto man He said,
'Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is
understanding'". (Job 28:23-28).
Here, then, we find the secret of wisdom: "The fear of the Lord". This sets our
conscience directly in the presence of God, which is its only true place. Our heart and mind
try to keep our conscience out of this place – to bring it under the power and authority of
man – to lead it into subjection to the world around us – to thrust in something between the
conscience and the authority of God, it matters not what it is; it may be a justification of our
actions within a hint of the Truth – it may be the opinion of a fellow Christadelphian–
anything, in short, to come in and usurp, in the heart, the place which belongs to God's
Word alone. This is a terrible snare, and a stumbling-block – a most serious hindrance to
our progress in the ways of the Lord. God's Word must rule us – God's pure and simple
Word, not man's interpretation thereof. No doubt, God may use a man to unfold that Word
to my heart; but then it is not man's unfolding of God's Word that rules me, but God's Word
by man unfolded. This is of all importance.
We must be exclusively taught and exclusively governed by the Word of the living
God. Nothing else will keep us straight, or give solidity and consistency to our character
and course as Christadelphians. There is a strong tendency within and around us to be ruled
by the standards of men; By the opinions of others around us. Those standards and opinions
may have a large amount of Truth as thier basis– they may be all Truth so far as they go; but
that is not the point in question now. What we want to impress upon the each other is, that
we are not to be governed by the thoughts of our fellow-man, but simply and solely by the
Word of God. It is of no value to hold a truth from man; We must hold it directly from God
Himself. God may use a man to communicate His truth; but unless I hold it as from God, it
has no divine power over my heart and conscience; it does not bring me into living contact
with God, but actually hinders that contact by bringing in something between my mind and
His authority.
In the eleventh chapter of Luke, we find the points which will allow us to understand
a little better how to find God's way. If you would like to turn with me now to the Eleventh
chapter of Luke Verses 34-36, We will quote the passage at length.
"The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole
body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of
darkness. Take heed, therefore, that the light which is in thee be not darkness. If
thy whole body therefore be full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be
full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light". (Luke
11:34-36).
Here, then, we are furnished with the true secret of discerning God's way. It may
seem very difficult, in the midst of the troubled sea of humanity, to steer our course right. So
many conflicting voices fall on our ears. So many opposing views solicit our attention, men
may differ so in judgment, shades of opinion are so multiplied, that it seems impossible to
reach a sound conclusion. We may justify our action and reactions with one quote from
scripture then refute it with another. We go to one man who, so far as we can judge, seems
to have a single eye, and he tells us one thing; we go to another man who also seems to
have a single eye, and he tells the very reverse. What, then, are we to think? Well, one
thing is certain, that our own eye is not single when we are running, in uncertainty and
perplexity, from one man to another. The single eye is fixed on God alone, and thus our
heart is filled with the light of Truth. The Israelite in the desert did not to run here and there
to consult with his fellow as to the right way. Each had the same divine guide, namely, the
pillar of cloud by day, and the pillar of fire by night. In a word, God Himself was the
infallible Guide of each member of the congregation. They were not left to the guidance of
the most intelligent, wise, or experienced man in the assembly; neither were they left to
follow their own way; each was to follow the Lord. The silver trumpet announced to all
alike the mind of God; and no one whose ear was open and attentive was left at any loss.
The eye and the ear of each were to be directed to God alone, and not to anything else. This
was the secret of guidance in the wilderness of old, and this is the secret of guidance in the
vast moral wilderness through which we are passing now. One man may say, Listen to me;
and another may say, Listen to me; and a third may say, Let each one take his own way.
The obedient heart says, in opposition to all, I must follow the Lord.
This makes all so simple. It will not, by any means, tend to foster a spirit of
independence; quite the reverse. The more we are taught to lean on God alone for guidance,
the more we shall distrust and look away from ourselves; and this, assuredly, is not
independence. It will deliver us from the servile following of man, by making us feel our
responsibility to God alone. And this is precisely what is so much needed at the present
moment. The more closely we examine the events that are unfolding around us, the more we
shall be convinced of our personal need of entire subjection to God’s authority, which is
only another name for "the fear of the Lord", or, "a single eye".
There is one brief sentence, in the opening of the Acts of the Apostles, which
furnishes a perfect antidote to the self-will and the servile fear of man, and that is, "We must
obey God". What an utterance! "We must obey". This is the cure for self-will. "We must
obey God". This the cure for servile subjection to our hearts and minds. There must be
obedience; but obedience to what? To God's authority, and to that alone. Thus we are
preserved from the influence of our hearts on the one hand, and minds on the other. our
Hearts say, Do as you like. Our minds say, Do as you are told. Faith says, "We must obey
God".
It is our duty to be as sure that we have our Master's mind as to our path as that we
have His Word for the security of our hearts. If not, where are we? Is it not our
responsibility to have a single eye? Yes, surely. And what then? "A body full of light".
Now, if my body is full of light, can my mind be full of perplexity? Impossible. The two
things are wholly incompatible; and hence, when we are plunged "in dark uncertainty", it is
very plain our eye is not single. We may seem very sincere, we may be very anxious to be
guided aright; but we may rest assured there is the lack of a single eye – that indispensable
prerequisite to guidance from God. The Word is plain – "If thine eye is single, thy whole
body also is full of light" (1 Corinthians 12:16).
God will ever guide the humble and obedient; but on the other hand, if we do not
walk according to the light communicated, we shall fall into darkness. Light not acted upon
becomes darkness, and oh, "how great the darkness"! Nothing is more dangerous than
tampering with the light which God gives. It must, sooner or later, lead to the most
disastrous consequences.
"Take heed, therefore, that the light which is in thee be not darkness". "Hear ye,
and give ear: be not proud; for the Lord hath spoken. Give glory to the Lord your
God, before He cause darkness, and before your feet stumble on the dark
mountains, and while ye look for light, He turn it into the shadow of death, and
make it gross darkness". (Jeremiah 13:15-16).
This is deeply solemn. What a contrast between a man having a single eye, and a man
not acting on the light which God has given him! The one has his heart full of light; the other
has his heart full of darkness. The one has no part dark; the other is plunged in gross
darkness. The one is a light-bearer for others; the other is a stumbling block in the way. We
know nothing more solemn than the judicial acting of God, in actually turning our light into
darkness, because we have refused to act on the light which He has been pleased to impart.
We need to act with that light and give glory to God".
Remember, God never gives light for two steps at a time. If he has given us light for
one step, then, in the fear and love of His Name, take that one step, and we will assuredly
get more light. But if we refuse to act, the light which is in each of us will become
darkness, our feet will stumble on the dark mountains which lie on either side of the straight
and narrow path of obedience; and we will become a stumbling-block in the path of others.
The way is plain. "The fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is
understanding". Let each one hear and obey for himself the voice of the Lord. "My sheep
hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me". Let us praise God for this precious
Word! It puts each one in the place of direct responsibility to God Himself; it tells us plainly
what is God's way, and, just as plainly, how to find it.