I'm sure you figured out that life is filled with many, many, many decisions. Many of life's decisions seem to be pretty inconsequential, at least it seems so at the time. I mean, what clothes you chose to wear today, what you decide to do for lunch, whether you mowed your lawn on one day or the next. For most point, those decisions really don't seem to matter a whole lot. We realize that there are other decisions that have far-reaching consequences. The decision about your path in life. Whether or not after high school to go right into an occupation and then that question is what occupation? Or for some it might be the fact that you choose the track of college and further education and so then the question is what college? Then there are decisions to be made about marriage, and if you're going to be married, then whom do you marry? What kind of person do you marry? How many children should you have? Where should you live? How should you school your children? And the list of those decisions go on and on and on. And of course, we want to know, how do we make the right decision? With all of those choices that are out there, how do we make the right decision? Because of the consequences, we realize that there are consequences to these decisions. So we want to know how do we make those decisions? Maybe you've run across individuals who say, you know, I'm looking to make this decision in my life and I'm looking for a sign. Some sort of sign to give me direction, because I don't want to make a wrong decision. And there are individuals then who you might be aware of who who look to signs and horoscopes. They pick up the paper and go to a store and they read a horoscope to determine just what is it that I'm supposed to do. Now, you've probably figured out that those are pretty generic horoscopes, aren't they? If you walk out your door today, you will meet someone. Be nice to them. You know, those are pretty generic. Or you go to a Chinese restaurant and you get the Chinese fortune cookie and you open it up to see what is in store for you. Other individuals would look at astrology or they go to palm readers or tarot card readers, and it goes on and on and on, looking for some direction in their life. Others will talk about looking for a sign that maybe God has some sign for me. They may not be followers of Jesus Christ, but they're looking for a sign. Those of us who have come to know Jesus Christ as our Savior understand that what we do and the decisions that we make in life are truly important. And we are looking to God to give us direction in life. And we would ask perhaps a similar question. So how do we know what we should do? What is God's will for my life and how will I know it? Do I look for a sign or do we just sort of bump through life hoping somehow that we make all the right decisions, that we go to the right school or we choose the right occupation or we marry the right person? How do we make those kinds of decisions? How do we know God's will for our life? That's a fundamental question, isn't it? How do we know God's will for our life? How do you know God's will for your life and decisions that you are facing even at this point? Well, that's a critical question. Certainly as a follower of Christ, we want to know that. And and for others who maybe are not yet followers of Jesus, they want to know what is the decision that I need to make? What what is the decision that's the right one for my life? We want to take you to a passage this morning that we see how an individual looks for decision in his life, for the will of God in his life, although we're going to, first of all, see some negatives. And then we want to look at the positive. So I invite you to grab a Bible and we return back to the book of Judges. Judges chapter six, and we'll be focusing in this morning on verses 36 down through verse 40. And just by way of a backup to get a run at where we are in this passage, if you were with us last week, we understood that Gideon was a man that was in hiding because the enemy would come into Israel. every harvest season and would steal all the crops, would confiscate the crops, would take the animals, would take everything of value, and they would return back to their land. They would just devastate the land. And so this had been going on for seven years. And the people of God cried out to God, asking God to raise up a deliverer for them, to release them from the hand of the Midianites. And so God told Gideon that Gideon was going to be that individual. Now, Gideon was a man who was very fearful. We saw that he was harvesting or he was winnowing his crops in a wine press. That is not where you winnow crops. He's in the wrong place. Why was he there? Because he was fearful. He was afraid. And so we see in this point that here is an individual. who is fearful of what is going on in his life, and yet God says to him, Gideon, I'm going to use you to free the people of Midian. I will use you to make a difference in their lives. So with that kind of a background, we pick up in verse 36. And Gideon said to God, if you will deliver Israel through me as you have spoken, behold, I will put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece only and it is dry on the ground, I will know that you will deliver Israel through me as you have spoken. So what did Gideon say? He said, OK, I know, God, what you've said, but I just want to really confirm that. So what I'm going to do is I'm going to take a fleece. I'm going to take some wool from a sheep and I'm going to put it on the threshing floor. And what I would like for you to do, God, is that overnight I want you to put a lot of dew into that fleece. And the next morning when I get up, I want the threshing floor around me dry. And I would like for that wool to be very, very wet. And then I'll know that you really want me to go. And we see in verse 38, God did it. And it was so. And when he rose early the next morning and squeezed out the fleece that drained the dew from the fleece and a bowl full of water, it wasn't just damp. I mean, there was enough water in that fleece that when he squeezed it out, when he wrung it out, it came out with a bowl of water. And then in verse 39, Gideon gets to thinking and he says, you know, I think God did that, but that's the easier of the two things. I mean, we would expect that if there's rain overnight or do overnight that that the hard ground, it would evaporate off of that quicker than it would out of the wool. Therefore, maybe maybe it was just coincidence. So let me reverse that, God, and how about if we do it this way, you make the fleece dry and you make the ground wet when I come back tomorrow. So we reverse that because that seems to be a little bit harder. And that's verse 39, Gideon said to God, don't let your anger burn against me that I may speak once more. Please make it this test one more time with the fleece. Let it now be dry only on the fleece and let the dew be on the ground. And God did that that night for it was dry on the fleece and the dew was on the ground. Now, this is where we get that phrase, and even people who don't know the Bible get the phrase putting out the fleece. looking for some sort of sign, what kind of sign might God be giving to me so that I might know how to make decisions, what decisions I ought to make before God. I need to know those. I don't want to make a mistake. So I'm going to put out some tests before God to see that God might work. And that way I know what he wants me to do. For example. We might have an individual who's not a believer, who's laying on his bed in his college dorm and he's thinking, I wonder if there really is a God. OK, God, how about if you really exist? How about if you make my lights flicker? You would run across people like that, you know, God, if you're really there, how about if you do something supernatural? Maybe you're thinking about purchasing a different vehicle. Your car is wearing out, and the repair bills are just driving you nuts. And so you say, I need to get a new vehicle. And so you decide, I'm going to get this new vehicle. Not sure what I want to get yet. And so you're sitting down and watching TV, and lo and behold, across the television screen comes a commercial from somebody selling vehicles. You say, aha, there it is. There's a sign from God that that's the place I need to go, and that's the vehicle I need to purchase. Maybe you're praying about a partner for life, a companion for life, and you've been in the process of doing this. And as you just kind of keep praying, lo and behold, your telephone rings and it's a coworker from your work. And and she's just calling to follow up on a project that you've been working on together. And so you say, well, you know, that's kind of unique. I haven't really heard from her before at home. And so, God, is this a sign from you that she's to be that one that I ought to marry? Or a 32-year-old single woman's been dating an individual for a long period of time, and the individual's not really one who's walking with God, but she realizes that the choices are getting fewer and fewer, and she doesn't want to go through life all by herself, so she makes this determination before God. She thinks she loves Him, and she knows that He is on His way over to propose to her. She's really sure that that's going to happen, and she knows what the Bible says. And yet she says this, God, if you really don't want me to marry him, don't let him make it here tonight. You know, make make him stay later at work or have a flat tire or traffic. I know what the Bible says. I know what that says. But if you really don't want me to do it, how about if you do this? Is that the way God works? Well, as we look at this passage, in fact, there for some time, this passage was used kind of as, well, let's let's lay out the fleece. Friends, that is not how God is intending us to go about determining his will, because you will notice there are some problems in this particular passage and in the way in which Gideon is responding. Number one, Gideon wasn't ignorant of God's will. God had spoken very clearly to him. Go back to verse 16 and 17 of Judges chapter six. And the Lord said to him, surely I will be with you and you shall defeat Midian as one man. So Gideon said to him, if I have now found favor in your sight, then show me a sign. Gideon is looking for signs. He said, God, I know what you said. But how about a sign? You're clear, there's no question, but how about a sign? And then we go down to verse 36, and he says, I know what you've spoken. See, if you will deliver Israel through me as you have spoken, and we see Gideon doing that again. So this was not a statement of faith on Gideon's part. It wasn't the fact that he was ignorant of God's will. This is a statement of doubt. God, I really don't believe you. I know what you've said, but I really don't believe you. So how about doing something supernatural? How about doing something miraculous so that you can give me this other sign? You see, what happens is we begin to dictate to God certain parameters of what God has to do. I heard about a Bible college that was looking to purchase a building, and so they went on record of doing this. They said, OK, God, we need X number of dollars, a hundred thousand dollars by this particular day. If you give us one hundred thousand dollars by this date, then we will know that that is a sign from you that we ought to buy this building. Well, that date came. They did not have one hundred thousand dollars, but they had ninety thousand dollars. Now, what do you do? Where did that come from? Was God in it or not? Ninety thousand dollars is a pretty good chunk of change, don't you think? Percentage wise, it's really good. So where did it come from? Did God provide their need or not? God, if you want me to really do this, have that individual call by ten o'clock tonight. Well, that person calls at ten oh five. Hmm. Does God want me to do it or not? Or the person calls at nine fifty nine. Now, was that God or was that Satan or were you being deceived or what do you do? You see, God doesn't lead us to work through this process of science. He does give to us principles in scripture, and I want to share those with you. So my point to you is do not go out looking for science. You've had a really tough day at work. It's been a tough week, and now it's coming Friday, and you think, man, I don't know if I can handle this anymore. OK, God, if I'm driving down the road and the stoplight is red, that means I need to turn around. I'm going to just turn in my resignation. If the light's green, I go on through. Heard about the guy who was trying to determine God's will, and he he wanted to buy a particular car. And so he had made this deal with God. God, I'm going to flip a coin. If it's heads, I get to buy the car. If it's tails, I don't buy the car. Flips a coin, comes up tails, picks it up again and says, how about God? Two out of three. You see, we're not designed, God hasn't created us, God hasn't designed that we look for special signs out there. So what does God want us to know? I want to give you some principles this morning that you can use that are found in scripture of how we can know God's will for our lives, for your life. Some of them are general toward everybody, but some of them will be specific towards you. So I would encourage you to give these serious considerations as you determine before God, what is the next step for me? God, I'm coming to the end of my high school years. I'm beginning to look at a college. What college do I go to? That's important. God, I'm coming to the end of my high school years and I'm thinking you're taking me off into an occupation. That's important. Where do you want me to go? Where can I use the gifts and abilities that you've given to me most appropriately? Looking at marriage, God, this individual, I'm interested in them. And do I is this a person that you have for me or not? That's important. Children, how do we raise our children? Those are important questions. So I want you to see this morning some of these principles that God gives to us by which we can determine God's will for your life, God's will for my life. This is foundational, by the way, do not do not miss the fact that we pray about these things. Prayer isn't just a routine that you tag on because, well, you're supposed to do it because God does use prayer to begin to move and motivate and change and help us to see things more clearly than we had seen before. So prayer is to be part of every one of these principles. But the foundational principle, absolutely bedrock, number one, don't miss it. Begin with the absolutes of scripture. What has God said? There are absolutes in this book that God will not violate. God will not. You will not read through this and say, well, God says to do this, but I really feel I ought to do that. God will not contradict himself, so we look for the absolutes of scripture. Well, what are some of the absolutes of scripture? Number one, God wants us to know him personally. He wants us to be saved. God desires for every single human being to be part of his family. That is given to us in the Bible. God wants you to become a follower of Jesus Christ. That's why Jesus came into our world. That's why he died on the cross. I'm not talking about merely a mental aspiration or a mental thought about who Jesus might be. I'm talking about coming to the point where you personally give your life to Christ. We're going to hear a story about that a little bit later on in a baptism this morning of a young person who came to know Christ. We heard that story from four individuals in the first service. They understood that we are sinners in need of a savior and we need what Jesus did on the cross. Secondly, not only are we to come to know Christ, secondly, God's desire is that you might walk closely with Christ. This is all part of the absolutes of scripture. It is God's will that we would grow in a relationship. You see, we don't just trust Jesus here and then sort of slide through the rest of life. It's to be a growing walk with Christ during our life. So some of those are absolutes, and the Bible gives us other absolutes. For example, the Ten Commandments are in there for a reason. We don't say, well, you know, God, it's been a really difficult time for me, and I'm not able to make ends meet, and maybe if I just take a few funds and borrow some funds from the business, and then I'll pay them back later, then I can do it. Maybe that's God's way of providing for my needs. No, the Bible says don't steal. You see, there are absolutes in scripture that God will not violate. So start with the absolutes. That means that we have to spend some time in here. And as we pray, we may come across some of those things that really deal with what we're being challenged to evaluate. So what about the other areas that are that are more subjective, like marriage and occupation and college and decisions and those kinds of things? Well, second point, number one, start with the absolutes of scripture. Secondly, Consider the precepts of Scripture. Consider the precepts of Scripture. There are some things in the Bible, there are many principles in the Bible that are not a command per se. Thou shalt do this or thou shalt not do that. But there are principles in the Bible. You find them in Proverbs, the book of Proverbs has many, many principles that are applicable to us today. The New Testament are filled with principles from Scripture. You know, God, I'm this this house. I'd really like a bigger house. You know, I think it would be nice if I had a bigger house. And I begin to evaluate and I look at as I find one, but it's outside of my price range. Well, God, if you drop a twenty thousand dollars, even though it's still out of my price range, if you drop a twenty thousand dollars, is that God signed to me? Well, if it's still outside of the ability for me to handle, Proverbs says a lot about handling finances. And not putting ourselves in that kind of situation, we we consider marriage. Well, God gives to us principles that are given there very specifically that we are to consider those who are walking closely with Christ, if a person is not walking closely with Christ. It's not God's will for our life, you see, there are principles that are included for us. Now, don't use the Bible to proof text. You know, I'm thinking about marrying somebody. Oh, there's the word Deborah. Maybe that person's to be Deborah. Heard this past week and I'm sure it's apocryphal. but of an individual who was driving through a town and he was on his way, he was broke, he didn't really know what to do, he had an old beat up car and it was rusting apart and falling apart, he had no money to fix it, all his belongings were in his vehicle and he stopped by a church and he went in to see the preacher and he said, look, he said, I've just lost it all, I don't have any money, I don't have any funds, I don't have a job, my car's shot, I don't have a house, I'm not even sure what I'm supposed to do. So I'm looking for God's will, can you give me a sign? The preacher said to him, I'll tell you what I want you to do. I want you to take your your your beach chair and put it in your car and take your Bible and put in your car and drive down to the beach. And I want you to sit on the beach and open up the Bible and let the winds blow back and forth. And after about 10 or 15 minutes of prayer and winds blowing the pages back and forth, I want you to take your finger and just go on that on a particular passage or word or or phrase. And whatever it is that your finger lands, I said, that's that's what I think God's will is for your life. We didn't see the man for about a year. About a year later, the man's traveling back through the really fine automobile, comes in wearing really nice clothes. And the preacher is really rather shocked to see something like that happen. And so he said to the man, he said, did you do what I told you to do? Did you go down and sit on the beach and and let the wind blow through your Bible leaf through the Bible and put your finger and said, absolutely. And the preacher said to him, well, well, what happened? What was the phrase that transformed your life? I see you driving a fine vehicle and I see your clothes are changed. You said when I stuck my finger on the page and opened my eyes, there it was. Chapter 11. Chapter 11. That's bankruptcy, fans. Well, let me tell you something, the Bible will not lead you to do that and walk away from obligations that you have. All right. So we consider the precepts of scripture. Thirdly, consider God's providence. You see, if you are a child of God, God will be leading you. God will lead you through different ways. And we often use the terms opening a door or closing a door. You know, it's pretty neat to observe individuals who who give their lives to Christ and then to see how God works in their lives and brings two individuals, maybe whose paths diverted for a while and and brought brings them back together. How God opens. It seems at times they were coincidences, but it was God who was superintending their lives and brought them back together. Open doors and closed doors, the providence of God, the way that God works in our lives, if we are walking with him. Have you experienced those? I trust you have. You prayed about something, God opened the door, you prayed about something else and God closed the door. Now, don't misunderstand. Just because something is easy doesn't mean it's an open door. And just because something is hard does not mean that it's a closed door. The Apostle Paul, for example, as he writes in Second Corinthians chapter two, verse 12 and 13, he talks about an opportunity that he had for ministry. He said there was a tremendously open door for ministry, but I had no peace in my heart. And so he bypassed what was considered to be something that we might say, well, that's easy. That's an open door. One of the things that challenges me, you remember when in the Old Testament where David is running from Saul? He's running for his life from Saul and he's hiding out in caves. And on at least a couple of occasions, David's hiding in the back of a cave and Saul comes in that exact same cave and David's advisors are saying, God has given him into your hand, kill him. How did David know that that was not God's will? because he went back to the absolutes of scripture. You see, you do not interpret events around us back into scripture. You take the absolutes of scripture and look into the events that happened to say, could this be? And David understood that it was God who takes up kings and God who sets down kings. And the king belonged to God. And it was God who needed to elevate. Therefore, he did not kill Saul. When he had that opportunity, even though his advisors were telling him to do it because it would have been a violation of the biblical principles of God. He was walking closely enough with God that he could hear God. So just because something seems easy doesn't necessarily mean it's an open door, but it might be. And just because something seems hard does not mean that it's a closed door, though it might be. We often have this tendency when we hit some of the difficult times in life to say, well, I guess God closed that door. Maybe not. Maybe it is through that difficulty, through those tears, through those heartaches, through those heartbreaks that God is building your faith and he still wants you to pursue on. The Apostle Paul talks about another opportunity that he had. He said, there is an effective door of ministry open for me. And then the next phrase, but there are many adversaries. It's going to be hard. So just because something is easy and just because something is hard does not automatically mean it's outside of the will of God, but we must be sensitive to the leading of God, and that's where, again, prayer is such a vital piece of this. So we begin with the absolutes of Scripture. Secondly, we look at the precepts of Scripture. Thirdly, we look at the providence of God. Number four is we seek godly counsel. Proverbs tells us that in a multitude of counselors, there's much wisdom. Now, notice I said godly counselors. I'm amazed at the number of individuals who who seek counsel from individuals about relationships and the counselor that they are talking to just doesn't get along with people, you know. They failed after one relationship, after another, after another, after another, and yet people are going to say, say, what do you think? Go to someone who has some wisdom. Young people, and maybe when it comes time for you to think about marriage, go to your parents and say, you know, we think that God is leading us in this direction together, but you know us pretty well. What do you think? Go to a mature individual, someone whom you have confidence in and say, you know, we think God is leading us in this direction. What do you think? Are you beginning to pursue a certain occupation? Again, go to somebody who's got some wise counsel and sit down with them and say, you know, I think God's taking me this way. What do you think? I think God's taking me to be an accountant. And the one with wise counsel looks at you and says, you know, you can't even keep your checkbook balanced. I don't think he's calling you to be an accountant. Maybe you're better with people. You know, that job would frustrate the daylights out of you because you kind of jump from job to job or item to item. You can't focus that long on something. So you're able to do a lot of other things and you're gifted that way. Go to someone who knows you, please understand, it is important, though, you say, OK, I want that that preacher that I made reference to a little earlier was not doing what God calls us to do. You know, putting your finger on a text. And just because someone claims to open a Bible and read it to you, or claims to speak from God, does not mean they are a godly counselor. Make sure you understand that. Do you want a very sobering passage to read? 1 Kings chapter 13, where we have a young man of God who's sent on a mission. to accomplish, to make some announcements to God in Jerusalem, and God tells him to go right straight back home. Do not go a different way. Just go right straight back home. Don't listen to anybody else. Don't eat at anybody else's table. I'm giving you a command. Just go right straight back home. That was the absolute of scripture. And then in first Kings 13, we read about this older prophet of God who says to this young prophet of God, God gave me a new message for you. You're to come eat at my table. You're spending the night at my home. And God had not told him to say that. Do you know what we read about happens? That young man lost his life because he disobeyed God. So, yeah, but this older man who claimed to be a prophet gave him a new message. He violated the absolutes of scripture. Friends, it's important, it's critical. We don't look if God says something very specific in his book, we don't look for something alternative and say, well, you know, I'd like a different answer. Can you give me plan B? I don't like plan A. Number five. God has given you reason for a reason, in other words, use your mind, use your mind. God gives you mental abilities so that you have the opportunity to sit down and begin to evaluate, you know, is it this direction God wants me to go or is it this direction God wants me to go? List the pros and the cons. List the advantages and the disadvantages. If I move here, this is an advantage in this area, but it's a disadvantage here. If I move over here into this job, here is the advantage and here is the disadvantage. God has given us brains to use, friends. And that's the reason that we take and we use them for God. And then lastly, number six. Guidance, often God gives to us through our heart's desire. Now it's a ha, I get whatever I want. No, no, no, no. That's not what it's saying in Psalm 37. Psalm 37 talks about the fact that if I walk closely with God, my heart will be changed. So I will desire the things of God. And it is as I walk with God, he changes my heart. It isn't the fact that I think, OK, I really saw this really nice car. Lord, I'd really like for that to be in my driveway. And that's what the desire of my heart, you said you're going to give me desires. No, no. Is my heart being changed to have the same desires that God has? So how do we know the will of God? It is by putting these principles into practice, but the foundational one is taking the absolutes of Scripture. God will never contradict the absolutes of Scripture. He expects us to know them. We think in terms of that that the young prophet of God in first Kings 13. And we might say, well, God, that wasn't fair. Somebody else came along and gave him a different message. And God says, no, but I gave him a message. But he was fooled by that he shouldn't have been fooled by that person. God has spoken. Dear friends, as we kind of bring this to a close this morning, I think it's important to understand, if I haven't been obedient to what God has revealed to me now, I don't think I can expect him to show me. Other answers that I need from him in other areas, if God tells me to do this now, I said, no, I don't really don't want to do that, but I've got some other questions over here about these. If I'm not obedient here, God's not going to lead me into these other areas. I must be obedient to the known will of God in my life at this point in time. So, first of all. Have I become a follower of Jesus Christ that is in obedience to who God wants me to be, who God wants you to be? Secondly, am I growing in my relationship with Jesus Christ? That's what God wants of me, then I can hear him more clearly. You know, Jesus made a really fascinating statement, didn't he? In John, where he uses the analogy of being a shepherd and us being a sheep. He says this, my sheep hear my voice and they follow me. There are a lot of voices out there that are calling to us saying this is God's will. This is what God wants you to do. Here's what maybe you ought to try. This is something else. And Jesus says, no, no, the closer we grow with him, the more we hear his voice, the more he changes the desires of our heart. We oftentimes would like God to lay out the big plan of our life, kind of like in a video where we can get it maybe in five minutes, right? Show me all that you're going to do so I know or God, you know, I'm really facing this decision about about school. How about if I look the other way and you're right up on the wall? What school you want me to go to? And then I'll know which one God doesn't function that way. He could, but he doesn't, because what we learn through that process is learning to listen to his voice. And he takes us so often, mostly one step at a time. We must be faithful and we must be obedient in this step before he shows us the next step. And then when we are faithful and obedient in that step, he says, OK, I'll show you the next one. God very seldom lays out four or five steps for us. Just be obedient to the next step that God is giving to you. Sort of like what we talked about last week. What's the next step? What's the next thing that God wants? And take that step. Because it'd probably scare us if we saw the whole pattern. Just be obedient. Let's pray. Father, thank you that you desire to lead us through life. We don't have to go through life questioning all the different aspects, lots of decisions, lots of changes that we need to make in our lives, opportunities. And we realize that they have significance, eternal significance. And father, that is we walk with you, first of all, if we trusted Jesus Christ to be our savior, we can't expect that you're going to give us other other answers in our life about your will if we're not willing to take that first step. And we trusted Jesus Christ to be our savior, and then secondly, are we walking with him or we learning from this book, the absolutes that you've given to us? And then, father, as we look to you, you will lead us through life. Lord, I know that many in this room this morning. Could give a testimony to the fact that you're leading in their life as they look to you. For direction. And took a step. And seen you do something really awesome. So, Father, I pray that as we as your children seek to walk before you, we would be looking to you for your will, not ours. But your will, so that we might effectively serve you and that changes and will become the desires of our heart. Lord, if there's someone here does not yet know Jesus. maybe even through a testimony that will be shared in just a few minutes about one who's come to know Christ, that they too might come to know her Savior as well. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.