Ask for Direction!

 

Jeremiah 42:4 "Then Jeremiah the prophet said unto them, I have heard you; behold, I will pray unto the LORD your God according to our words; and it shall come to pass, that whatsoever thing the LORD shall answer you, I will declare it unto you; I will keep nothing back from you."       A group of people came to Jeremiah and asked him to ask God for direction because they needed to know what to do and where to go. Already quite confident that they should go to Egypt during a chaotic time, they wanted Jeremiah to ask God so that God could "shew us the way wherein we may walk, and the thing that we may do." Their minds were already made up and their asking wasn't square (see verse 20). Actually, the two things they asked for in verse 3 are two things you need this morning: to know the way to walk and the thing to do. You might need direction for something immediate or something "long-range" down the road, but you need direction for life that only comes from God.     You will not get direction from God unless you are willing to hear "no" and willing to say "yes." As a kid traveling with my parents, I would ask my dad a loaded question like, "How does a car work?" (Do your kids ever ask you such questions?) My dad would always say, "Well, do you really want to know?" He was only interested in telling me if I was interested in listening!     Sometimes we treat God the same way. We know that we should ask, but we either think we already have our answer or we "humor" God by asking. Either way, we are not interested in hearing (kind of like asking about cars). We should come to God with the attitude of Jeremiah: "whatsoever thing the LORD shall answer. . . ." No matter what the Lord answers when we ask, we ought to "keep nothing back" from Him. The only way you are going to have God keep nothing back from you is if you keep nothing back from Him!     If you need wisdom for the day, you should ask God (James 1:5). But when you ask, be willing to hear "no" and say "yes." Don't simply cover your tracks with a token prayer like these folks did in Jeremiah 42. God's perspective is perfect and much broader than ours, and His way is never evil. The only way to get direction for life is to get direction from God. And the only way to get direction from God is to be willing to hear "no" and willing to say "yes."     Prayer Requests: 1. Protection and provision for staff 2. Churches traveling home from camp tonight and tomorrow morning 3. Day Camp Outreach next week (June 21-25)     Camp Quote:  "There is more to life than this life." -Evangelist Troy Carlson   Visit our website for more information about our summer camp weeks!

Bill Rice Ranch | 627 Bill Rice Ranch Road | Murfreesboro | TN | 37128