Participants:
Series Code: RQRA
Program Code: RQRA000004A
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00:01 I don't understand
00:04 why did this have to happen to me? 00:08 I feel like I just can't make sense of things. 00:12 I need answers. 00:15 Where is God? 00:21 You know, we all have questions, 00:24 we all have difficult things that we go through, 00:28 things that we just don't understand, 00:30 and times when, you know, we need answers, 00:33 and that's the purpose of this show, 00:34 Raw Questions Relevant Answers. 00:36 My name is Mark Paden, I am a freelance filmmaker. 00:39 These are my friends and co-hosts, 00:40 Michelle Doucoumes, a college professor 00:42 and Dee Casper, a brand evangelist for ARtv. 00:46 And, you know, 00:47 what we're here for is just to gain answers from the Bible. 00:50 A lot of different young people have sent us in questions 00:54 and we want to answer these from the Bible 00:56 'cause at the end of the day, it's not us that have answers. 00:59 We're just going to help you, guys. 01:01 This is really us 01:02 as fellow human beings in need of divine grace 01:06 coming to the place where answers can be found. 01:08 So that's where we're going to start off at. 01:11 Our first question 01:12 that we are going to be tackling today 01:15 is coming from a young man, 01:18 age 21, in Tennessee. 01:20 And his question is, "How much do we pray 01:23 before God gives us an obvious answer 01:26 as to what His will for us is?" 01:29 So, I guess, I can jump into this one. 01:31 I think that circumstances change everything, right? 01:34 We don't have like this set template 01:36 that if you don't get an answer in X amount of days 01:38 that you can never know or you will definitely know. 01:41 Here's what we do know, 01:43 God does want you to know what His will is for your life. 01:46 We know that that's the case. 01:48 God does want His will to be carried out in our life. 01:51 And so the safe place to begin is by searching the Word of God 01:55 and in time in prayer just ask Him, 01:56 "God, I want to know what Your will is, 01:59 and I need clarity, I need guidance. 02:01 I have a large decision before me. 02:02 I don't trust myself in this situation, 02:05 and I need to hear from You." 02:07 And the safest place to hear from Him 02:08 are the places where God has spoken in the past, 02:11 through His Word, 02:12 through His providential leadings in our life, 02:13 through prayer, and through godly counselors, 02:16 people through whom God has spoken to you 02:19 in the past is kind of the counsel that I give. 02:21 Not necessarily based upon someone's title 02:23 but people that God has used to speak to you in the past. 02:27 That's the best place to start. 02:29 The timeline is something that isn't up to us, 02:31 but if we're going to where God has spoken in the past, 02:33 I fully trust and believe that God will make 02:35 His will clear in the time that we need it. 02:38 Yeah. 02:40 You know, I think of a story in the Bible 02:42 in the Book of Daniel. 02:44 Daniel is shown some things in prophecy 02:46 that he doesn't understand and he has questions about. 02:49 And we find in the end of Daniel 8:27, it says, 02:53 "Daniel fainted and was sick for days afterwards 02:57 and then he rose and went about his business, 02:59 no one understood the vision." 03:01 And it comes down, years later, we find chapter 9, 03:05 the first year of King Darius that he's praying again, 03:09 he's praying for his people, 03:11 he's praying with his whole heart. 03:14 And God actually sends him another vision 03:16 that helps him understand what he didn't before. 03:20 And it teaches me an important lesson, 03:22 Daniel never quit praying. 03:25 I don't know, you know, why all of this happened. 03:29 We see some insights in this passage 03:31 into some of the battle between good and evil 03:34 that's happening around this. 03:36 But there are times where I believe that 03:40 we just continue to pray, to leave it to God, 03:42 but yet he got up, he went about his business. 03:46 And that was a big thing. 03:48 He didn't let those unanswered questions 03:50 stop him from doing what God had called him to do. 03:54 He just kept doing what he was called to 03:57 and then in the right way in the right time, 03:59 God did come through and revealed that. 04:01 You know, there's a situation briefly in Daniel 10. 04:04 After this where God kind of reveals 04:06 why there was a tarrying, 04:07 there were other variables involved. 04:09 He said that He was warring... 04:10 The angel was sent to speak to Daniel 04:12 says that he was warring with the king of Persia 04:14 and that's why there was a delay. 04:16 And that's one of the things I believe that God 04:18 will do for us is help us to better understand the why. 04:22 We may not understand 04:23 while we're waiting in the moment, 04:25 but God does eventually help us 04:26 to at least contextualize the wait. 04:28 We may not have all the details this side of heaven, 04:30 but He will give us some form of context 04:32 to help us with that, and I'm grateful for that. 04:34 You know, I think the other thing too 04:36 that is in this question 04:37 is looking for an obvious answer 04:40 as to what His will is. 04:42 You know, I think, sometimes, 04:43 we want a lightning bolt from heaven, 04:45 we want God in a cloud speaking to us 04:47 like He did with the Israelites but the reality is that 04:50 sometimes that just may not happen. 04:52 You know, God leads us through His providence, 04:54 through His Spirit, through the Word of God, 04:57 but we have to remember that 04:59 sometimes through the Word of God, 05:00 it's sometimes through reading the Bible 05:01 and understanding the principle behind it. 05:03 You know, if you're comparing two things 05:04 and you want to do one and there's two options 05:08 or do they both coincide with the will of God? 05:10 Sometimes, they don't. 05:11 Is it consistent not only with the Word of God 05:14 but also our place in history? 05:16 Is this something that God would have us be doing 05:18 at this time, you know? 05:21 Yeah, you know, similar to that, 05:23 it just reminds me of something that... 05:28 Scripture talks about basically 05:30 the idea that if we're willing to do God's will 05:35 that we're going to know, 05:37 and I think that's a huge principle. 05:39 Do I pray until my heart is surrendered 05:43 to what God's will is? 05:44 And then that gives Him room to work. 05:46 And so, maybe it's not always just do I pray 05:50 until I exactly know or God speaks with? 05:52 Do I pray till I'm surrendered? 05:53 And sometimes people feel like, 05:55 "Well, if God didn't speak to me as clearly, 05:57 does that mean I'm not close to God?" 05:59 But there's not necessarily that correlation, for instance, 06:03 God spoke through a donkey to the Prophet Balaam 06:07 but Balaam was not close to God. 06:09 That was just the way God had to reach him 06:11 but that wasn't God's ideal. 06:13 God's ideal is building that relationship 06:16 where with a surrendered heart were speaking to Him 06:20 and then the path is open, the communication is open 06:24 to be able to hear God at the right way in time. 06:26 One more example by contrast is at Mount Sinai, 06:28 two different instances of Mount Sinai, 06:31 the Israelites hear from God with like fire 06:33 and smoke in a pyrotechnic display in a loud voice, 06:36 but Elijah, many years later, at the very same location 06:39 hears from God with a still small voice. 06:42 Yes. 06:44 And the context varies, that religious maturity 06:48 of the two parties present is different even. 06:50 But obvious answers are when God speaks 06:53 and He's clear, not necessarily how loud 06:55 or what pyrotechnics are involved 06:57 or what miracles happen, 06:59 it's that conviction that God has spoken 07:01 and that's why I should respond to, 07:03 not necessarily the means of how it's distributed. 07:06 Very good. 07:07 So let's go on and let's hit the next question. 07:11 Similar topic, and this is from a female in Texas, 07:15 my home state, greatest state in the world, and she's 21. 07:19 "When you hear something you think is from God, 07:22 but it seems like the farthest thing from happening, 07:24 do you go on expecting it to happen? 07:26 Or move on and potentially miss out?" 07:28 So that statement about Texas, 07:30 was that from the Lord, Mark? 07:32 Yes. 07:34 No. 07:35 No, that wasn't Jesus, this is a really good question 07:38 as far as, yeah, when do I know that this really was God 07:43 when it doesn't seem like it. 07:46 And, I mean, there are some principles 07:48 that we are given in Scripture 07:50 that do help us to say some of this. 07:53 You know, we're told that if it does not line up 07:55 with the Word of God, 07:56 then we need to be careful of that, 07:58 to the law, and to the prophets. 07:59 And I'm not going to conjecture over 08:01 whether Texas being the best state is in Scripture, 08:04 but that's one thing that I think of to start with this, 08:07 first of all measuring it by that. 08:09 Yeah. 08:10 There are times where God has 08:13 amazing phenomenal calls that He gives to people, 08:15 for instance, speaking of Elijah again. 08:17 Elijah is given a call from God 08:18 to say that it's not going to rain until he prays again. 08:22 But everything that Elijah sees says the opposite, 08:25 the hills are green, the streams are lively, 08:28 and he had to choose to believe what God said 08:30 in spite of what he saw, 08:32 and god eventually vindicated what He had said. 08:35 There were times when God calls us 08:37 into difficult situations like that to test our faith 08:39 that draws closer to Him. 08:41 And it teaches that when it all looks dark, 08:43 God is faithful. 08:44 There are moments where that does happen, 08:45 so there are case studies throughout Scripture 08:47 where this takes place. 08:49 Is that the norm? 08:50 Not necessarily, but if that's the call 08:51 that God has and He's spoken clearly 08:54 through a multitude of vehicles, right? 08:55 Through prayer, providence, Christian council in the Word, 08:58 everything's pointing at one direction. 09:01 Waiting on the Lord during that season would probably 09:03 be in your best interest at that stage. 09:05 And sometimes, the waiting teaches us something 09:08 that we're going to learn at the end 09:09 that maybe what we thought was the end objective isn't. 09:12 The waiting process made us. 09:14 It wasn't that God was looking for us 09:15 to end up in a certain place, 09:17 He was looking for us to end up as a certain person. 09:20 That the waiting itself makes us into a person 09:23 who could appreciate the next step. 09:25 So along the same lines, 09:27 I want to jump actually into the next question 09:29 because it kind of ties in. 09:31 And the reason is, before I read this, 09:34 a lot of times this question comes up 09:36 because, you know, we will feel like 09:40 God is telling us something, 09:41 we'll feel a mental prompting as it were an impression 09:45 and we think that God is asking us to do something with this. 09:48 And sometimes that may or may not line up 09:52 with what seems like reality. 09:57 So this person's question, a female, 28, from Washington. 10:00 "How can I tell of the mental promptings 10:02 I experience when I am thinking/praying 10:05 through issues and decisions, are God's voice or my own?" 10:09 And I just want to add a little bit to this. 10:10 I think this is something that 10:13 I've found a lot of people wrestle with. 10:16 Is this voice speaking to me? 10:18 Just me imagining something or is this God? 10:20 Yeah. 10:22 I would say the first thing is it's super important 10:25 that we find ourselves rooted in Scripture 10:27 daily and regularly because whenever 10:31 we have an understanding of the principles of Scripture 10:34 and that setting our compass to north, 10:36 we can tell because the voice we hear in our mind 10:38 when the Spirit leads us whenever we have 10:39 our own thoughts, sounds the same, right? 10:41 It's generally a similar sounding voice. 10:43 How can I distinguish between the two? 10:45 Is it in the harmony with the principles of the Word of God 10:48 because God would never lead you 10:49 outside of those principles? 10:52 There were times when there may be kind of grey areas, 10:55 it's hard to know what to do, but in a general sense, 10:57 God leads us in harmony with the way 10:59 in which He's worked in the past 11:01 through His teachings and through the prophets. 11:03 And I think that's a very good place 11:04 to start that discourse on which voice is which. 11:08 And I'm going to say something that may not be a great 11:10 sounding answer but there may be times 11:12 that we don't know. 11:14 Yeah. Yeah. 11:15 That maybe those voices are not necessarily 11:16 something right or wrong but, for instance, 11:19 there was a day that I felt a strong impression 11:21 to go to a certain Wal-Mart. 11:24 I don't know, it so happened that I went there 11:27 and I met someone that I was studying the Bible with 11:29 and it was an interesting appointment 11:30 where I was like, "Wow, I think that was of the Lord." 11:34 There have been other times 11:35 where I've had some instinct to do something 11:38 and it meant nothing. 11:39 And so I wouldn't run around 11:41 just so worried about every small thing. 11:46 Sometimes, we overcomplicate that. 11:48 There are things that are maybe not necessarily right or wrong. 11:51 We do our best with the relationship 11:53 and the connection that we have. 11:55 I think the other thing too with all that is 11:57 I know, I've experienced this 11:59 and I know a lot of other people 12:00 who have experienced this is you get in 12:02 a kind of this mindset of, you hear all these impressions 12:05 and you want to do God's will, you want to do what's right, 12:07 and so this conscientiousness leads to some pretty 12:14 outlandish things, you know, 12:16 like I've had friends who feel deeply impressed 12:19 to share something at the end of a message. 12:21 And it's not the right time, right? 12:23 So one of the things that we have to be careful 12:25 of is that not all impressions are from God. 12:30 In fact, Satan actually really capitalizes 12:35 on getting us to follow our own impressions 12:38 contrary to the wisdom of God's Word. 12:40 And so what we really need to do is, 12:42 like you were saying earlier, 12:43 ground ourselves in the Word of God 12:45 and be cognizant of Him and be mainly led by that Word. 12:48 God isn't always speaking to us through impressions 12:51 every moment of the day. Indeed. 12:53 God many times will speak 12:54 through multiple venues not only impressions. 12:57 We cannot live our lives based upon that alone. 13:00 And if we're wrestling, we need to be seeking answers 13:02 from God in those other vehicles, 13:03 in those other venues for confirmation 13:06 so that we can know where to go forward. 13:08 And, I think, it's another safeguard in that sense 13:09 because though He does use this, 13:12 we also could be led astray, what's a safeguard, 13:13 what's a form of accountability? 13:15 Diversifying, I think in that sense would be wise. 13:18 And one thing that I would add is 13:19 why are we even asking these questions? 13:21 Am I asking just because, 13:23 "Oh, do I do this or that, this or that?" 13:25 Or am I asking in the context, 13:26 "I really want to know God and His heart." 13:28 Is that more than just about the answer 13:31 but about the relationship that I have with God, 13:34 and how to pursue that and be in union with Him. 13:37 So I would say to you, you know, 13:40 if these are questions that you've wrestled with, 13:42 if you're wanting to know 13:44 more about understanding the will of God 13:46 and how to arrive at answers 13:49 for your life, get in the Word. 13:51 Nothing can do you more good 13:53 than to get into the Word of God. 13:54 You know, if you come home from a long day 13:56 instead of flipping on the TV, get in the Word, 13:59 learn the stories of prophets 14:01 and apostles, and just stature yourself 14:03 in how God has led other people in the past. 14:06 I just want to invite you to ask your questions 14:09 online on our Facebook at Facebook at RQRA3ABN. 14:14 God bless. |
Revised 2018-07-16