Knowing God's Will

These are the territories that Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the tribal leaders allocated as grants of land to the tribes of Israel by casting sacred lots in the presence of the LORD at the entrance of the Tabernacle at Shiloh. So the division of the land was completed. [Joshua 19.51]

The "casting sacred lots" mentioned here is a topic Christians should consider. Why? Because it had to do with knowing God's will. It was how Israel made decisions and believed it was the will of God.

Casting lots, as I understand it was likened to rolling holy dice. It was something I believe the priests did that was totally out of their control (just like dice) but the results of it they considered to be the  holy and undeniable direction and will of God since He alone controlled what we call "chance."

I admit I am a bit dumbfounded at this practice. However, I can very much see the point in giving something to 'chance' but trusting that God is completely in charge and control of 'chance.'

Now, it is arguable today that we have the Holy Spirit to lead and guide us who are believers in Christ. But, are we not really doing the same thing in following the Holy Spirit as the children of Israel did in using sacred lots? 

There are any number of things the Holy Spirit can lead us to do. Our 'doing' any one of those things , and believing the Holy Spirit inspired it, is an act of faith, right? It really differs very little then in rolling dice and having faith that God determines where they land.

The bottom line is faith. What do we believe? Do we believe we live in a world of random chance completely our of God's control? Or, do we believe that even what looks like random chance is, in fact, within God's control and therefore, within our ability to navigate as we trust in Him? I believe the latter and have good reason (by experience) to do so.

One thing is very certain, God's people today really need to improve upon their following God. Israel was known for being God's people and they were feared for that reason - they trusted the "direction" they got from God, they were victorious in it, and everyone around knew about it. Christians today should have the same reputation, but, by and large, we do not. It seems we are living in the same randomness as the world with no noticeable difference in our random circumstances as theirs.

It would seem that to follow God's leadership we are tasked with faith. We must believe God leads us a certain way then not doubt it regardless of circumstances. I know that has been hard for me to do. Many times I have followed what I believed to be God's leading only to find myself in the midst of terrible circumstances. Did I follow God or not?

We must remember that Israel followed God through the midst of the Red Sea in a miraculous fashion. However, that absolutely does not mean that everything went perfect on the other side!! Right? Of course, there were new opportunities daily to follow God, and, although the 'Red Sea' was a great testimony, it did not prevent further situations where Israel would have to seek fresh direction from God. And, frankly even with the success story of the Red Sea, Israel had some serious fail stories to follow. They succeeded when they followed God and failed when they did not.

Repeat: Israel succeeded when they followed God and failed when they did not.

Father, thank You for giving me Your Holy Spirit to follow in faith. Help me to improve in obedience to Your direction for Your work on earth today.