“Abandonment to God . . . means relinquishing ‘our way.’ It means not being angry or resentful when things do not go our way. It means that in God’s hands we are content for him to take charge of outcomes. And in that posture we make way for him to occupy our lives with us, and achieve what is best for us and for others far beyond anything we can imagine.”- Dallas Willard
As Bill Gaultiere concludes Chapter 8 of Journey of the Soul, he talks about what you can do to hear God when you need to make a decision or cope with a difficult situation. Hence, Bill cites F. B. Meyer, the great nineteenth-century English pastor. Meyer described three lights. These lights help us discern the Lord’s voice and purposes:
“God’s impressions within and His Word without are always corroborated by His providence around, and we should quietly wait until these three focus into one point . . .
If you do not know what you ought to do, stand still until you do. And when the time comes for action, circumstances, like glowing worms, will sparkle along your path. You will become so sure that you are right, when God’s three witnesses concur, that you could not be surer though an angel beckoned you on.”
In addition, Ignatius suggested that you make yourself like a neutral pointer in the middle of a balance. Thus, you’re relaxed about any course of action God takes.
In conclusion, in Hearing God (1999), Dallas Willard describes perhaps the most defining characteristic of a divine message. He writes:
“The quality of God’s voice is a matter of the weight or impact an impression makes on our consciousness. [It has] certain steady and calm force. . . . inclines us toward assent. . . . We sense inwardly the immediate power of God’s voice [and] the unquestionable authority. . . . It is a spirit of exalted peacefulness and confidence, of joy, or sweet reasonableness and of goodwill. It is, in short, the spirit of Jesus [or] the overall tone and dynamics of his personal life as a whole. . . . It is this Spirit that marks the voice of God in our hearts. . . . And because his voice bears authority within itself, it does not need to be loud or hysterical.”
Today’s question: What Scriptures support your abandonment to God? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “The T Stage – our Father gives us space, freedom”
