The desire to have divine guidance is not limited to Christians. Down through the centuries, man has tried to invoke wisdom and help from whatever gods they worshiped. Behind this universal desire to have help from above in making decisions in life, is the fear of personal loss in whatever is being undertaken by the supplicant. The Christian should seek God’s will for much higher reasons. As a matter of fact, the Scriptures teach that present loss may actually be the outcome of doing the will of God. Listen to a man devoted to doing it: “For (Christ) I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ” (Phil. 3:8).
Not even loss of life was a major concern for Paul: “But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify of the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24).
These and other scriptures should teach us that the will of God is not a “safe” thing, though it is always the highest and best thing to seek. Frequently it is not so much God’s will we seek, but His blessing and support in the carrying out of our own. This is too much for us to admit, so we often invest our desires with sacred overtones. In this way, we deceive ourselves and vainly hope that such an embellishing of our earthbound desire may make it more acceptable in heaven.
Yet God is merciful and may patiently wait for us while we wait on Him. He may wait, that is, for us to move from the lower (not necessarily sinful) ground to the higher. Scripture illustrates this principle in the case of Hannah. It was not wrong for her to want a child, and there is no doubt that the Lord used her natural desire to trigger the accomplishment of His will in the birth of Samuel: “If Thou wilt . . . give unto Thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the Lord all the days of his life” (1 Sam. 1:11).
Thus the yearning of a barren woman and the will of God coalesced. But please note that, in the process, there was not only gain but loss, at least on the natural level, for Hannah “lost” her son to the temple, the service of Eli — and God. She is not sorry today, of course. That is the wonder of it all. The will of God deals not so much with present reward (though often the Lord grants it in some measure) as future glory (2 Cor. 4:18).
Does the writer, does the reader, still want the will of God for its own sake, or are our prayers for help from heaven rather pagan at the root, expressing merely a natural desire to avoid some unwanted trial? Is it wrong, then, for us to pray for preservation from loss and harm? Not necessarily. It may be the most spiritual thing to do. It all depends upon our values. Ezra and the returning exiles afflicted themselves before God: “To seek of Him a right way for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance” (Ezra 8:21).
Paul solicited the prayers of the believers, “that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men” (2 Thess. 3:2). However, in both cases, the parties concerned were already committed to doing the will of God whatever it cost. Perhaps this is even more clearly displayed in the statement made by Daniel’s three companions: “Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods . . .” (Dan. 3:17-18).
The chief point we are making is this: we who are disciples of the One who did God’s will at infinite cost to Himself should not entertain the idea that prayer for divine leading will necessarily result in what we might call “safety.” But there are also one or two other conclusions we must draw:
First: We should only seek help and protection in doing the will of God. Our Lord is not like Aladdin’s genie, to be brought into service in an emergency by anyone having their own agenda.
Second: The will of God is something we should earnestly pursue in every circumstance and in every place. This is normal Christianity.
Third: The leading of the Spirit in any special circumstance will be more easily understood by those accustomed to doing His will.