Discerning the Will of the Lord
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Joel Brooks:have a bible, I invite you to turn to Ephesians chapter 5. We've been going through the gospel of Mark. And if we had continued with that study today, we would be looking at what Jesus has to say about death and taxes. But with this being the Sunday after Labor Day, which for many marks, a new semester, it's the end of summer, it's the beginning of a new and busy season, I just kind of didn't want to talk about death and taxes. And I thought we could find something more fitting for us this morning for this, for this new season in front of us.
Joel Brooks:And so I want us to look at how we can discern, what pleases the Lord, how we can discern his will. It's something we had visited last about 8 years ago, so I I think we're due. So Ephesians 5, we'll begin reading the 2nd part of verse 8. Walk as children of light, for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true, and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.
Joel Brooks:For it is a shame it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible. For anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore, it says, awake, oh sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you. Making the best use of the time because the days are evil.
Joel Brooks:Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. This is the word of the lord.
Joel Brooks:Would you
Joel Brooks:pray with me? Father, I pray that, through your spirit, you would be so kind as to lead and direct us and to show us the things that please you. I pray that my words would fall to the ground and blow away and not be remembered anymore. But, Lord, would your words remain, may they change us. We pray this in the strong name of Jesus.
Joel Brooks:Amen. So I've never met anyone who has wanted to make a bad decision. But I've met many people who have made bad decisions. Perhaps, you're one of them. Some of you probably have cars you wish you had not bought, maybe tattoos you wish you could remove.
Joel Brooks:Some of you have some regrets out there. Some of you spent a lot of money on vacations that were terrible. Maybe some new fancy gadget on Amazon that was a waste of money. And some of you swiped right when you should have swiped left. We've, we've all made some terrible decisions at times.
Joel Brooks:So the question is, how do we make good decisions? And by good, I mean this, a decision that is according to god's will, a decision that will invite beauty and flourishing into our lives. I mean, that's what we want, don't we? Wouldn't we want our lives to be filled with beauty and flourishing and and live to the glory of god? So how do we do it?
Joel Brooks:Well, Paul tells us here beginning in verse 10. When he says, walk as children of light, for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true. And here's the key. And try to discern what is pleasing to the lord. That statement there, try to discern what is pleasing to the lord is really an incredible statement.
Joel Brooks:First off, you know, Paul is saying that although we are finite creatures, we can actually do things that bring pleasure to God. We can make him smile if you will, bring a delight to him by some of the things that we do. But in order to do this, we have to try and to discern what pleases him. Those words try and discern are very important. Notice Paul doesn't say, do what pleases the Lord.
Joel Brooks:He says, we're to try and to discern what pleases the Lord. And right off the bat, he's letting us know that there's some ambiguity involved in in trying to follow Him. That there's gonna be some times which you have to make judgment calls in certain decisions, because it's just not gonna be crystal clear in front of you. Decision making is, it's it's a spiritual skill or an art, if you will, that grows over time. But here we find out that if we put in the effort, and we make good decisions, we actually can bring real pleasure to God himself, and we invite flourishing into our lives.
Joel Brooks:Before we go any further, I do need to be crystal clear as to what Paul is not saying here. Paul's not saying that you need to try and do discern the clear moral instructions of what God has said in his word. That is not what he's talking about. The moral directives that God has given to us in his word, you don't have to try and discern them. They're very very clear.
Joel Brooks:You don't have to try and to discern whether you should murder someone, or steal from them, or lie, or be gluttonous, or whether you should be unforgiving, or whether you should have sex outside of marriage. Those things are crystal clear in scripture. They might be hard to do, but they're not hard to discern. And if you think God's not clear about those issues, likely it's because you're trying to multitask when listening to him. You're listening some to the word of God while also trying to listen to many other voices.
Joel Brooks:So of course, you're confused. I would encourage you, drop the other voices. Listen to God and his word. You'll find he's pretty clear when it comes to his moral direction. However, for the vast majority of the decisions that you are gonna have to make in your life, you will not find anything clear.
Joel Brooks:You're not gonna find that that clear scripture and verse telling you exactly what to do. So if you're wondering, what should your major be? Should you marry? And if you should marry, who should you marry? What job should you take?
Joel Brooks:Where should you live? Should you invite anybody over to dinner? Should you homeschool or not? Should you adopt, or should you foster? How much should you spend on your clothes?
Joel Brooks:Should you be on social media? Should you put your dad in a nursing home, or should you take care of him yourself? I mean, questions like these, questions both big and small, you're you're never gonna find that that explicit scripture detailing exactly what you're supposed to do. But, boy, it'd be great if God worked that way, didn't he? I mean, tell me, how many of you have done this?
Joel Brooks:God, I really need you to speak to me. Anybody? Anybody done that? You're like, because you need that clear direction, and so you're just gonna like, you know, what what kind of career should I have? It's like, I'm supposed to go to Ethiopia.
Joel Brooks:Okay. And you're like, that's what I'm supposed to do. I mean, we we think it'd be great if God spoke to us that way, but but he chooses not to. He could have chosen to do that. But you know what?
Joel Brooks:God knows that you get bogged down reading Leviticus. And if he added a few 1,000 extra pages to your bible, you'd you'd never get through it. Plus, God also knew that if he just gave you a list after list after list of all these specific things you were supposed to do, your focus is gonna be on what you do and not on whom you love. Yeah. You're gonna shift into this performance mode.
Joel Brooks:It's no longer gonna be a love relationship. I mean, could you imagine if I did that on a date with Lauren? I mean, we sit down, I'm like, hey, I've got my checklist. It's like, first, I need to comment on your hair. Your hair is lovely, dear.
Joel Brooks:Check. Next, I need to ask her about her day. How's your day? Check. I mean, what if I just if I started just checking those boxes?
Joel Brooks:I mean, that's not honoring to her. It's not a love relationship. It's a performance at that point. And god doesn't want us to perform that way. He wants a relationship.
Joel Brooks:Therefore, we have to try and do do discern what he wants. That that's what a relationship's all about. We have to try to figure out, how can I bring delight to him? Well, how do we do this? How do we discern what pleases the Lord?
Joel Brooks:What What I want us to do is just kind of quickly move through 7 things. I don't do acrostics. I tried. I tried to make it to, like, spell discern, but I have a hard time even spelling discern. And so, like, it's just gonna be 7 things, people, that we could look at as to how we can discern what pleases the Lord.
Joel Brooks:1st is this, set up a posture of obedience. Set up a posture of obedience. And what I mean by this is that before we ever know, where the Lord is leading us, before we ever know what he's actually asking us to do, our answer to him is, yes. It is already yes. We never need to know the outcome first.
Joel Brooks:When the Lord called Abraham to come and follow him, Abraham had no idea where the Lord was calling him. He was just to get up and to go. It'd be like the Lord calling us, you know, just go down 280. And you know, you're you're hitting Sylacauga, and is this it? He's like, go.
Joel Brooks:You know, you're you're hitting, what's that, Alexander City, and then you're hitting, Opelika. And after that, it's just unknown uncharted territory. And you're like, Lord, you lead. And wherever you tell me to stop, I'll stop. I will The answer's yes.
Joel Brooks:That's what I mean by posture of obedience. You never have to know the outcome. 2nd, trust that obeying God is for your good. Trust that obeying God is for your good. I have seen it over and over again that people make the worst decisions because they just quote want to be happy.
Joel Brooks:Sometimes they even blame it on God. Do you think God wants me to be happy? Do you know how many times somebody has told me this that well, they just won't be happy and they use that as a justification for their sin? I've heard husbands justify having affairs, leaving their wives because quote, they just want to be happy. People justify spending ridiculous amounts on luxurious items because, well, they just want to be happy.
Joel Brooks:Just bring a little bit of happiness into our lives. But you have to realize that that that excuse is actually built on a terrible lie. It's built on the lie that God doesn't want you to be happy. Therefore, you have to go outside of his will in order to find happiness. Sometimes we believe that, don't we?
Joel Brooks:That that God's a killjoy. He actually doesn't want us to have a full joyful life. Instead, you know, God's up there. He just wants to give us give us a bunch of rules, list of things that are impossible to obey. And I think if we were honest, many of us would have to confess that's often how I view God.
Joel Brooks:If that's you, I would just encourage you take a step back when that happens, and just ask the question. Do I really think that the God who created me, that the God who suffered and died for me, did all of that to make me miserable? Is that what I really believe? That he went to the cross in order that I might have a life of misery. The answer to that is no.
Joel Brooks:He created you, and he suffered and died for you that you might live, that you might know a joy that's unspeakable. Can I tell you, as a parent, you do lots of things for your children? You're always making sacrifices for your children. But I have never met a parent that has sacrificed for their children in order for them to suffer, in order for their lives to be miserable. All that sacrifice, and sometimes you you got to put them through the fire at times, but all of that sacrifice is to bring them joy.
Joel Brooks:And a parent does not have any greater joy than seeing the joy of their children. That's how our father is. He's he's done all of this for us, not that we could be miserable, but that there might be life and joy in us. So we need to believe that to obey God is for our good. Will it be hard to obey God at times?
Joel Brooks:You bet. Or it can be sometimes he calls us to do things and we think, man, if I do that, that'll be the death of me? Absolutely. And that's when you have to ask yourself if you actually believe the gospel. Do you believe in a God who raises the dead?
Joel Brooks:Do you believe in a God that where if you die to this sin, there is life to be found on the other side? We are to actually practice the very gospel that we believe. So to obey God is for our good. 3rd, ask the question, does this decision line up with scripture? Once again, the morals of scripture are pretty clear, so we're not talking about should you rob a bank, or should you lie on your resume.
Joel Brooks:Those things we know, they're wrong. But what about those areas that that are a little more nuanced? You should ask yourself, does it line up with scripture? Does it fit in with the heart of scripture? Perhaps a better way to think of this is, does this decision reflect the gospel?
Joel Brooks:The gospel is not only the message we're saved by, it's a message we're lived by. So does this decision demonstrate the sacrificial love of Jesus? Does this decision seek the good of others and not just of myself? Does this decision reflect that God works powerfully through weakness? Or that God cares about the poor and the powerless?
Joel Brooks:Let me ask you this, if a non believer were to look at the way you make decisions, and trust me they are. If they were to look at the way you make decisions, perhaps look at, the types of things you buy or the types of relationships you pursue or the many events that fill your calendars, if they were to look at all of those things, would they notice that there is some powerful variable in there that they might not understand but it's clearly there that makes you, make decisions differently than them? Or do they just look at you and be like, we decide the same things all the time. The world needs to look at you and say, there's something, there's some powerful variable there. I can't put my finger on it, but this person clearly makes decisions differently than I make decisions.
Joel Brooks:So our decisions need to be in line with scripture, they need to reflect the gospel. 4th, understand the cultural current in which you have been placed. Understand the cultural current in which you've been placed. Any of you ever go tubing? Anyone?
Joel Brooks:I I often take my kids, there's a little river, East Rosebud River most summers. We go tubing down it. My children think it's the absolute best because it's not hiking. It's it's the opposite of hiking actually. You do absolutely nothing.
Joel Brooks:You just you just sit in a tube, and you just float down a river, and you take in the sights while, like, eating snacks and and drinking fun beverages. That's that's all you do. No paddling, no swimming, no exertion whatsoever. Just drift down the river. We've got to understand that all of us are in some current.
Joel Brooks:We're in a current. And you've got to know where that current is leading you. So, I read the headlines from USA Today every day. I in no way recommend that paper at all. It's it's terrible in many ways.
Joel Brooks:But I wanna do it because I just wanna know what what's what's the current of our culture? What what are people reading? And so can I tell you that every week now for almost a year, they have highlighted different sexual relationships? Every week there's a different sexual ethic, if you will, that's been highlighted. And they they put it out there for They have experts commenting on it telling you to to learn from these, perhaps try these things because they're good for you.
Joel Brooks:I'm not gonna name them all. I didn't know so many different sexual relationships could exist. But they have been actively promoting them. I mean, they've been telling the benefits of every one of them. All except for this, a monogamous relationship in a marriage between a man and a woman.
Joel Brooks:That's the one that's been missing over the last year. That's a cultural current. I mean, that's a powerful cultural current. That pull is everywhere. Another current is this, we have been placed in the most prosperous country that has ever existed.
Joel Brooks:And we're oblivious to it at times because we're just floating down the stream. You know what? This morning, I got up and I got to do this amazing thing. I got to go in this this little room, and I turned a knob and hot rain poured on me. That's amazing.
Joel Brooks:And you realize no ancient kings ever enjoyed that. And I get to do every day. I mean, it's just turn a knob, hot rain comes down on me. And I've shared this before, and y'all are gonna make fun of me because I I because I don't care. But, I mean, I can just drive a few minutes from here, and just for a few dollars, I can just get the most delicious warm chicken sandwich except for on a Sunday.
Joel Brooks:I mean, how amazing is that for just like I just you could just decide. I want a a great set sandwich, and there it is. That's our current. It's a current of comfort, a current of luxury. And that current is sweeping us down.
Joel Brooks:And we begin to think we just need more and more and more. We're not even thankful for the things we have. We're also in the current of individualism. We're the most individualistic people that has ever existed. Current of political tribalism, the current of whatever social media is just cramming down our throat, and we've got to be aware of these things.
Joel Brooks:Or we're just gonna keep on floating. Hear me. If if you are making decisions that seem like really good decisions within our culture, you're probably making horrible decisions. Because there is a strong cultural current that is not gospel. The author of Hebrews says in chapter 2, Therefore, we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.
Joel Brooks:To drift is to tube. Just means you do nothing. Just sit back and let those cultural, streams take you far, far away from the truth. Number 5, understand your emotions. That God made each of us emotional beings.
Joel Brooks:Emotions play a tremendous role in our decision making process for good or for bad. So when making a decision, we, we need to understand what are the emotions in me that are at play. And you've got to be honest with yourself about this because I found we are really dishonest when it comes to like actually labeling the emotions that are driving us. I mean, I lie to myself all the time about what I'm really feeling. Because it's embarrassing to say, you know, it's really the emotion I'm really feeling is envy, or anxiousness, or, I don't know, pride.
Joel Brooks:Those things are hard to, like, clearly label. I struggled years ago. We were trying to make a decision as a church. We're at 2 services. It's probably 6 years ago or so, whether we should go to 3.
Joel Brooks:And, I just found myself really resistant to it, Really resistant to that idea. And every time it was kinda brought up, I just kinda put it down. I just kinda put it down. And and I kept putting some spiritual spin on it. You know, you we always do that.
Joel Brooks:You gotta spiritualize your nose why you're doing this. But then some other people would say, you know, we say a conviction of ours is gospel hospitality yet returning people away. Like, yeah, that's probably a bad idea, but you know, I really kinda feel like the Lord's leading us here. They would say, some others would point out, you know, those who join our church, they make a covenant commitment to, like, reach their neighbors and to bring them in, and they don't have room to bring them in unless we open another service. I'm like, yeah.
Joel Brooks:And I would just find some other spiritual reason to cut it down. What was it really going on? It was hard for me to do so. But it was so good. I I I thought, well, it's not fear of working harder.
Joel Brooks:I'll do that. It's not fear of like hiring more staff. We could do that. What's what's the fear? Oh.
Joel Brooks:It's actually a fear of me having to just have a conversation or look people in the eye who were there at redeemers beginning in our house. There's 15 to 20 people. Coming out. Peacemaker. I want to avoid that confrontation.
Joel Brooks:It's like, I just don't want
Joel Brooks:to look at these people and be like, who just long to be back in that room, long for the intimacy, and tell them what we're doing. We're growing again. Just for me to label that fear, put it out there, and enable me to bring clarity to the decision of what we needed to do. When you're working through a decision, be honest. Is anxiety am I making this decision out of anxiety, or out of fear, or out of pride?
Joel Brooks:And just offer those things to the Lord, because you should be making your decisions out of faith. So understand your emotions. Number 6, seek counsel, not allies. Seek counsel, not allies. So many times I've had people explain to me who are about to make a decision that clearly goes against God's word.
Joel Brooks:Clearly. And, and like, but I'm gonna do this. And I will tell them, you know that's completely wrong, don't you? And this is their answer. Well, I know in most cases, it normally is.
Joel Brooks:But this is the exception. Because everybody thinks they're the exception. Everyone. I mean, it could just be so blatantly against the bible, and they're like, yeah. I know that's normally wrong, but not this time.
Joel Brooks:So then I do a follow-up question. Have you run this decision by others? And they're always like, yes. And they all agree with me. Everybody thinks it's a great decision.
Joel Brooks:I mean, it happens every single time. Keep in mind, this could be a decision of somebody to leave their wife for 25 years and to go off with somebody that they met on a business trip. And yet, they're saying, everybody I've talked to has said it's a great decision and they're so happy for me. You know what you're doing right there, you're not actually seeking counsel, you're seeking allies. You're only going to people who will validate your decision.
Joel Brooks:You're finding cheerleaders to cheer you on to the path of hell. And and what we actually need is to find real counsel, people who can look us in the eye and say, that's wrong. Do you have anybody like that in your life? Godly people who are not scared of you, but could look you in the eye and tell you where you're going astray. So we need to seek counsel.
Joel Brooks:Seek counsel and not allies. We all have blind spots, and we need others to point them out. Final, number 7, trust in God's sovereignty. Trust in God's sovereignty. So, if you've done all of those things we've just talked about and you're still really unsure how to make a certain decision, just know that you can just make a decision and you can just rest in God's sovereignty.
Joel Brooks:God's will, don't ever think of it like some maze, you know, where you have to get just the right turn the right way, turn this way. And if you just make one little wrong turn in your life, you're, you're completely lost. I mean, if that's the case, we're all lost, every one of us. God's will is not like that. I don't wanna embarrass this person.
Joel Brooks:But a few years ago, I I sat down and I I met with somebody. They were trying to decide what they should do with their life, and if they should pursue more education, more schooling, to choose a different career path. And so, I asked this lady, I said, okay. You've done all these things? She says, yes.
Joel Brooks:I just I really I just don't know. And I go, do you trust the sovereignty of God over your life? She's like, yes, I do. I said, okay. So I just got a coin out.
Joel Brooks:And I said, heads, you go to grad school. Tails, you don't. And she goes, wait, wait, wait. It's like, you just told me you've done everything, and you trust that the Lord is sovereign over your life.
Joel Brooks:She goes, yeah, I do. And I said, alright.
Joel Brooks:You're going to grad school. And she did, and she talked to me after the 8 o'clock service, and she's like, everything was great. I mean, her life's turned out really well. And in all seriousness, I'm not joking here. When you don't know what to do, and you've you've tried all these other things that you don't know what to do, do something.
Joel Brooks:A moving car is easier for God to steer. Like some of us are we're just so immobilized, so fearful. I'm gonna make the wrong decision. We just sit there, and we're trying to turn a wheel that's in a car not moving. Just take a step.
Joel Brooks:And God directs that. Did you know that there were times in Paul's life where he, you know, he's he's making wrong decision after wrong decision, trying to do what pleases the Lord? So, the Lord calls the Apostle Paul, hey, you are to be an evangelist to the Gentiles. Specifics to that. Like, where?
Joel Brooks:What do I do? That was it though.
Joel Brooks:You're to be an evangelist to the Gentiles.
Joel Brooks:And he's like, okay. Time to make a decision. I'm gonna go to Asia because, you know, there's a lot of Gentiles there. They don't know the Lord. And so it's like he sets off to go to Asia, and then you read that the spirit forbade him.
Joel Brooks:Like we don't know how. We don't know if his flights got canceled. He couldn't get a passport. We don't like We don't know what happened, but just boom. He's like, okay, that's not it.
Joel Brooks:I'll go to Bithynia. And that, yeah, that's a good choice. He goes there and then you read the spirit of Jesus stopped him. I don't even know what that looks like, but just like boom, stops him right there. It's like, oh, well that's that's the wrong decision.
Joel Brooks:So then we read that he goes to Troas, which was a port city. He's likely getting on a boat to go back home. And it's there that God sends a vision of a man from Macedonia going, hey, Paul. Come here. I love it.
Joel Brooks:And he says, and then Paul determined that was the will of the Lord for him to go there. I mean, I don't I love that. This is the great apostle Paul, and he's trying to figure out the Lord's will for his life, trying to figure out, how do I do something that pleases the Lord? And he doesn't know. And so he starts moving.
Joel Brooks:I think it's Asia. Nope. It's not. Well, I think it's Bithynia. No.
Joel Brooks:It's not. Well, maybe it's nope. Hey. Alright. I'm gonna give you a sign you can't miss.
Joel Brooks:It gives him this Macedonian man calling to him.
Joel Brooks:You know, you're not that important.
Joel Brooks:You're not God. He's the one sovereign over your life. This morning, I was filled the last service. It was just such gratitude. I shared this right before the benediction.
Joel Brooks:I hadn't shared it in the previous message. But the reason I'm here is because I've made wrong decisions. And the Lord in his sovereignty has made it right and brought me here. I mean, when Lauren and I, we got married, we wanted to go to seminary. And so I was absolutely certain that the Lord wanted me to go to Regent College in Vancouver, and so that's the Lord's will for my life.
Joel Brooks:And so we started moving in that direction, and I was so certain of it, but Canada wasn't, and they denied my visa because I didn't have enough money in the bank. And so Beeson Divinity School offered me a scholarship, and I was like, well, I guess I'll go there. Brought me to Birmingham. Then when we're in Birmingham, we're going to seminary. We're like, God so wants us on the mission field.
Joel Brooks:He wants us to to work with college students overseas who don't know Jesus. We go through. We get accepted in a mission agency. We've raised all our support. I'm over in Ireland because we're going to Trinity College in Dublin.
Joel Brooks:And also in that agency just kind of implodes. The spirit forbade me. And then, I came back. It's like, well, I guess we're stuck in Birmingham.
Joel Brooks:Might as
Joel Brooks:well do something. Here I am. I mean, I was like, we're singing the song, like and I was just so filled with gratitude. I'm not that important. And each of these things, I'm seeking the Lord's will, and I'm making wrong decisions.
Joel Brooks:And he's just, he's making them right. And moving cars easier to steer. God never gets angry or is disappointed in you for making the wrong decision. I'm not talking about a moral decision here. He'll get disappointed and angry at you for for deliberately choosing sin.
Joel Brooks:I'm just talking about, like, should I work here or here? Like, he he he never gets angry or disappointed with you for making a wrong decision. Only when you don't seek him in the process. You seek him, you make the best decision you can, and then you trust that you're not God, he is. He's the one in control.
Joel Brooks:So what do you do when you have made those bad decisions? I'm just guessing some of you have. I'm sure there's some of you here listening to this message and are like, crud. I have made horrible decisions, some sinful decisions. What do I do now?
Joel Brooks:Well, let's say, first, repent. Repent of any of those sinful decisions. 2nd, I would say, trust. Trust that God causes all things to work together for good for those who loved and are called according to his purpose. Trust that his blood covers every sinful decision you have ever made.
Joel Brooks:And not just that, His grace is just so glorious, so great that he's going to take those bad decisions. He's actually going to use them for his glory. That's how sovereign he is. And commit yourself from this point forward to trust in his love, to trust in his sovereignty. Commit yourself to trying to do the best you can to discern what pleases him.
Joel Brooks:You do that and it's going to result in his glory and your unspeakable joy. Pray with me. Lord Jesus, you tell us to delight ourselves in you and you will give us the desires of our heart. Talking about us, getting a new car or getting a new home or whatever that is. You're saying if we delight ourselves in you, you put in us desires.
Joel Brooks:You put in desires deep in our hearts that long to love you and to serve you and obey you. Would you do that now in us? Give us the desire to try and to please you in the life that you have given us. We pray this in the sweet name of Jesus, our savior. Amen.
