“I will never experience guidance from God if my main goal with God is to get guidance.”

A thought by John Ortberg (2016-05-01) from his book, What Is God's Will for My Life? (p. 49). Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title of the book to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)

It is true in any relationship, there is more to it than what I want out of it. John says, “A full relationship with God will include intimacy, confession, worship, gratitude, learning, receiving encouragement, and surrender.”

He goes on, “These are all elements needed for me to become the kind of person God can use to achieve his good and great will. The critical question when it comes to guidance is not ‘Is God willing to give guidance?’ It’s ‘Am I becoming the kind of person it makes sense for God to give guidance to?’ When I am selfish or greedy or resentful, any knowledge I might gain about the future would simply enable me to do more harm.” That makes sense doesn't it?

Earlier he said, “It’s a wonderful gift to be able to ask God for guidance. But it’s necessary to talk to God about other things as well: to give him worship, to express gratitude, to seek learning, to draw hope. In fact, this leads to a critical dynamic about seeking God’s will for my life: guidance is only one part of a full relationship with God. (Similar to any friendship — if the only time I communicate with you is to get direction/ information that is useful to me, we will not have much of a relationship.) It only makes sense for God to give me guidance if I’m in a deeper relationship with him that is forming my character and heart.”

There is so much more to a full relationship with God than just guidance though that is great. There is so much more.

So how is your relationship and growth going?

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