I’m sure that any professing Christian would heartily agree that we need to be doing a lot of consulting with God. We say that we love God and want to do His will, yet one of the greatest hindrances to our real walk with God is our ten- dency to leave Him out of the picture in the deci- sions of real daily life. Too often when making decisions we use all the normal resources we can find; we make phone calls, weigh circumstances, consider the pro’s and con’s; then if we’re still having trouble deciding, we ask God.

Don’t get me wrong, God gave us our mental capacity to think and reason. But the problem is we too often leave God out of the process too long or sometimes completely. Our heavenly Fa- ther wants an ongoing, unbroken consultation with us through the day. Our “devotions” or “quiet time” should be the special beginning of an all day commitment, not just something we do as part of a routine.

I remember the day when I was going through the process of making a decision regard- ing a special arrangement for my daughter Emily. Our family was going to be conducting meetings in California and Emily had been invited to spend a few days with a pastor and his family where we had previously conducted a seminar. She was ex- cited about the opportunity to help out with their children and at the same time receive some per- sonal Spanish tutorage from the wife, who has been referred to by one individual as having the knowledge of the Spanish language similar to that of Shakespeare in the English language.

The problem was getting her from the loca- tion where our meetings were held to the pastor’s home. We were narrowed down to either having her take the Greyhound bus or having the pastor make a long and tedious drive in California traffic to pick Emily up, only to turn around and repeat the drive. I knew the pastor was very busy and the bus would save time as well as the drive. But I didn’t really like the thought of my daughter on the bus either. So I was weighing these options, pondering the pro’s and con’s and trying to come up with a reasonable solution.

While I was going through this typical human thought process, the Lord prompted me with, “Why don’t you ask Me?” Why hadn’t I thought of that earlier? That was a great idea. So I got up from my desk, walked into my prayer

closet and began to talk with the Lord about the situation. The Lord wants us to consult with Him about big things and little things. He wants us to dis- cuss our real life perplexities and deci- sions with Him. So I asked, “Lord, what do You want me to do?” He impressed me, “Don’t have her take the bus!” I said, “Thank you, Lord.” I had my an- swer and could now make the arrange- ments with the pastor with the assur- ance of the clear counsel of my Heav- enly Father.

This does not mean that I stop the process of thinking things through and weighing deci- sions. It does not mean that we will always imme- diately get a clear answer to every question that we may pose to the Lord. But notice that the Lord prompted me to come to Him and consult with Him. The important point is that God wants to participate in our decision making process. He wants to help us avoid needless, and in some cases, costly mistakes in our decisions.

Even God’s great men like Joshua struggled in the same way we do, sometimes consulting God and other times falling into self-reliance. When there were humanly impossible problems, like crossing the Jordan and overthrowing Jericho, Joshua was in steady consultation with God. The result was success and complete accomplishment.

of the will of God for His people. But when it came to taking a little city like Ai, or making a league with the Gibeonites, who had cunningly disguised themselves to look like distant travel- ers, Joshua felt like he could handle these situa- tions without consulting with God. The results were the unnecessary loss of life and a permanent treaty with another nation that was not in har- mony with God’s purpose for them.

Could things have been different? Yes! But self-confidence, the promise from God that they would inherit the land and failure to realize his present dependence upon God, led Joshua to lay his plans without counsel from God.

While it can be an encouragement to us that even the great men and women of Bible history struggled with the same weaknesses we have and then became victorious, let’s be sure we’re really gleaning the practical lessons for our- selves that they teach.

Often as we look back on poorly made deci- sions we can recognize in hind sight that God was trying to get through to us in some way. If deci- sions are made based upon circumstances, the way things appear, or in a hasty manner, without consulting God, we’re liable to continue to create needless trials and difficulties.

This is why Joshua ended up getting into the league or peace agreement with the Gibeonites. Their shoes were worn out, their bread was moldy, their wine skins were cracked, therefore, they must be telling the truth, right?

If Joshua would have consulted with God everything would have been revealed very quickly and simply.

Some people do not consult with God be- cause they don’t really believe they will get an- swers from Him. Some feel inadequate, not wor- thy, and their faith becomes discouraged. For many there is no personal intimacy with God, therefore it is more of a mechanical, religious transaction to “say my prayers.”

But what does the omnipotent God, our Heavenly Father, say to us?  “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be aswhite as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” Isaiah 1:18

How far He reaches down to us, right to where we are, and even while our sins are as scarlet He offers to reason with us and transform us! Don’t we have sufficient evidence that He loves us and that we can put our trust in Him? So when we come to God to consult with Him we must be-

lieve He is God. Oh, we might say, yes, I believe that He is God, but do we believe that this theo- retically all-powerful God is really able to take care of my situation right now? Do we believe this God who opened the Jordan and toppled the walls of Jericho has the solution to my present question, perplexity, or crisis? We must believe that He is God and that He will personally reward us if we diligently seek Him. (Hebrews 11:6)

When we consult with God we’re really al- lowing Him to open our understanding and adjust our thinking and perspective. That is why the more we consult with God the more His will and His way makes sense to us and we become more willing to allow Him to work in us. When our will is surrendered to His will, when His will for us is accepted as our will we are letting this mind be in us that was also in Christ Jesus. (Phil. 2:5)

This is what the apostle Paul meant when he said “work out your own salvation . . . for it is God that worketh in you to will and to do of His good pleasure.” Phil. 2:12.

When we are truly consulting with God, allowing His will to become our will, His power to become our power, then it is God working in us to will and to do of His good pleasure. So in ef- fect, working out our salvation is our choosing to cooperate with God as He guides us and transforms us.

When Joshua commanded the sun to stand still in the heavens, he was operating in the mind of Christ. It was God working in Him to will and to do of His good pleasure. Joshua boldly commanded the sun to do something that it was impossible for a man to do. But the Bible says, “And there was no day like that before it or after it, that the Lord hearkened unto the voice of a man.” Joshua 10:14

That is powerful, it’s inspiring. But friends, the power in the man was the power of God. It was the God that Joshua had consulted with before he went to battle, and was continuing to stay in com- munion with during the battle, that inspired the bold request.

This same powerful, loving God wants to consult with you and I. He wants to guide us con- tinually. We probably won’t ever be inspired to ask the sun to stand still, but I know the other day I was definitely directed to have my mouth stand still. Has God consulted with you about your mouth? You see I had asked God to put a watch upon my lips, to really be my God for the day. I still marvel at how His Spirit is able to flash those kinds of messages through the avenue of the mind.

I was having quite a lively, face to face conversation with someone. We weren’t arguing, we weren’t angry, but this individual had some pretty strong opinions that I could not entirely agree with. The perfect opportunity came for me to share my perspective - I thought it was the perfect opportunity - when the Lord clearly broke through my train of thought and said, “No, this is not the time.” Oh, but everything inside of me (I think that’s spelled SELF) just wanted to say it and I thought it needed to be said, and you know how that story ends. But I knew God was doing just what I had asked Him to do that morning so I chose to maintain my connection with Him. I know that when by faith I accept His counsel I am always blessed in the yielding and confirmed in my reflection. The point here is not that we can’t ever share our perspective, but are we really will- ing to let God have us, direct and keep us?