“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end“.

Jer 29:11

There is need for Direction because there is a Destination in view. With every destination, an Expectation is attached, a Promise haven been given.

Being the perfect standard for a loving father that God is, He is always desirous of guiding His own until they arrive at His expected end which carries the highest promise of all. Being in rest with Him.

Because free-will exists, and God is bound by His word and the integrity of His character, divine direction will not always come to all who may be desirous of it.

Here are 3 reasons why divine direction may tarry:-

[i] You Are Not His Sheep.

And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice…

It might seem a harsh statement, But GOD is not Father to everyone. He is the Creator of all, but not Father to all.

God is ONLY obligated, and indeed ONLY permitted to actively provide direction in a Life where He has Jurisdiction. The world system operates within ‘sphere’s of Jurisdiction’ Psa 115:16. As desperate as the Father of the prodigal son might have been in wanting to pursue after him, He couldn’t!. The prodigal son could not be coerced or forced against his free-will.

Where divine direction has been lacking in an over-arching sense in any life, then it is almost certainly because such an individual is not His sheep – neither a part of His flock. Put another way, they have not come to saving faith – neither are they ‘on the way’ to saving faith!

The only reasonable direction any unbeliever can expect to receive from God is pertaining to Salvation. John 3:16

[ii] There is an Idol in your heart:

3 “Son of man, these leaders have set up idols[a] in their hearts. They have embraced things that will make them fall into sin. Why should I listen to their requests? 4 Tell them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: The people of Israel have set up idols in their hearts and fallen into sin, and then they go to a prophet asking for a message. So I, the Lord, will give them the kind of answer their great idolatry deserves.

Ezekiel 14:3-4

In the case where you are a professing Christian, but you have been waiting for divine direction from God as pertaining to certain issues or issue and it has refused to be given. You will need to carry out a diagnostic check on your heart to ensure that you are not carrying an idol in your heart.

An idol in your heart can mean two things

  1. You’ve already made up your mind about what you are going to do and perhaps taken steps towards a desired outcome – yet you come to God out of ‘obligation’ ‘out of formality’ or as an ‘after-thought‘. God will not always be obligated to answer you!. Gal 6:7
  2. You have a double minded heart before God, in that you are living a hypocritical lifestyle where you only half cling to God when you ‘need His help’ and return to the driving seat when you are comfortable. Gal 6:7

Do you have a pattern of not Honoring God in your key decision making by First coming to Him?

Do you have a pattern of not obeying God after He has given you instructions or direction?

[iii] You have not being seperated from Lot.

“And the LORD said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward:”

Gen 13:14

This faith walk is a call to increasing intimacy. It is a call which demands our ‘consecration’ (singular dedication to one owner…not many owners like harlots). God had 1st called Abram and given Him the first level of direction in Gen 12:1. The 2ns dimension of direction was not released though until Abram had seperated from LOT.

Every true call of God is authenticated by burden and secured by divine direction. Yet there are certain burdens that we are wont to carry which not only have no bearing on our destination but may become the very point of destiny(ation) sabotage!. God is not often willing to unveil to us the next phase of our move until we have agreed to part ways with that habit, habitual sin, mindset, person or institution.

What could constitute LOT in your life that you need to be separate from? What LOT are you still clinging onto without which GOD will not be compelled to unveil the next season? Agree to be separated from it now that the voice of God may no longer find hindrance in your heart.

Conclusion

God means us well. He means for us to have and live life more abundantly. This comes in a journey of discovery. One in which He desires to lead us and direct us in the way! Wether we get to actively receive from Him and continue with Him is almost entirely based on our heart condition. Amos 3:3 “Can two walk together except they be in agreement?”.
Firstly the issue of the ownership of our lives must have been fully settled and resolved.
Secondly we must do away with any idols present in our hearts as pertaining to our selfish preferences.
Thirdly we must have separated from any LOT which constitutes unholy burden capable of wearing ilus in the way.

Case Study: Who Should They Marry?

A few years ago, two brothers in Christ came to me to pray along with them as pertaining to their choices in marriage.

I went to the Lord on the first case and this is what He responded to me:


‘I will not be enquired of by Him in this matter. I will not be drawn to say wether this way or that way. Not until he dethrones the idol in His heart“

This was my first time ever hearing that phrase used before i subsequently discovered Ezekiel 14:3

On approaching the Lord concerning the second request, the words were barely out of my mouth when i heard the Lord say

“this one of the two is my choice for Him”


I was actually taken aback by the speed with which He responded.

Is GOD partial or a respecter of persons? What was the difference in these two instances.


The 1st one was enquiring of the Lord from an insincere heart whose desire was clouded by the one of the two choices whom He was in active fornication with. He was actively and consciously living in Sin without repentance yet hoping for the privileges of unbroken fellowship with God. God is not mocked.


The second one had a very reverent fear of God in His heart and considered the weight of the choice as being crucial to his life’s purpose. He was fully yielded to God in His heart and had stayed without Sin from them both.

God is still the same as He was yesterday and shall be the same Forevermore. He still answers questions and He still gives direction to them who are His and who sincerely honor Him in their choices and by their lifestyle.

Selah