Divine Guidance

Luke 22:10, 13 (ESV) He said to them, “Behold, when you have entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him into the house that he enters… And they went and found it just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover.

Twice in the last week before his crucifixion, Jesus gave specific instructions to his disciples that were confirmed by miraculous coincidences. The first was a donkey’s foal on Palm Sunday. The second was a man with a water jar on Maundy Thursday. The situations Jesus prophesied were normal for that day, yet were so specific in their details that they could not have “just happened.” We know these were unusual occurrences because they are recorded as such in each of the three Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke). The fact that Jesus was able to describe the circumstances in such detail before they happened showed his omniscience as the Son of God and gave his disciples specific instructions of what to do on those occasions.

A lot of us would like to have that kind of divine guidance on a daily basis, wouldn’t we? I know I would like to know for sure I am doing exactly what God wants me to in every decision I make. Early in my spiritual journey I met some more mature believers for whom, “The Lord told me…,” was a regular part of their vocabulary. I longed to have that kind of miraculous direction.

Yet, part of the reason Luke and the other Gospel writers go to such detail on Jesus’ description of these events is that they were unusual – even for the disciples. If specific, supernatural direction was unusual for the Twelve who walked with Jesus every day, should we expect it for every one of our decisions? Yet, the same Jesus who gave such direction when it was needed can and does still give it today. I can think of dozens of occasions in my own life that my Lord has unmistakably helped me make a decision. So, although I do not get specific supernatural direction for every decision, the wisdom I have gained from God, education, and experience can help me decide well in its absence. Let’s be open to divine guidance, obey it when it comes, but not be paralyzed or ridden with guilt when it does not.