This week I read two different blogs, both dealing with the will of God, although from slightly different vantages. The first came from Christian Century. In that blog, James Howell cautions against too quickly assuming that you know what God wills.

In a second blog, my friend Peter Walker reflected on how many times in his life he thought the Holy Spirit was guiding him to do something, only to discover that it was his own “gut” providing the guidance. Peter is wise in his caution.

Recently I had a friend tell me that he had been counseled to shut down a ministry that was begun with affirmations about God’s guidance, even by those counseling the stoppage. This event has caused me to reflect further on the will of God and wonder why someone/s would abandon what they attributed to God’s guidance simply because the going got tough.

Why, I wonder, would God lead a person into ministry, evangelism, and service only to say later, “Stop what you’re doing and abandon the people you’ve gathered together”? Again, “the gut” sends bad advice and reflects basic human nature rather than the true will of God. If “guts” could talk they’d probably say, “Ignore the will of God, this scares me to death.”