//0{jf TheBvbkm ofGuidana fy S.D. Gordon INTERCHURCH WORLD MOVEMENT OF NORTH AMERICA 45 West 18th Street, New York City i The Problem of Guidance A Chapter from “Quiet Talks on Personal Problems' ’’ By S. D. GORDON The Interchurch World Movement of North America 45 West 1 8th Street New York City Copyright 1907-1910 By Fleming H. Revell Company and reprinted with permission PRICE 5 cents each, 50 cents per dozen $2.75 per hundred A Guide Over Life's Trail OBODY thinks of climbing the dangerous passes and peaks of Switzerland without a guide. The experienced travelers are very careful about getting experienced guides. Even then a man sometimes loses his life. These guides have to learn the way at the risk of their own lives and they take serious risks every time they climb. And this is the sphere where a man can see and feel with his outer material senses. How much more does a man need a guide for the climb on into the future days where no man has yet learned how to see or feel an inch ahead. With all our great advances in knowledge and science we don’t surely know a clock’s tick ahead what is coming. The coming year and month and day — even the next moment — is utterly hidden from our eyes. We are in Egyptian darkness that may be felt, and that is felt, about tomorrow. We are used to it from the earliest birth of life and move on with a certain steadiness, planning and shrewdly guessing how certain matters will go. That very steadiness of step in our common life on into the unlit darkness of the next hour tells of a great Guide whose hand upon life all men have learned unconsciously to trust. But the factor of fear is never absent from human life, though it lessens steadily as one comes to know his Guide. The man who risks going alone in a dangerous mountain climb in daylight is reckoned foolhardy. Even he wouldn’t go in the dark night. How much worse is it to go 3 THE PROBLEM OE GUIDANCE alone on the life-climb without even a single ray of daylight to show the way. Yet many do just that. Eoolhardy would you say .? There is a tender awe in knowing that there is some One at your side guiding at every step, restraining here, leading on there. He knows the way better than the oldest Swiss guide knows the mountain trail. He has love’s concern that all shall go well with you. There is great peace for us in that, and with it a tender awe to think who he is, and that he is close up by your side. When you come to the splitting of the road into two, with a third path forking off from the others, there is peace in just holding steady and very quiet while you put out your hand and say, “Jesus, Master, guide here.” And then to hear a Voice so soft that only in great quiet is it heard, softer than faintest breath on your cheek or slightest touch on your arm, telling the way in fewest words or syllables — that makes the peace unspeakable. And if perhaps the chosen road lead to crowds and great service and praise of men, you will be thinking it was his leading that brought you there, not your own wisdom or talent. He has some great purpose for these crowds, and maybe some purpose through these crowds farther on. And you will be very careful not to disappoint or mar his plans. And, too, you will keep very quiet and close that the dust the crowd is raising may not bother your eyes and dim the vision of his face. And if sometimes the way be lonely and long, and the brambly thorn-bushes on the sides scratch face and hands, and sharp stones cut your feet, you can, if you will be quiet enough. 4 THE PROBLEM OF GUIDANCE find a new softness to the strong arm of the Guide around you, and a new fragrance in his presence beside you; and that will make you grateful for the roughness of the road, because it draws out more the fineness of his love and of himself. God Plans Every Life Guidance is entirely a matter of finding God’s plan and then following it. God has a plan for every life. He will lead us into it, and then lead us in it, step by step. He made man’s home before he made man. In the simple Genesis record he planned the man, of what sort he should be and what service he should do, before he made him. He planned the best, for he made him in his own image. He gave himself, his breath, to insure that likeness, and later gave himself again, his blood, to restore it. He planned a new trinity in making man, bimself and the man and the woman, for perfection of friendship requires three; and man was made for fulness of friendship with God. Everyone needs two friends, one above to draw him up, and one alongside to draw him out. So God planned. The life of the great Hebrew pioneer, Abram, clearly was thought out,i and as clearly that of his lineal descendant, the great law~giver,2 and that of his immediate successor, Joshua.^ It was the consciousness that he was filling out God’s plan for himself that held Jeremiah so steady in his difficult and thankless, dangerous task.'* Paul, the man to whom we Gentile foreigners owe so much, had no doubt of this ^Genesis 12:1 and on. ^N^mibers 27:18 and on. ^Exodus 2 and 3. ‘‘Jeremiah 1; 4 and on. 5 THE PROBLEM OF GUIDANCE in his own life;* and he plainly set it down as a law of God’s dealing with men.“ The greater includes the lesser. God has no favorites. Every man’s life is planned. Every man should plan to live a planned life, the planned life, planned by Another. Every man may. He is touching the very tip-top of human achievement who comes nearest to fitting into the plan thought out for him. This glorifies every life, no matter how lowly, or in how hidden away a corner; for the touch of God’s plan is upon it. It dignifies one’s life; it has been thought out by God! “There ’s a divinity that shapes our ends, Rough-hew them how we will.” And that divine One will shape everything towards the end he has planned if he may have our consent. The first great question for every one is whether he is going to go God’s way and plan to fit into God’s plan. The real stiff work in the problem of guidance is here. This must be settled first of all and then kept settled. It can easily be settled and it can be kept settled. Yet almost every man of us is bothered with either one or the other of those two things. But if a man will do up this part of the sum, the figuring out of the rest is assured; and more, it isn’t hard. Let it once be fixed that a man’s one ambition is to fit into God’s plan for him and he has a North Star ever in sight to guide him steadily over any sea, however shoreless it seem. He has a compass that points true in the thickest fog and fiercest storm and is unaffected by magnetic rocks. »Acts 13:2 and on. Corinthians 12:11, 18. 6 THE PROBLEM OE GUIDANCE God Tells Us His Plan for Us God reveals his plan to a man. Of course he does. He naturally would if he expected a man to follow it. He has to tell it if we are to know it. He does tell it and tells it in the plainest way. This is the second great factor in guidance. He not only reveals the plan to follow and the path to tread but he is eager to do it. He takes every man into his confidence regarding the plan for his life. But his great trouble is to get our attention so he can tell us. If something has come to you that seems very strange and unexplainable, better hold very quiet and still. God is probably trying to get your ear. He is talking. If you give your attention you will hear something. He needs some help; there is something to be done; he wants you to give him a hand, a lift, a life-lift. He is trying to attract your attention. If you give it and fall in heartily with his plan you will understand what he has been doing, and when the thing that hurts has done its work it will likely be taken away. He reveals the general plan at once, but the steps in it only one at a time. He wants to keep in touch with us all the time.i His plan needs two at each stage, himself and you. We need to be trained to keep his pace. We are apt to either dash ahead or to lag behind. Both bother the plans. There is a fascination in noting how much stronger men as Abram^ and Joshua® were told a step at a time what to do. As one step was taken the next became clear, and that taken, cleared the next. Steady walking takes ^Genesis 22:2, 11, 12, 15-18; Matthew 2:13. ^Genesis 12:1, 4 with?; 17:9, 10 with 23, and 18:1. ^Note first ten chapters of Joshua. 7 THE PROBLEM OF GUIDANCE most strength. Some of us are good at a dashy, eagle-flight up, or a quick spurt down the road, but we have not learned the walk-step yet.' Accepting God’s Plan How may we know God’s plan for us? No question has been asked more often, nor more earnestly than just this: “May I know certainly what God’s plan for me is?’’ And the deep glow of fire in the eye tells eloquently of the eager desire of the heart. Yes, surely we may know and may know surely. He that is willing to do may know and will know. The life-plan that has been thought out may be known, and there may be, too, the steady going along in the plan step by step without breaks. A man needn’t even stub his toe, much less fall down. The first essential to knowing God’s plan is meekness. That simply means accepting Some- body’s else plan for the life. Meekness is not weakness; it is strength using its strength in deliberately yielding to a higher will. Moses is called the meekest man because he yielded so fully and constantly to Somebody’s else plan. He might have been the Pharaoh of the world’s leading nation, but he chose to ally himself with a race of ex-slaves because that was Somebody’s else plan for him. And the spirit of that choice pervaded his whole life. Jesus was not the meekest man. He was meekness personified. The word gets a new fineness of meaning from his life. He might have swayed Athens and Corinth, the centres of the world’s philosophies, with his philosophy of life, ilsaiah 40:31. 8 THE PROBLEM OE GUIDANCE but he chose rather to teach the poor, for that was Another’s plan for him. He might have held in his steady grasp the reins of a new earthly government stronger than that of Rome, but he chose rather to win the government of men’s hearts, for that was Another’s plan for those human years. He might have been the centre of the highest social circles of beautiful, cultured Antioch-on- the-Orontes, but he chose to grace and sweeten with his presence the homes of the lowly, for so his Father wished. His voice could have been used to give out music that would have classed him as the world’s greatest musician, but he chose to sing to babes and to women and men tired out under heavy loads, for that was Another’s plan. Those fingers of his could have chiselled marble and touched canvas into a life far beyond what marble and canvas have ever known, but he used them in ministering to sick and needy and tired-out folks, for so it had been planned for him. He came to carry out the plan of Another. That was the great meekness of his great strength. This quality of meekness lies at the very root of guidance. It makes the road simple and straight. The man eager to do what God wants done will know certainly what to do.i This is a family trait by which the sons of the King may be recognized. 2 Those in the inner family circle of God have a fine passion for doing what he wants done. The second great essential in knowing God’s plan is obedience. This is really saying the first iPsalm 25:9. ^Romans 8:14. 9 THE PROBLEM OF GUIDANCE thing over again. Obedience is meekness; it is meekness in action, in daily use. Obedience is practising meekness. It makes meekness effec- tive. Meekness is accepting the plan; obedience is working it out bit by bit. Meekness is the attitude of one’s spirit towards God; obedience is the doing of the things he wants done. A Disciplined Judgment There is a third essential of immense impor- tance: listening to God. God is telling us the plan and telling us the next step to take, but our ears bother us; they are so dull. It is amazing how many deaf children there are in God’s family. The deafness seems to grow with the years. For usually the child-ear — whether a child in years, or in religious experience — is keen, though it needs training. There is nothing so necessary as keen, trained ears. Yet there seems to be nothing rarer. There are three things given us for guidance: the Word of God, the Spirit of God, and our own sense, or reasoning powers — our judgment. These three are meant to agree. When they do agree in one the way is surely clear. When they do not agree, the only wise thing to do is to do nothing; to wait till they do agree. Usually the judgment is amiss and needs straightening up to the other two. The Word of God read habitually disciplines the judgment. There comes to be a settled conviction as to God’s character and preferences and ways of working. There comes, too, a keener use of one’s thinking powers. The Spirit of God within makes plain the meaning of 10 THE PROBLEM OF GUIDANCE the Word and adapts it to our needs in a very wonderful way. With the Book of God in his hands in good plain type, and the Spirit of God in his heart, and the common sense with which we are all endowed, no man need be in doubt when acting time comes, nor make any mis- steps. And this is said with keen consciousness of many a slip. As I sift over the facts and circumstances that bear upon the decision I must make, the Spirit of God will guide my thinking. He will help me to see colorlessly, to weigh accurately, and to reach a right conclusion. This is putting guidance on the highest plane. God uses the thinking powers he has given us. They need the discipline of his Word, of his Spirit’s in- dwelling and of use. Questions of right and wrong are decided by the statements of the Word. Questions of what best to do are decided by the judgment, disciplined by the Word and guided by the Spirit. The passion for God’s plan is the great counter- actant for the undue personal element. The steady, burning passion to do his will makes one forget all else and yet makes him fit in eagerly where service is called for, but with no sense of having done some great thing even when he has. He is absorbed in Someone else through whose power the thing was accomplished, and whose glory is the one dominant thought. Unhurried Waiting All of this is in that twenty-fifth psalm, the great guidance psalm. It was written in the midst of difficulties and sore temptations. 11 THE PROBLEM OE GUIDANCE It should be studied much by the man seeking to understand guidance. It begins with oft- repeated prayer for guidance that reveals an earnest heart-desire to go God’s way. The praying stirs the memory of its writer to the fact that he hasn’t always chosen God’s way, but has preferred his own. It is the meek man who reverently “fears the Lord,” who is guided and taught about the way to go. The path pointed out is not only the right one but proves to be a loving one for him who is obedient: “unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies.” 1 Ins meek, obedient man waits on God; he is in the spirit of constant listening. And he is guided in thinking out his decisions. He is instructed in the way to choose. God does the instructing; the man does the choosing; he is helped in his mental processes. The result specified is two-fold: great peace, his soul dwelling at ease; and power or good success, his seed in- heriting the land. Then comes the great statement that the friend- ship of the Lord, the exchange of confidences, is given to such men: “and he will show them his covenant;” that is, what he has planned to do, and then the plans actually carried out. And the writer emphasizes the true spirit that brings all this — “mine eyes are ever toward the Lord” Such a man will know surely how to go and will have strength to go when the way is hard; and more, will find the road to lead him into far more of blessing than he had ever thought of. There is a fine word from Luke’s pen describing the decision to go to Europe the morning after Paul’s vision of the Macedonian man. Luke had joined Paul. Paul tells him his vision. 12 THE PROBLEM OF GUIDANCE “Straightway,” he writes, “we sought to go forth into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.”i The old version says, “assuredly gathering” in place of “ concluding.” The word underneath suggests a putting together of this and that, and so drawing an inference. It describes the common process of thinking a thing out. In this case the evidence was very clear, but the word used for the thinking and talking it over is very help- ful. They were being guided in their mental processes. God’s law of progress is to take the next logical step. But one should not take a step when in doubt about it’s being the right one. A business man of Belfast, well known in that city, told this bit of his experience to a group of men in the Fulton Street prayer meeting room one noon. He is a builder and recognized as an expert in that business. He had been called to examine a large building which was being seriously jarred by the motion of the machinery. Efforts were made to find out why the machinery shook the building so but they failed to reveal the defect in construction. He examined the building most thoroughly but could find no faulty place. It was one of the best constructed build- ings he had ever examined, he said. He was much puzzled to know where the defect could be and felt quite nonplussed. As he stood looking about in his perplexity, he sent up a softly breathed prayer to be shown where the trouble was. At once his thought went to a certain large post or beam on which part of the machinery rested. He then noticed that it was not properly adjusted. It was plainly the ^Acts 16:10, American Revision. 13 the problem of guidance cause of the violent jarring of the building by the machinery. Yet he had gone painstakingly over the whole structure without finding it, as had other experts. The defect was pointed out and remedied and all jarring ceased. Could there be simpler and yet more direct illustration of the old bit, “The meek will he guide in his mental processes?” A small group of young men entrusted with the supervision of one of the great religious activities among young men were spending a day in conference and prayer. Men were to be chosen for certain very important positions. A mistake in choosing would have very serious results. They talked over the men in mind and their suitability to the tasks involved, and prayed together. A decision was reached about certain men, but reached tentatively, not decisively, not finally. The suggestion was made that they separate, pray and think separately and then come together again. The matter was so serious that there must be no mis-step or mistake. They did so, and while in prayer alone the conviction came that it would not be best to send a certain man, tentatively decided upon, for a certain post. More prayer and conference followed and the arrangements were readjusted. So these men were guided in their mental processes. So were they guided to plan out unhurriedly, with utmost thoroughness, their serious task. These men were keen Bible students, with disciplined judgment much above the average, and with a rare openness of mind to the suggestions of God’s Spirit, as a result of long habit. Here was the habit into which they had been led through long experience, of 14 THE PROBLEM OE GUIDANCE being guided by the Spirit through their trained thinking powers. The withdrawal from each other’s presence made them more susceptible to the presence of the One whose will they were bent on doing. Instructed in the Night Seasons The habit into which I have grown in making decisions, even about smaller matters, is to gather up all the information on the matter, thresh it out and sift it over into the clearest shape possible, pray over it, be content to have it go either way regardless of personal preferences, and then sleep over it. In the morning hour alone I am apt to know pretty clearly what to do. If not quite clear, I wait a while longer, including sometimes more than one night’s sleep. The sleep induces a quietness in which the thing assumes clear shape. Then, too, there is a statement of the old Book that seems to me to fit in here, though I know well that some may think the interpretation of it rather fanciful. “So he giveth unto his beloved sleep”! is the reading of both old and revised versions. But the margin gives this alternate reading; “So he giveth unto his beloved in sleep.” I do not say this is the first meaning of that tender old bit of the Book. I do not know. But I recall how he gives bodily strength in sleep and has turned the tide of sickness and weakness in sleep, and I recall, too, that in the Old Testa- ment times he used to reveal his plan to men in their sleep. The man who proved to be God’s messenger to Job told that troubled man this: •Psalm 127:2. 15 THE PROBLEM OF GUIDANCE “God speaketh once, Yea twice, though man regardeth it not. In a dream, in a vision of the night. When deep sleep falleth upon men. In slumberings upon the bed; Then he openeth the ears of men And sealeth their instruction. And the sixteenth psalm has this: “I will bless Jehovah, who hath given me counsel; Yea, my heart instructeth me in the night seasons. ”2 I am not speaking of dreams but only of this — that through the perfectly natural channel of the thoughts he gives in sleep that which guides us when awake. There is here no element of the supernatural involved. Through nature’s duly appointed channels, the mental processes, God, in a time of greatest stillness, clears the thinking and suggests what to do. Finding the Life-plan The great question of finding out the life-plaii has puzzled a great many and should have a special word here. The fact that there is a life-plan for every one and that God is naturally eager to tell it so that it may be carried out, clears the ground very much. The man who wants to know, can know, without any doubt. Hundreds of young people are facing the question of giving their lives to the great, needy, foreign mission fields. There, without any question, is the greatest need and there too is the greatest privilege of service. And in addition to that are 'Job 33: 15, 16. 2Psaim 16:7. 16 THE PROBLEM OF GUIDANCE the great home mission fields and the church ministry. In our day there is a great call for many sorts of workers in addition to the ordained ministry. The general plan for all followers of Jesus is that they shall go. The general marching order to all who hear his voice is a plain, imperative “Go.” The early disciples so understood and went. In foreign mission lands there is a spirit akin to that of these early disciples. In Korea today they are going everywhere in the same way. Whenever there is a spirit of awakening in the church there is always a spirit of awakening to this ringing call to go. Whenever the Spirit of God gets sway in a man’s life, among other marked characteristics is a new, yearning earnest- ness to take the message of Jesus to the far-off peoples who have had no word of it. But in addition to the general marching order is the particular personal order. The Master has made plain his plan for his church; it is to go. He makes plain his plan for each member of his church where he is to go. The whole scheme is mapped out by the Lord of the harvest and each one’s place in the scheme, too. And while all may go in a very real sense to those neediest fields by prayer and money and earnest sentiment-making, some are not to go there personally but to stay here. The great thing is to be where the Master has planned. How shall a man know that plan for himself? He should aim to gather all available information; w'eigh and balance it carefully; wait quietly upon God, both in prayer and in the spirit of his life, with a full, eager willingness to go far or stay near; to be wholly in religious service or a 17 THE PROBLEM OE GUIDANCE volunteer with other duties, as the plan may be. He that is willing to go shall know. He should inform himself about the great w'orld-fields. That is very easily done today. The Student Volunteer Movement and the young people’s movements have brought the information close home in very easy shape. He ought to think about his own abilities and special gifts. These gifts and talents are gifts from God, and so a trust. One should think soberly of what he can do, and cannot do, that he may know his responsibility and meet it. Some sensible friend or two, sympathetic with you and with the needs, can be of real service here, to help you get an impartial view, but the decision must rest with yourself. The circumstances of one’s life must be considered and the home responsibilities. I know a young man who burned with the desire to go to a foreign field. But it was very plain to him that he should not leave home; he was needed there. There was a deep twinge of regret as the situation cleared to him; but no element of doubt. Clearly it was so planned for him. And he has since been used graciously in every mission land while yet remaining home. That is the story of very many who have discerned clearly the plan and gladly fitted into it. All this one should gather up: facts about the world-need; about himself, with friends to help get the undue personal coloring out; about his circumstances; and the strong inward impulse. These should be sifted and weighed unhurriedly, and balanced, and time spent in quiet prayer alone with God over his Word. So will a man come to know with the certainty that steadies 18 THE PROBLEM OF GUIDANCE all his coming service. And he will always know in time. But he must not be hurried; he may decide quickly but he must not decide hurriedly. “My Sheep Hear My Voice” There are some snags in these waters to be looked out for and avoided. Some terrible mistakes have been made by those who said they had heard the voice of God and were doing as he had bid. I am not speaking now of those who havedone insane things under such a delusion. But godly, well-equipped men, earnest and whole- hearted in their devotion, have made pitiable mistakes that have sadly blighted both life and service. There is need of constant watchful care. Yet one may be sure. The Master said, “My sheep hear my voice;”' that is, they recognize it. The actual sheep in that land are very keen and quick to recognize their own master’s voice. That sheep simile is immensely helpful here. The sheep live with the shepherd. It is by long daily intimacy with him that they know him so well. So with us. By the intimacy of daily contact with God; by the intimacy of knowledge of his voice, and by the cultivation of a quiet spirit one grows keener to know that voice, for it is a voice of great, still quietness. There is a voice of God as well as a Book of God. God speaks by the voice of the Spirit to a man’s inner spirit. He is apt to speak in the words of the Book. Sometimes he speaks otherwise. And when he does it is always in accord with the Book, of course; the voice of God agrees with 'John 10:27. 19 THE PROBLEM OF GUIDANCE Itself. He never speaks contrary to the Book nor to the spirit of it. Having asked for guidance and reached your decision, never look back and question your guidance. If indeed it be clear that you have not waited quietly enough; have not heard distinctly, and made a decision unwisely, of course it must be changed. But when you have waited and listened and not hurried, and have come to a decision, then refuse to question it. Push quietly on. There is a teasing, nagging indecision that whips back and forth over a matter already disposed of. It often comes from worn-out nerves. Good sound sleep; plenty of fresh air, and plain food thoroughly chewed would dispel many of the distracting, confusing thoughts that come racing in like staghounds to bother us. They would help us to hold steady mentally and to know the thing to do. Sometimes this indecision lies deeper down than a tired body and is a mental trait to be chastened and dis- ciplined. A will bended to God’s; a spirit of obedience to his wishes; the Book kept open; the cultiva- tion of the Spirit’s friendship; time alone with the Book daily; a habit of wide reading of its pages, a quiet, unhurried spirit — these simple, great things lead to the disciplined judgment and sensitive spirit that know what to do and make no slips. “Thou sweet, beloved will of God, My anchor-ground, my fortress hill, My spirit’s silent fair abode: In thee I hide me and am still. Upon God’s will I lay me down 20 THE PROBLEM OE GUIDANCE As child upon its mother’s breast; No silken couch, nor softest bed Could ever give me such sweet rest. Thy wonderful, grand will, my God, With triumph now I make it mine; And love shall cry a joyous ‘yes’ To every dear command of thine. Thy beautiful, sweet will, my God, Holds fast in its sublime embrace My captive will, a gladsome bird Prisoned in such a realm of grace. Within this place of certain good Love evermore expands her wings: Or, nestling in thy perfect choice. Abides content with what it brings; A sweetest burden, lightest yoke. It lifts, it bears my happy soul; It giveth wings to this poor heart; My freedom is thy grand control.” ‘ ^Madame Guyon. 21 TLr ff '■*) • •. • -; i‘.) iCjf f, ' • ■■" V.iT.’.'.ft: »-• '.4. ‘I '} "..'u )■ t f' ,f: • ! '•■'i j,, , ,,y.f ■ ■; :1