Discerning God’s Will - A Lesson from Jonathan Edwards’ Life
It seems to be popular among some Christians to say, “God has told me...” about a particular area of their life, yet have no discernible, practical explanation of what they mean by that. It seems some use the phrase “God has told me” or “The Spirit has led me” as a synonymous way of saying “I feel Ike I should”. I think there is danger here as it makes the will of God a subjective exercise in human feelings subject to the dangers of sinful motivations driving a decision.
While there is much more that could be said on this topic (in no small part the role of the Word of God), an example from the life of Jonathan Edwards serves as an overt example in the life of a godly man of what it means to listen to wise godly counsel in discerning God’s will in a particular situation.
The following was inspired by and adapted from Chapter 5 "Keep God Central: The Life of Jonathan Edwards" in The Supremacy of God in Preaching by John Piper (Baker Books, 2015). (The books is a strongly recommended for any preacher, but that's a post for another time. 😀 )
In the fall of 1757 Edwards was called to be the president of Princeton. Edwards felt entirely inadequate for the position. He wrote in response to the trustees expressing to them his lack of qualification:
Edwards further did not desire to go. He really wanted to stay in Stockbridge, MA where he was pastor and focus upon writing ventures he had in mind to complete (in today’s Christian vernacular he might have gone so far as to say “I feel the Spirit is leading me to stay.”) He further wrote to the trustees:
Yet, what was the deciding factor for Edwards? A council of ministers he assembled to guide him if it was his duty to go to Princeton. John Piper notes, “...the council of ministers that Edwards had personally called to Stockbridge voted that it was his duty to accept the presidency, Edwards wept openly before the council but accepted their advice.” (Quoted in John Piper, The Supremacy of God in Preaching, 76)
Here we learn an important lesson about the role of wise council in discerning God’s will:
By the way, Edwards left almost immediately to go to Princeton and died about a month later due to complications from a smallpox vaccination (but that is a lesson and story for another time).
While there is much more that could be said on this topic (in no small part the role of the Word of God), an example from the life of Jonathan Edwards serves as an overt example in the life of a godly man of what it means to listen to wise godly counsel in discerning God’s will in a particular situation.
The following was inspired by and adapted from Chapter 5 "Keep God Central: The Life of Jonathan Edwards" in The Supremacy of God in Preaching by John Piper (Baker Books, 2015). (The books is a strongly recommended for any preacher, but that's a post for another time. 😀 )
In the fall of 1757 Edwards was called to be the president of Princeton. Edwards felt entirely inadequate for the position. He wrote in response to the trustees expressing to them his lack of qualification:
I have a constitution, in many respects, peculiarly unhappy, attended with flaccid solids, vapid, sizy, and scarce fluids, and a low tide of spirits; often occasioning a kind of childish weakness and contemptibleness of speech, presence, and demeanor, with a disagreeable dulness and stiffness, much unfitting me for conversation, but more especially for the government of a college....I am also deficient in some parts of learning, particularly in algebra, and the higher parts of mathematics, and the Greek classics, my Greek learning having been chiefly in the New Testament.
(Quoted in John Piper, The Supremacy of God in Preaching, 75)
Edwards further did not desire to go. He really wanted to stay in Stockbridge, MA where he was pastor and focus upon writing ventures he had in mind to complete (in today’s Christian vernacular he might have gone so far as to say “I feel the Spirit is leading me to stay.”) He further wrote to the trustees:
My heart is so much in these studies, that I cannot find it in my heart to be willing to put myself into an incapacity to pursue them any more in the future part of my life.
(Quoted in John Piper, The Supremacy of God in Preaching, 75.)
Yet, what was the deciding factor for Edwards? A council of ministers he assembled to guide him if it was his duty to go to Princeton. John Piper notes, “...the council of ministers that Edwards had personally called to Stockbridge voted that it was his duty to accept the presidency, Edwards wept openly before the council but accepted their advice.” (Quoted in John Piper, The Supremacy of God in Preaching, 76)
Here we learn an important lesson about the role of wise council in discerning God’s will:
Godly council can be used by God so that our own
desires, feelings, and biases do not rule the decision.
By the way, Edwards left almost immediately to go to Princeton and died about a month later due to complications from a smallpox vaccination (but that is a lesson and story for another time).