Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:2

Before they put astronauts aboard the spacecrafts that were sent to the moon, scientists used a rather elaborate system to keep the missiles on the right path in space. It seems that, in spite of their great accuracy, the missiles would deviate from the correct trajectory and wander off course. The slightest deviation would, of course, cause them to go hurtling off in space forever, and miss the moon entirely. To correct the deviation, scientists installed receivers in the rockets. From Cal-Tech’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a message would be radioed through space to the missile. The receiver aboard the spacecraft would translate the message, causing the great retro-rockets to fire for a precise number of seconds to correct the course of the space missile gone astray.

In a sense, the human soul is something like the receiver that was installed in the construction of the spacecraft. The record of Genesis says that when God created man, He breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living creature, but then man rejected God’s will and plan for his life, and that rebellion against God–called sin by the Bible–caused the soul of man to die. Yet, when a person recognizes his spiritual need and turns to Christ, as his Savior, he becomes a new person, spiritually. It is like a radio receiver–burned out by a power shortage–replaced with one better than the old.

If you would doubt that we desperately need the guidance of God in our lives, take a look at people you know, who, in spite of the direction God gives in the Word, have made shipwrecks of their lives. The man who is unsaved is like the captain of a ship who refuses to use the radar unit, because he says, “I am the captain of my fate,” not knowing what lies ahead in uncharted waters, when the radar unit could guide him through dangerous seas.

Perhaps you are thinking, “Do you really mean that God, through His Holy Spirit, will give us guidance today in the 21st century?” I mean to say just that, but like the volume control of a radio receiver, it is possible to turn the volume so low, spiritually, that we do not hear the voice of God.

You may be like the person who stopped on the corner of a downtown street to talk to a blind friend. The noise of the traffic made conversation almost impossible, and yet the blind man stopped and said, “Did you drop a coin?” Sure enough, the friend looked at his feet and there was a coin that had dropped out of his pocket as he reached for his keys. “How could you hear that?” asked his friend. “Oh,” he replied, “you hear what you are trained to hear.” The man without his sight had trained his ears to compensate for his lack of vision.

With the darkness of the world pressing upon us, we need to train our ears to hear the voice of God. Incidentally, God’s voice is a quiet one that can be drowned out by the clamor of our own ambition and desires. If you are uncertain if what you feel is God’s will, ask three questions: 1. Have I honestly put aside my will? Can you whole-heartedly pray, “Have Thine own way, Lord”? 2. Have you determined that you will do God’s will when He shows it to you? 3. Is the direction you feel in your heart, consistent with the teaching of God’s Word? When you can answer yes to all these questions, you may be reasonably sure that what you feel is the will of God. Then, go ahead and do it, and don’t look back.

Resource reading: Matthew 6:5-15.