Editorial January 27, 1940 Issue

Divine Direction

Duncan Sinclair

Divine direction—is it possible to receive it? How often have mortals asked the question! Many a time throughout human history, when men have been under the stress of affliction, has it come from their lips. Many a time have the sick, and the sinning too, uttered it when escape from their woes has seemed impossible. God they may have believed in. God they may have had faith in. But was it possible, they have asked, for them to receive His direction, His guidance, His aid? And if they did not seem to get them, what was the reason?

That it is possible to receive God's guidance, many have believed throughout the ages. That God's guidance was actually received is plainly stated in the pages of the Bible. One has only to study its records to see this. Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Daniel, among many others, proved it for themselves. For example, after their departure from Egypt, when the children of Israel were standing in suspense between the waters of the Red Sea and the hosts of Pharaoh, Moses, his thought attuned to divine law, said to them, "Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will shew to you to day" (Exodus 14:13). The "salvation of the Lord" was indeed shown to them; for they passed through the midst of the sea on dry land, while their pursuers perished in the raging waters thereof. Moses' understanding of God's law and his obedience to that law enabled him to receive divine direction, and to solve the problem of the deliverance of the Hebrews from the hand of Pharaoh.

The New Testament record tells of the divine direction which Christ Jesus and, later, his followers, received. The Master's complete confidence in God's guidance is shown in his words, "For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth" (John 5:20). What confidence they show in the love of the Father and His directing power! Jesus understood the nature of God, understood his relationship to God perfectly; knew God's law clearly, and obeyed it completely; and thus he received constant guidance from God, his heavenly Father. Immediately before he uttered the words just quoted, he said to the Jews who sought to kill him, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise" (v. 19). A perfect sense of his unity with God—that was what inspired and directed the entire life of the Master.

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