Just Do Something: A Liberating Approach to Finding God's Will

by Kevin DeYoung

You don’t get the sense that the apostle got angelic visits every other day and waited for his dreams to tell him what to do. With few exceptions, Paul planned, strategized, and made his own decisions about the nonmoral matters of his life.

Second, when we look carefully at the instances of special revelation in the book of Acts—visions, angels, audible voices, promptings, etc.—we notice one very important and consistent fact. The extraordinary means of guidance were not sought. I don’t deny that God can still speak to us in direct, surprising ways. Of course, it must always be tested against Scripture, but I believe God can still give visions. The point is that these extraordinary means in the New Testament are just that—extra-ordinary.

Any time you take the Bible out of context you destroy the intent of God’s Word. That’s why you cannot take instances of special revelation and make them normative for the Christian experience. … When he [Paul] did experience a special revelation, seeing a vision of a man calling him to Macedonia, he obeyed. But the special revelation of God was a rare and unique experience, even for Paul. … We cannot take special circumstances and make them the norm by which we live our lives. Special revelation for guidance was not the normal apostolic experience. And at the time it was received (by Paul, by Philip, by Peter as he lay on his roof) it was not being sought. … Special revelation came at a time when God wanted to lead them apart from the normal ways in which His people make choices.2

We need to affirm, on the one hand, that God can still give visions or speak in extraordinary ways (though never in ways that add to or contradict the Scriptures).