A Cloud by Day, a Fire by Night: Finding and following the God's will for you (AW Tozer Series Book 4)

by A.W. Tozer

God is directing His people in the way He wants them to go. Often it is not the way we want to go, but as we yield ourselves to God, He opens doors and leads us forward. And so the church’s responsibility is to hear that voice and then obey that voice.

It is the voice of God that will guide our way through our personal Jordan rivers and into the promised land. Without that voice of God, our Jordan will never open up, and we will never get across.

Heavenly Father, the greatest desire in my heart is to hear from Thee. Not simply to hear about Thee, but to hear Thy unmistakable voice resonate within my heart, calling me to a stance of obedience before Thee. Hear me, O Father, so I may hear that unmistakable voice of Thine. I pray this in Jesus’ name, amen.

We need to relax a bit, turn away from the noise of the world, and listen to the voice of God because He has everything put together. He has prepared for us a place of service and ministry and will open the necessary doors, despite the obstacles and the confusion we may experience during the journey.

Having faith to follow God’s leading isn’t easy. We may encounter a great deal of difficulties—difficulties we didn’t anticipate. There will be times we want to quit. But those of us who put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ need to realize that no matter how terrible our circumstances, or how the enemy may come against us, we should have faith in the God who is leading us. That Angel set before us is God’s appointed one. He will lead us through our Jordan to where God can be glorified through our ministry.

To reach that place requires a power not equal but superior to the opposition.

Unbelief hinders the operation of the spiritual laws, laws of the kingdom. If we do not believe God in everything, then we are hindering the laws of God as He intended them. This impedes our own spiritual progress. If we are not following the laws God has laid down for us and are following instead the laws man has laid down, we are compromising our progress and no longer going in the direction God wants us to go. Unbelief also interferes with the Lord’s leading. If I’m not believing God, I’m not being led by God. My unbelief will cloud what God wants to do in my life. That is the thing most important to many Christians who have been wandering aimlessly for too long and have become discouraged. We need to wake up to the call of God and the laws of the kingdom and get back to where God wants us to be.

By trusting God whether we understand His plan or not, we are placing ourselves in the path where He can lead us to where He wants us to be.

In my Christian walk, if I am opposed and fade away, it’s because I don’t realize there will be opposition and that my real enemy is Satan. He works to oppose us at every level, and for the most part, I’m sad to say, he is successful. Satan through demons and other people and circumstances puts up opposition that is too strong for us alone. There is no way in our flesh we could ever stand against the enemy.

God identifies himself with us completely. God created us, God created everything around us, and God knows exactly what we are up against. To avoid spiritual confusion, we need to understand the difference between an enemy and an adversary. An enemy is one hostile toward us. This enemy, however, can be temporarily inactive. We can have an enemy out there, but he is not attacking or opposing us—he is just out there. An adversary is different. An adversary is an enemy in active opposition. God has said if we follow Him our adversary will be His adversary. Although our adversary can overcome us, it can never overcome God. God stands strong, and when He faces our enemy there simply is no competition. Our victory in the Christian experience rests upon our obedience.

This is the blueprint for treating our enemies. Religious persons often try to make the enemy afraid of them on their own. They swell up, look dignified, and, as they say, defend themselves. Their arguments are very long; they write letters and act as if they are insulted. It just never works. The enemy is not intimidated by anything we could ever do or say. He is laughing in our faces. God says, “I am working for you. I take your place, I accept your enemies as my enemies, and they must deal with me.” That should resound a glorious hallelujah in our hearts, because when God steps in, you know something is going to take place. Enemies will have to deal with God. If they had to deal with me, they could overwhelm me with no problem.

Vow never to defend yourself, and then keep that vow for the rest of your life.

We like to defend ourselves. We like to get even. We like to stand up and, as we say, give a testimony and a witness. However, we need to come to a point where we refuse to defend ourselves. We are very limited and can never overcome the enemy. When we permit God to be our protector, the enemy is utterly defeated. God will defend you. God, however, will let you protect yourself if that is your choice. God will let you take a stand against the enemy. Many of us have done just that and we know the consequences. However, we must recognize God is on our side and has our back.

Vow that you will never defend yourself and will turn every situation over to God. You’re afraid, as I am, of being embarrassed and humiliated before the enemy. But if God is on our side, we never have to fear that. Many times my humiliation has been the defeat of the enemy in the long term. I only think of now. God is thinking in terms of eternity. Put your trust in God’s ability and strength and wisdom to defend you, to defeat the enemy in your life, and you will see a victory you have never experienced before.

The key ingredient in defeating the enemy is obedience to God. When I vow not to defend myself, I need to obey that vow no matter the difficulties that I encounter. If I think I can handle my situation all by myself, I am facing defeat before I even start. When I vow not to defend myself, I am saying that I do not have what it takes to come against the enemy. Normally, we do not want to admit this. We like to believe that we can handle every situation. Just like Israel, I need to remember that God is not trying to glorify me; rather, He wants to glorify himself through my life. This comes only by completely surrendering my heart and life to the Lord Jesus Christ.