I wanted to wait until Phil came back on list to 
forward this.  This sermon, by J. Vernon McGee, 
goes along with Phil's posts about the will of god.

Text of forwarded message follows:

>GOD'S GUIDANCE
>
>The following is by the late J. Vernon McGee. I 
>first heard this on his radio program in about 
>1975, which I was a couple of years old in the 
>Lord, and it helped me a great deal at that time 
>and has stayed in my mind through all of these years:
>
>"And she went, and came, and gleaned in the 
>field after the reapers: and her hap was to 
>light on a part of the field belonging unto 
>Boaz, who was of the kindred of Elimelech" (Ruth 2:3).
>
>If you'd seen Ruth going out that day down the 
>road from Bethlehem, you would have seen a girl 
>who had no idea into which field she should go. 
>How is she going to find her way into the field 
>of Boaz? It's going to be very important that 
>she get in that field. If she doesn't, then you 
>can tell the wise men that there's no use coming 
>to Bethlehem. Jesus won't be born there. And you 
>can tell the shepherds to stay with their flocks 
>on the hillside because He won't be born in 
>Bethlehem. You see, it's important that she go 
>into the right field. How is she going to find the right field?
>
>When I was in Bethlehem, I took a walk myself. I 
>may not have walked down the exact road that 
>Ruth did, but it couldn't have been very far 
>from it. And I thought of her as I walked. I 
>think we've located the fields of Boaz. They're 
>right down at the foot of the hill from 
>Bethlehem. Bethlehem was a typical city in 
>Palestine of that day. All of them were built 
>upon a hill, and this little town of Bethlehem 
>was no exception. Evidently down at the foot of 
>the hill in a very fertile valley were the 
>fields of Boaz. When Ruth went out of Bethlehem 
>that day, she had no notion where to go. Now 
>Scripture says, "Her hap was to light on a part 
>of the field belonging unto BoazŠ." Well, the 
>word hap is an old Anglo-Saxon word, coming from 
>the same stem as perhaps or happens. Her "hap" 
>was just a happenstance, as we call it today. 
> From her viewpoint, it was just by chance. 
>Actually, it was just that. Now this brings us 
>again to the question: How did she find her way 
>into the field of Boaz when it was so very 
>important that she go into the right field? Did 
>God put up a stop and go sign, a red and green 
>light, or point an arrow into the right field? 
>He did not. Well then, did a voice speak out of 
>heaven? No, no voice spoke out of heaven. Well, 
>she must have had a vision, someone thinks. But 
>she didn't have a vision. Well, how in the world 
>is this girl going to get into the right field? 
>Let's ask Ruth. I would say to her, "Ruth, I'm 
>sure that you had some pretty definite leading 
>about the field of Boaz." And she'd say, "No, I 
>didn't. You'd better go back and read the book 
>of Ruth again. It says that my hap was to light 
>on his field. I just happened to go in there." 
>May I say to you, from the human viewpoint, it 
>was just happenstance. From God's viewpoint, 
>it's something else. He's going to lead her into 
>the right field. But He's not going to lead her 
>in the way a lot of people talk about it today.
>
>Some folks talk about God's will as if they'd 
>just had a Western Union telegram from Him or a 
>Special Delivery air mail letter from heaven. My 
>friend, God doesn't lead that way today, and I 
>don't think He has ever led very many that way. 
>Back in the Old Testament He led some in a very 
>direct manner, but Ruth was not one of them. It 
>seems to me that Ruth's decision was more 
>important than some other decisions that were 
>made. God said to Jonah, "Arise, go to Nineveh" 
>(Jonah 1:2). And He told Jeremiah and Ezekiel to 
>speak out. But I want to say this to you: what 
>He told these men to do is not nearly as 
>important as Ruth's getting into the right 
>field, because Jesus' birth in Bethlehem is 
>dependent upon her going into the right field. 
>Now God is going to overrule in all of this, and 
>God is going to guide in the background. That's 
>the wonderful thing about the Lord's will. I'm 
>not sure that it's necessary for God to give you 
>and me a road map. Sometimes I wish He would. 
>And I hear some people talk today as if they 
>have a road map. They say, "The Lord's will was 
>for me to do this, and I knew this was the 
>Lord's will." I wish I could be that clear, that sure.
>
>Years ago, when I was pastor in Cleburne, Texas, 
>I received two calls from other churches, one to 
>the east of Texas and the other to the west in 
>California. And I didn't know which to take. I'm 
>being honest with you. I actually got down on 
>the floor and cried out to God to show me which 
>call to accept. He didn't. I had no vision. But 
>then I heard Dr. Harry Ironside make the 
>statement that of the decisions he had to make 
>in his life, eighty percent (I think this is the 
>figure he gave) were made without knowing at the 
>time they were God's will. He did not know until 
>sometime later on. After hearing that, I went 
>back home and told my wife that the atmosphere 
>had all cleared, that I felt we were to go to 
>California. I wasn't sure, but I felt that was the way I was to move.
>
>As far as God's will for your life is concerned, 
>if you think that He's going to put up a green 
>light for you at every corner or an arrow 
>pointing or a voice out of heaven, you're just 
>wrong. He doesn't do it that way.
>
>If you'd asked Ruth if she knew she was going 
>into the right field, she would have said, "I 
>don't know what you're talking about." And had 
>you asked her why she chose the field she did, I 
>think she would have said to you, "I prayed 
>about it. Before I left home this morning, I 
>asked God to lead me. I really didn't know which 
>road to take, but I got down here and looked 
>into one field with nice grain but there weren't 
>many poor people gleaning in it, so I was pretty 
>sure that whoever owned that was a skinflint. 
>But over on the other side of the road, my, 
>there were a lot of poor people gleaning. And I 
>knew that man must be a generous man, and I 
>needed to find that kind of field because I'm a 
>Moabitess, a foreigner, an outcast, and I didn't 
>want to be put out; so that's why I chose this 
>one." ... For Ruth there was the element of 
>uncertainty, but on the other side there was the 
>providential dealing of Almighty God.
>
>One of the glorious things, as we go through 
>this world today, is to know that our times are 
>in His hands; to know that He is ordering the 
>events of this universe; and to know that God 
>has said that nothing can come to a child of His 
>without His permission. You must remember that 
>there was a hedge around Job, and even Satan 
>couldn't touch him until God gave permission. 
>God will not give permission unless it serves 
>some lofty and worthy purpose. It did serve a 
>lofty and worthy purpose in the life of Job. And 
>I'm sure that Ruth did not realize the 
>significance of the decision she was making. She 
>just went in, and I think she prayed and had a reasonable basis for it.
>
>For the child of God today who is frustrated 
>because he's looking for some sign, some 
>experience, some light, some voice, some vision, 
>some dream, he must realize that God is not 
>speaking to us in that way today. God today is 
>speaking to us through His Word. And the child 
>of God who walks in fellowship with God, with no 
>unconfessed sin in his life, and has not grieved 
>the Holy Spirit, can commit his life to God. And 
>when he gets to a place where he isn't clear 
>just what God's will is for him, he can make a 
>decision and move into the situation. Now maybe 
>he makes a wrong decision, but God has permitted it for a purpose.
>
>As I look back on my life, there is one instance 
>where I expected God to open up a door for me, 
>and He didn't open up that door. In fact He 
>slammed the door, as it were, in my face, and I 
>felt very bad about it. But I thank God that He 
>did it, because now I can look back and see that 
>it was best. It's like what Joseph said to his 
>brethren when they came to him after the death 
>of old Jacob, their father. He said in Genesis 
>50:20, "But as for you, ye thought evil against 
>me; but God meant it unto good." How wonderful 
>that is, and may it be an encouragement to you 
>today. Perhaps you are actually biting your 
>fingernails and are wondering why you don't get 
>clear leading. You know Christians who act like 
>they have a hotline to heaven. Now it's 
>wonderful that all of us have access to God, but 
>I'm not sure that He always talks right back to 
>us. So let's be very careful today about the way 
>we banter about the statement, "I know this is 
>the Lord's will." We just can't always be sure. 
>But we can commit our way to Him, have no 
>unconfessed sin in our lives, not grieve the 
>Holy Spirit, and be in the center of the Lord's 
>will as best we know. Yes, my friend, you can 
>commit yourself to Him in a wonderful way. And 
>even if you got into the same predicament that 
>Joseph did, or even that Job did, say with him, 
>"Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him" (Job 13:15).
>
>My friend, that's the glorious truth that brings 
>a joy and an expectancy to life. The providence 
>of God makes every day a thrill for the child of 
>God. I'm glad that He didn't give me a blueprint 
>because, frankly, I like to take a trip over a 
>new road, going into an area I've never been 
>before. I did that one autumn when we were in 
>the Ozarks. My, how that road twisted and 
>turned. And every twist and turn was a 
>thrill-the autumn leaves were a riot of color. 
>Nature seemed lavish, covering every hillside 
>with polychrome pictures. And I'm so glad that 
>God didn't send me pictures of it all ahead of 
>time. What a thrill life can become for us!
>
>
>
>
>
>--
>No virus found in this incoming message.
>Checked by AVG Free Edition.
>Version: 7.5.432 / Virus Database: 268.16.13/632 
>- Release Date: 1/16/2007 4:36 PM
End of forwarded message text:

John


-- 
No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.5.432 / Virus Database: 268.17.2/641 - Release Date: 1/20/2007 10:24 AM