If a child habitually neglected its father and did not take the trouble of seeking to know his mind and will, it is easy to see that when a difficulty presented itself, the child would not readily be able to understand what would please its father.
If instead of the case I have supposed of a child, if it were a question of a wife towards her husband, it is probable that, if she had the feelings and mind of a wife, she would not hesitate a moment as to knowing what would be agreeable to her husband. And she would know this without his having expressed a positive will about the matter.
Believers would like a convenient and comfortable means of knowing God’s will—as one might get a recipe for anything. But there exists no means of determining His will without reference to the state of our own soul.
Sometimes we are of too much importance in our own eyes, and thus we deceive ourselves in supposing some will of God in such and such a case. At other times, we seek God’s will, desiring to know how to act in circumstances in which His only will is that we should not be found in those circumstances!
Be assured that if we are near enough to God, we shall not be at a loss to know His will. “If therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.” And thus it is certain that if the whole body is not full of light, the eye is not single. Now you will say, “That is poor consolation.” I answer that it is rich consolation for those whose sole desire is to have the eye single and to walk with God. “He that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”
You cannot exempt yourself from the moral law of Christianity. “For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing [by] the knowledge of God” (Col. 1:9-109For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; 10That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; (Colossians 1:9‑10)).
The mutual connection of these things is of immense importance for the soul. The Lord must be known intimately if one would walk in a way worthy of Him, and it is thus that we grow in the knowledge of God’s will. “And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; that ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ” (Phil. 1:9-109And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; 10That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ; (Philippians 1:9‑10)).
Finally, it is written that the spiritual man “judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man” (1 Cor. 2:1515But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. (1 Corinthians 2:15)). It is the will of God, and a precious will, that we should be able to discern His will only according to our own spiritual state. In general, when we think that we are judging circumstances, it is God who is judging us—who is judging our state. Our business is to keep close to Him. God would not be good to us if He permitted us to discover His will without that.
J. N. Darby (excerpted)
Editor’s Note: The unabridged text is available as a separate pamphlet. We heartily recommend it!