God and Common Sense

The following is from "My Utmost for His Highest." These were thoughts shared by Oswald Chambers 100 years ago while he was lecturing at the Bible Training College in Claphim, England. 

"At the beginning of our Christian life we are full of requests to God. But then we find that God wants to get us into an intimate relationship with Himself -- to get us in touch with His purposes. Are we so intimately united to Jesus Christ's idea of prayer -- 'Your will be done' (Matt. 6:10) -- that we catch the secrets of God? What makes God so dear to us is not so much His big blessings to us, but the tiny things, because they show His amazing intimacy with us -- He knows every detail of each of our individual lives.

"At first, we want the awareness of being guided by God. But then as we grow spiritually, we live so fully aware of God that we do not even need to ask what His will is, because the thought of choosing another way will never occur to us....God guides us by our everyday choices. And if we are about to choose what He does not want, He will give us a sense of doubt or restraint, which we must heed....God guides our common sense."

The words of Chambers seem fresh and relevant to me even though I have read them many times over the years, and I join him in believing God guides our common sense, but I would add that we have to allow Him to do so. While faith is central to any religion, if common sense is not a factor in our lives, our faith can cause heartache, for ourselves and others. Treating God as though He is some kind of magic genie in a bottle waiting to grant us our every desire is a mistake. Our goal should be to see the bigger picture of how our lives and our desires are connected to the needs of others.

Faith must be cultivated and so must common sense. We should take the time to build an intimate relationship with God, learning to balance matters of the soul, (our emotions, will, feelings, and mind) with matters of the spirit. God will guide our choices, but we can’t skip the step of getting to know Him, seeking to know His will and learning to recognize His work in the smallest of details.