Page 51 again listen to her spiritual teachers. The ,word the Lord is referring to here is the knowledge of His moral will that Israel should walk in (which was the Law). The ,right hand and the ,left hand refer to those acts that are outside of God’s moral will. Proverbs 4:27 says, ,Turn not to the right hand nor to the left; remove thy foot from evil (see also Deu. 5:31-32; 17:18-20; Josh. 1:7). Isaiah 30 is not a promise that God will guide His people in every decision they will face. It’s a reference to being guided in the path of righteousness. The ,way is the way of God’s moral will. ,But what about Ephesians 2:10 which says, We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God has prepared beforehand that we should walk in them? This is a perfect example of a passage that is referring to the fulfillment of God’s moral will. Good works are simply deeds that originate with God’s activity in and through us. God knows all of those works beforehand, just as He knows all of our actions before we were born. This is not a reference to God’s leading in non-moral decisions. The scope of the passage has to do with the outworking of the righteousness of Christ in our lives. There are other passages on the subject of the Lord’s guidance that we can analyze. But let me give you one suggestion. When you come across them, look at the entire context and ask yourself, ,Is the context referring to His moral will–walking in the righteousness of Christ–or is it referring to some non-moral decision? You will find
For my own part, I have never ceased to rejoice that God has appointed me to such an office. People talk of the sacrifice I have made in spending so much of my life in Africa. Is that a sacrifice which brings its own blest reward in healthful activity, the consciousness of doing good, peace of mind, and a bright hope of a glorious destiny hereafter? Away with the word sacrifice. Say rather it is a privilege. Anxiety, sickness, suffering, or danger, now and then, with a foregoing of the common conveniences and charities of this life, may make us pause, and cause the spirit to waver, and the soul to sink; but let this only be for a moment. All these are nothing when compared with the glory which shall be revealed in and for us. I never made a sacrifice.
David Livingstone