“As Christians, we fall into this mindset more often than we’d like to admit. Our generation is Biblically illiterate, so signs, feelings, and coincidences fill the void. After all, it’s so much easier to look for clues to God’s plan in our day-to-day lives than engage in study or prayer! And who doesn’t want a sensible, discernible trail to follow, a trail that helps us to explain our choices after the fact?”

Can we discern God’s will by following a trail of bread crumbs?

Does God scatter clues to His will, for us to find?

Let’s consider this example:

“Bob and Susan are devoted Christians. Bob is a Deacon in his church, and Susan is a volunteer in the church’s youth program. Health issues have prevented Bob and Susan from having children, though they’d like them. One day Bob is talking with a Christian family who adopted a child from the Republic of Georgia. The conversation is exciting, leading Bob to research this route. Later that same week, Susan meets a family from Georgia (the state) at the mall, each wearing bold, “I Love Georgia” t-shirts. A month later, a woman named Georgia (and her five children!) moves in down the street. Before long, Bob and Susan can’t pass a crate of Georgia peaches without noticing the divine “breadcrumbs” that God appears to be casting before them. And so they decide to act, feeling sure that God has shown them His will.”

Now, this example may feel familiar to many of us. But is it Biblical?

Specifically, is it Biblical to make decisions on the basis of the scattered “signs” and “clues” we feel God has left for us, indicating His plan for our lives?

Here’s another example:

“A man is considering a transfer to New York City. One day, while debating the issue, he turns the TV on to what happens to be a Yankees game. Given the timing, the man decides that this coincidence must be a sign; surely God is hinting at His will through this minor act of providence.”

Again, is this a Biblical approach?

As Christians, we fall into this mindset more often than we’d like to admit. Our generation is Biblically illiterate, so signs, feelings, and coincidences fill the void. After all, it’s so much easier to look for clues to God’s plan in our day-to-day lives than engage in study or prayer! And who doesn’t want a sensible, discernible trail to follow, a trail that helps us to explain our choices after the fact?

Is there any validity to such an approach? Or to put it another way, does God ever reveal His will by acts of providence? Well, of course He does. God opens (or closes) doors all the time, and leads us in ways so calibrated, so measured, that if we were to look at our life with a “top down” view, we’d be astonished.

However, the problem is that we take a proper view of providence and pervert it. We elevate our ability to deduce (and act upon) God’s providential acts, while subjugating all other forms of His leading. Bible study and prayer are relegated to emergency use only. We tell God: “Lord, I’ll be on the lookout for what you’re telling me through the hints you leave me in my day-to-day affairs. And if I get really stuck or can’t figure things out, I’ll flip my Bible open to a random page, close my eyes and point at a verse, and trust that you’ll give me your answer there.”

Once again, I don’t want to suggest that God never indicates His will for us by use of some external action, event, or person. He does this all the time. Scripture bares witness to such occurrences, as do the testimonies of many godly, faithful people. Even the “close your eyes and point” thing, as lazy as it may be, can be used by God if He sees fit.

However, interpreting God’s will via external signs is not the primary way that He reveals things to us. Charitably, to rely on such an approach is naive and silly. Less charitably, it is a form of witchcraft, paganism. To rely upon “signs” for guidance is like reading tea-leaves, and it discounts God’s revelation elsewhere.

So how do we know God’s will for our lives?

Well, primarily by studying what He’s revealed in His Word, and praying for illumination as to what His Word says. And then, being steeped in Scripture, we’ll be able to identify the ways His truth has been borne out in our circumstances (or via the input of other Godly people).

There are no shortcuts.

Toby B. Holt is a Teaching Elder in the Presbyterian Church in America.