Gods Sabbath

P UTTING T HEORY INTO P RACTICE

365

will to us. If we cling tenaciously to our own ideas as did Baalam (see Numbers 22–24) we will go astray like him. With an open ness to be ready for either approval or disapproval of the plan, we will move cautiously forward ever looking for an indication from God that He is opening or closing doors as He sees best. As we do our part in the great plan we have to be wise as a serpent and harmless as a dove (see Matthew 10:16). The voice of God can be easily heard if we cherish a spirit of submission. In this phase the mighty Plan Maker will speak to us through various ways—His word, experienced elders, circumstances and the voice of His Spirit. In this connection it is important to distinguish between two different ways in which God will reveal Himself to us: •The more important way is when He speaks to us inde pendently of our own influence or judgment. The means He uses to do this are His word (which includes the law of the ten commandments and the natural law), the princi ples of the message, and the counsel of experienced broth ers and sisters in the church. This way does not come through ourselves and as such is a neutral and objective witness. •The second, which is next in importance, is the way God speaks to our hearts or minds. He does this through cir cumstances, impressions of the Holy Spirit on our con science, and His voice in nature, or from another source where we can hear His voice speaking to our heart. We can also learn from our own experiences that we have had in the past. This way is dependent on our own understanding and feelings, and as such is subjective. The conviction that a plan has come from God is a personal ex perience to be gained through submission and humility. We must be ready to hear and recognize the voice of God through whichev er channels or media He chooses: His word, the principles of the message, the respectful but clear warnings of our brothers and sisters in the truth, His providences, as well as the voice of His Spirit or whatever He may use to convince us, even when it clos es the door on our plan. If our faith rests in God, we will be ready to discern every small indication He sends us. When doors are closed, we have to be prepared to abandon our plans even when