Vision Quest – My Way Or The Highway: Learning To Rely On God

*Some call it a quiet time. We call it a Vision Quest. This is a simple Bible study to help you along your journey of discovering God’s purpose for your life.

How much do you rely on God to guide you when you don’t know what to do in your marriage, job, dating, or future? When we are afraid, it is much easier to take matters into our own hands  and rely on our own emotions or other people’s advice rather than to seek God’s will.

These scriptures will help us learn to rely on God and find security and confidence in knowing he will take care of us.

Learning to Trust God

“What sorrow awaits my rebellious children,” says the Lord. “You make plans that are contrary to mine. You make alliances not directed by my Spirit, thus piling up your sins. For without consulting me, you have gone down to Egypt for help. You have put your trust in Pharaoh’s protection. You have tried to hide in his shade. But by trusting Pharaoh, you will be humiliated, and by depending on him, you will be disgraced. For though his power extends to Zoan and his officials have arrived in Hanes, all who trust in him will be ashamed. He will not help you. Instead, he will disgrace you.”

Isaiah 30:1-5

God says we will end up in disgraced and ashamed when we trust someone or something else to guide us. For example, making decisions based on making everyone around us happy will eventually lead to stress and resentment because we can’t possibly please everyone and we won’t end up standing up for what we really believe in.

God cares when we don’t listen to him because he desires what is best for our lives and for us to be close to him. There are consequences when we choose to put our trust in other people and not God.

• Who or what are you tempted to listen to instead of God? People at school, parents, media, or your own ideas of what success looks like?
• In what areas of your life is it hard to trust God for protection? Why?

David replied to the Philistine, “You come to me with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies—the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. Today the Lord will conquer you, and I will kill you and cut off your head. And then I will give the dead bodies of your men to the birds and wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel! And everyone assembled here will know that the Lord rescues his people, but not with sword and spear. This is the Lord’s battle, and he will give you to us!”

1 Samuel 17:45-47

The Philistine came prepared to fight with weapons, but David was confident God would help him win the battle. God actually fights to rescue and save his people. Our challenge is to trust and rely on God instead of our own abilities.

• What abilities and strengths do you try to rely on?

• How do you think David developed so much confidence that God would fight for him? How can you develop this confidence?
• When you want to start relying on yourself, pray and ask God for his help. God will hear your prayer because he loves to help those that turn to him.

Learning to Let Go of Pride

Then they said, “Come, let’s build a great city for ourselves with a tower that reaches into the sky. This will make us famous and keep us from being scattered all over the world.”  But the Lord came down to look at the city and the tower the people were building.  “Look!” he said. “The people are united, and they all speak the same language. After this, nothing they set out to do will be impossible for them! Come, let’s go down and confuse the people with different languages. Then they won’t be able to understand each other.”

In that way, the Lord scattered them all over the world, and they stopped building the city.

Genesis 11:4-8

The people in this story desired fame and security, but didn’t look for it in their relationship with God. Instead, they tried to find it in their own achievements.

When we do things for our own selfish achievements, it doesn’t please God. He knows relying on pride and achievement will not last and he will sometimes frustrate our plans to prevent us from living this way.

• What modern “Babels” or achievements do people build today to find security?
• Why can trusting only yourself be a bad thing?
• Why is trusting God beneficial?

Learn that a Relationship with God is Better

The Lord looks down from heaven and sees the whole human race. From his throne he observes all who live on the earth. He made their hearts, so he understands everything they do. The best-equipped army cannot save a king, nor is great strength enough to save a warrior. Don’t count on your warhorse to give you victory— for all its strength, it cannot save you.

Psalm 33:13-17

God cares about each one of us and understands everything we do. We think we are strong enough to fight our battles and equip ourselves with the right tools but God is the one that gives us victory.

• What do you really want? It’s easy to fall into the trap of chasing the things the world around you tells you will make you happy. But things we really desire like confidence and security don’t last when we try to get them from temporary things.
• Decide today to try to build this kind of relationship with God. Pray about your desire for confidence and security and ask God to show you how he can give you lasting confidence.