Prolific teaching pastor Nicky Gumbel tells a story about using the GPS (Global Positioning System) application on his smart phone in one of his Alpha Christian small groups. I can relate to this story, as I am not great with driving directions. For those of us who are 'directionally challenged', instructions like turn left or go straight tend to work much better than compass directions. It is my cross to bear, so to speak. This condition results in frequent use of my own iPhone's GPS navigation software, especially when traveling any kind of distance.
I think many of us rely on this when driving around strange or new places. If you miss your turn or exit, then the phone will politely instruct you to turn around as soon as possible. Never yelling or berating you ... but simply reminding you that you have chosen the wrong path. Now mind you, even the best GPS systems can land you in the middle of a corn field accidentally (especially in rural Iowa). This is part of the fun though, right? It has become an adventure I believe, for many of us directionally challenged individuals to simply get from one place to another. 
You will also notice that if you persevere long enough, eventually you will hear those sweet words spoken to you by Siri's phone voice: "you have arrived at your destination." Mission accomplished; no more missing turns or exits. Time to get out of the vehicle and join up with your friends or family … the long journey is over.
I imagine that following God's still, small voice might be like this sometimes. People by and large, are looking for someone to follow who will guide and mentor them. Someone they can trust. Politics can often fail you in this regard. Bosses and organizational leaders may let you down from time to time also. After all, they are only human, just like you. But what is it like to try to listen to God's voice in the midst of all the other voices out there competing for our attention? How can we allow God to faithfully guide us by His Spirit? How do we zero in on His voice.
Ephesians 2:10 says this, "For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Do you believe this? Do you agree that each and every one of us has been hand-crafted in order to accomplish something important for the kingdom of heaven here on Earth? I do believe it myself, and I hope you do also. I believe it in spite of apparent evidence to the contrary occasionally (i.e.: was Adolf Hitler really also God's handiwork?).
It is entirely possible that a creature intended for good can lose his or her way and end up performing evil. I also don't think this acts to discredit the notion that people have a special meaning and purpose from God. The Bible says that even the Devil himself used to be beautiful and lofty above all other angels, right up to the moment he pridefully rebelled against the creator.
Bear with me a bit longer, and look at Psalm 32:8: "I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you." This is one of God's many promises to us from the Old Testament - that if we keep our eyes fixed on Him, He will guide us along the path with love.
And so these two ideas come together quite nicely to form the following axiom - all of us have been created with purpose and meaning, and God will help guide us to complete the good works for which we were originally created (if we let him). If we stay engaged with what He is so often trying to tell us through our conscience, and through other people. It is always possible to ignore Him of course, and many people do.
This raises a question, however, and doubtless some of you might already be wondering this as you read along. How do we know for certain it is God that is counseling us in any given situation? It's an excellent question, especially given that false teachers abound these days. Some of us might remember that David Koresh used spiritual trust to ensnare many people into following him into the Branch Davidian cult. You may also remember it was a pretty big news story from Waco, Texas back in 1993. Things didn't end well for those poor people, and they didn't end well for Koresh either.
I want to offer one more cautionary tale, and then we can move on. Many will recall a man named Harold Camping. If the name rings a bell, it is because he founded a ministry that made the bold claim that the world would come to an end in October of 2011. Not only did he and his ministry spread this message across the world, but tens of thousands of people here in America also believed him. They quit their jobs, cashed in their retirement savings, and hunkered down in safe places across the nation to wait for what they thought would be God's Rapture of the saints. As you can imagine, October came and went. If memory serves, Camping then tried to save face and make excuses … he even picked a handful of new dates. But by that time, the world knew he was not listening to God's voice. Harold Camping was convinced that his ministry was following the guidance of the Lord. Apparently, no one could tell him any different. The damage was done.
The key to deciphering whether or not you are following the Holy Spirit is to stay in the Bible, and stay in fellowship with other Christian believers. I must mention here also, that it doesn't hurt to stay in prayer with God either. Had Harold Camping clung to Scripture in this way, I believe he would have seen the command in Matthew 24 telling us that no one knows the day or the hour that Jesus will return. Attempting to calculate when the end of all things will occur simply isn't possible (or Scriptural). It was a basic misstep by an extremely intelligent and charismatic individual.
Likewise, if we suspect that the spirit of God is nudging us to do something, please do run it by other believers. Feel free to ask your pastor about it. Run it by your friends in the church - people you trust, not just those who you know will agree with you automatically. Allow common sense to prevail, and wisdom to kick in. Give yourself enough time to discern what is really going on.
If it really is God guiding you, then stand back and watch for what I call 'ordinary miracles' to start happening. We all know about some of the miracles that Jesus performed in the New Testament: water into wine, walking on water, healing people, etc. This isn't what I'm talking about here. What I mean is that God can also move in more subtle and personal ways. Maybe He shows you a person who used to rebel against the Bible but now is born again. Maybe you begin to notice some changes happening in your own life. I have often said that if my current self could go back in time and meet my old self, I'm not so certain we would have been friends! There were a hundred ordinary miracles that happened to me along the way, in order that my faith walk might have been bolstered.
You will begin to see these little pointers and signs all around you. Little nudges telling you to stay engaged, and stay in God. If you are reading the Bible and talking through Scriptural truth with fellow believers, then you are headed down the right track. Do not try to do your faith journey alone, it was never meant to be that way. Instead, open your eyes to what is going on around you, and then open your heart to what God might be telling you personally. It will be a wild ride, but it also won't violate the Bible. Sooner or later, you will hear that familiar voice saying, "you have arrived at your destination."
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