Perhaps you've heard people say that they are waiting on God to tell them what to do. Some people say that and they simply mean that they are waiting until they have a better understanding or until they get advice from godly people they trust or whatever. On the other hand, there are those who mean they are literally waiting on God to tell them, whether audibly or in a dream or whatever, what their next step should be.

Acts 15 sheds light on what means God uses to guide and direct our steps. There's a glaring absence in the Jerusalem Council.

The central issue being debated in the Jerusalem Council was the matter of justification by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. They didn't use those words, but that's the heart of the matter - "is circumcision necessarily a requirement to be imposed on Gentiles when they come to saving faith in Christ?"

To get this wrong would've meant splitting the church in Antioch from the church in Jerusalem. Getting this wrong would've separate Paul from Peter. Getting this wrong would've had catastrophic effects on the universal church. Getting this wrong would've had implications for you and me. It's conceivably the most significant decision made by a church council in the history of mankind.

Of all the times for the voice of God to step in and clarify the answer, this was it. If ever God was going to audibly speak to people and tell them what their next step ought to be, this was it. Besides, there are apostles participating in this council, men whose job it was to receive revelation from God and communicate it to His people. Paul had, in fact, already written Galatians by the time the Council met.

This would've been the most obvious time for God to speak his will. But how did the Council reach their conclusion? Collective wisdom and reading/interpreting/applying the Bible. James read the prophet Amos and applied that passage to their situation in order to understand God's will.

Perhaps you and I should spend more time reading the Bible in order to understand God's will than sitting around and waiting for him to speak.