How can I know God's will for my life?

This is a question that I often encounter among honest and sincere Christians. It is often a source of frustration even for the most faithful follower of Christ. We often wish that He would part the waters and roll back the clouds to give us that desired answer. And yet, most of the time, it is a still, small voice that leads us in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake.

Doing God's will

Matthew 6:10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven

Most are probably familiar with this passage of scripture. Most sincere Christians have a desire to do the will of God. It is our responsiblity to find out what that is. In fact, not only is it our responsiblity to know what His will is, but also to do it. There are stern admonishments from the Master:

Matthew 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven

The wonderful thing, is that God has revealed His will to us in His word. When we speak of "knowing the will of God for our lives", what we usually want to know are the specifics. Who am I going to marry? What career path should I choose? What church should I attend? What are my gifts and callings to ministry?

But probably many of us have never taken the time to find out what the "general" will of God is for our lives, by simply looking at the bible. Perhaps if we would focus on doing His already revealed will in our lives, then the more complex issues would become clearer. This is not an exhaustive list where the sovereign or general will of God is concerned, but let's take a look at some examples and see where we measure up.

Matthew 12:50 For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.

Matthew 18:14 Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.

John 6:40And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.

Galatians 1:3 Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ, 1:4 Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father:

I Thessalonians 4:3 For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication

I Thessalonians 5:18 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you

I Timothy 2:3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; 2:4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth

I Timothy 2:8 I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting

I Timothy 5:14 I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully

I Peter 2:13 Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; 2:14 Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well. 2:15 For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men:

I Peter 4:19 Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.

II Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance

These are all examples of what I would refer to as the "general" will of God. You could study this much more in-depth on your own, these are just a few verses from the New Testament.

The perfect will of God

In the previous section, we saw that there are certain "universal truths" or generic plans for each Christian's life. There is, however, what I refer to as the "perfect" will of God which is more specific to you and I as individuals. I think this verse lends credence to the fact:

Romans 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

One thing that jumps out at me, is that in order to see the perfect will of God in my individual life, renewing my mind is paramount. So here we are introduced to the idea, that if I don't attempt to live by God's plan for me, then I may never see the good things He has in store for me. I know some have a fatalistic mindset that says "whatever will be will be", but I don't believe the scriptures support that kind of thinking. The bible is full of "if-then" statements. In other words, "if" we do certain things, "then" God will most assuredly do His part. I don't know about you (though I have a good idea if you are reading this), but I want to see and experience the good things that God has planned for my life, and don't want to do anything to mess it up.

Before we go any further, we need to realize that God does have a plan for each of our lives. Not everyone is called to be a pastor, teacher, evangelist, etc. etc. But we are all called to be witnesses and living epistles of the gospel of Christ. Remember that the body of Christ is made up of many members, and each part has an important function. There are no big players and small players in the kingdom of God. In fact, Jesus said that the greatest in the kingdom, is the one who humbles himself and becomes servant of all. That flies in the face of modern humanistic thinking, but we know that we are "in this world, but not of it!". Let's look at some verses that confirm this plan (or calling) on each of our lives.

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end

I Cor 3:9 For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building

Ephesians 1:9 Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: 1:10 That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: 1:11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will

It becomes obvious after much study, that God does have a plan for us. But the question that we still have is....how do I find out what it is? The obvious but often overlooked answer, is just to ask Him! Here are just a few verses that lead me to believe that the Lord is willing to reveal His will to us.

Amos 3:7 Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets

Genesis 18:17And the LORD said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do; 18:18Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? 18:19For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.

Ephesians 5:17 Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is

Colossians 1:9 For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding

James 1:5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

Luke 11:9And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. 11:10For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

Jeremiah 33:3Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.

One important thing I should mention here

There are some things that God in His infinite wisdom may never reveal to us. I can rest in the fact that God knows all things and that "all things work together for good to those who love God". We also know that God is light and "in Him there is no darkness" (I John 1:5), and that there is "no shadow of turning" with Him (James 1:17). There are things we will never understand-like "why does a child die?", or "why do bad things happen to good people?", and the list goes on and on. Remember Job, whom God said was a perfect and upright man? We can see from this ancient book of the bible that the ultimate intent of the adversary is to get us to blame God for our misfortunes. But God was with Job, and blessed him immensely in the latter end. So shall it be with us. Christ said that we would have trouble in this world, but to take heart because He has overcome the world. Whenever I am faced with a perplexity, I am reminded of this verse from the law of the LORD:

Deuteronomy 29:29 The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.

This tells me that there are some "secret" things that we will only know when we see Him face to face. The enemy loves to take those difficult circumstances in our lives and try to make us doubt the integrity of God. We would do well to guard our hearts and be vigilant against him as he is going about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.

So how do we walk out the will of God in our lives?

The best advice I can give is that we should do our absolute best to stay as close to God as we can. I believe that the LORD is always speaking to us (though usually not in an "audible" voice) through his word. The scriptures do imply that He is speaking to us. The question is: are we listening?

John 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:

Revelation 2:7He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God

Hebrews 12:25 See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven

We should do our best to walk in the Spirit in order to hear from the LORD.

Romans 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

Galatians 5:16This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.

The natural mind cannot comprehend spiritual things. That's why it's so difficult for most of us to discern the will of God for our lives. We are so conditioned to thinking like the world.

I Corinthians 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

Romans 8:6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 8:7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be

Proverbs 3:5Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 3:6In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

Though we may have setbacks, and not always make the right decisions. We can trust that our faithful God will help us get back on the proper path.

Psalm 37:23The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way.

We must also remember that God is much bigger than any problem that we face. Sometimes those things that we view to be setbacks or defeats, are merely trials of faith to mature us for a higher calling. Recall the beautiful words of Joseph. God had a tremendous plan for Joseph's life. It was revealed to Joseph as a young boy in a dream. But I'm sure he never realized what a difficult journey he would take, on his way to the fulfillment of his dream. But throughout all of Joseph's trials (and he definitely had some-just read about him in the latter part of Genesis), the LORD was with him. And through it all, Joseph was able to say these profound words:

Genesis 50:20 But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.

I hope that this brief study has been an encouragement to you. May God richly bless you as you follow Him and study His word!

Truth Ablaze-the online ministry of Liberty Community Church
Indian Trail, NC
Copyright 2003