God's Will

I’ve heard it many times. I don’t think I’ll stop hearing it until I go to glory. “How do I determine God’s will for my life?” Anyone who is sensitive to the Lordship of Christ must ask this question. But what is the answer? How do you know?

Well, there is the general answer, the call to obedience and faithfulness. It includes the responsibility to grow in faith and understanding, to become more like Christ Himself. Certainly that includes a holiness component, but being like Christ is more than that. If the purpose of our life was sinlessness, God would be cruel in leaving us here to do something we will never be able to do. Rather, He should just take us Home and seal us in a glorified state. But He doesn’t.

Therefore, it’s clear that He leaves us here for more than that. Generally speaking, that reason is to be like Christ by accepting His commission to be engaged in Kingdom work.

OK, in over 10 years of counseling in this area, I haven’t met a single person who was looking for that general answer (they get it anyway, because we all need to be reminded of it). Instead, they want to know what the Lord wants them to do here and now in these specific circumstances. While the circumstances vary tremendously, the answer is the same. Ready?

How does Scripture bear directly on your circumstances? This is defaulting back to God’s general will for your life. Will your decision bring you in line with His general will or derail you? Is this a decision for or against holiness as defined by God, not by the culture or anyone else? Scripture is your first rule.

Has God given you direction in the past? Sometimes, we follow God’s direction and then things go horribly wrong, at least from our perspective. Remember that circumstances never trump God’s direction. If you’re sure that you were following His guidance before you got into the mess, and if He chooses to be silent in your suffering, then He wants you to continue to follow His instructions. This is a time for perseverance.

Is God speaking to you now? Again, don’t assume that an opportunity that avails itself is a door that the Lord has opened. Many fall into sin this way. Others lose sight of their calling. If you are supposed to make a change, the Lord will make that clear to you. He does that by His Spirit working through His Word and in prayer and meditation, and He confirms that by His Spirit working through His people.

So, calm down and lean into Him. He can be trusted. You probably won’t get every last detail of how things will work out. You need to trust Him. Get into His Word. Pray fervently, asking Him to make your path clear. Involve trusted Christian friends, preferably not family (that’s another blog post). And then make your decision based up His guidance.

So, chocolate or strawberry ice cream? Hmmm. Lord? ;-)