How can I know God’s will for my life? This is a question that pastors are frequently asked. And, in my experience, it’s usually in response to a particular situation. It’s often not asked in a general way, but rather about a specific decision:
- How can I know if God wants me to buy the Honda Civic or the Toyota Corolla?
- How can I know if God wants me to marry Jimmy or break off the engagement and get back together with Bobby?
- I got accepted to more than one college. Which one does God want me to attend?
Have you ever been in a situation like this? Where you just wish God would hang a neon sign in the sky telling you which decision to make? Yes, all of us have been there. And all of us have noticed that God usually doesn’t hang the sign. So now what?
Here is what I usually tell people: God has already revealed His will. And He revealed it in great detail – about 1000 pages, depending on the font size.
The response: Oh, yeah, the Bible. Sure, sure. But that doesn’t help. The Bible doesn’t say whether or not to go to UF or FSU.
That’s right. So, let’s focus on what it does say. What parts of God’s will has He made crystal clear? And are you doing those things? And how does the decision you are about to make affect your ability to continue doing those things? Those are the questions to ask.
Here is an illustration that might clear things up. Imagine if you have a child, and you told your child: “It’s so important to me that you go to school tomorrow! Please go to school. I value your education. And if you choose not to go to school, I will consider that to be both disobedience and severe disrespect. Please go to school tomorrow.”
Then imagine after saying that, your kid skips school the next day. They just blow off all their classes and sit in the living room watching Netflix all morning. And then imagine that they send you a text saying, “Mom/Dad, I’m watching Netflix instead of going to school right now. But I want to know which kind of movie do you think I should watch next? A comedy or an action movie?”
It may seem, at first, like that child is interested in your “will,” (because they are asking your opinion about the movie). However, they have demonstrated that they don’t truly care about your will. How? By actively rejecting your revealed will and focusing on something that you didn’t even say anything about.
We do this kind of thing to the Father a lot.
Sometimes, we are fornicating with our boyfriend or girlfriend during the same time period that we are praying for God to reveal to us whether or not we should marry them. But why would you ask God about His will for your marriage, while actively rebelling against the will that He has already revealed to you? Why obey His “marriage will” when you are already disregarding his “sexual morality will”?
Or another example could be someone who is living for money, career, and fame. And then they ask God whether they should take the job offer in Nashville or the job offer in New York? But think about it: Why does it matter if you don’t live for God in Nashville, or if you don’t live for God in New York? Either option is still not doing God’s will.
The truth is:
Here is what I usually tell people: God has already revealed His will. And He revealed it in great detail – about 1000 pages, depending on the font size.
The response: Oh, yeah, the Bible. Sure, sure. But that doesn’t help. The Bible doesn’t say whether or not to go to UF or FSU.
That’s right. So, let’s focus on what it does say. What parts of God’s will has He made crystal clear? And are you doing those things? And how does the decision you are about to make affect your ability to continue doing those things? Those are the questions to ask.
Here is an illustration that might clear things up. Imagine if you have a child, and you told your child: “It’s so important to me that you go to school tomorrow! Please go to school. I value your education. And if you choose not to go to school, I will consider that to be both disobedience and severe disrespect. Please go to school tomorrow.”
Then imagine after saying that, your kid skips school the next day. They just blow off all their classes and sit in the living room watching Netflix all morning. And then imagine that they send you a text saying, “Mom/Dad, I’m watching Netflix instead of going to school right now. But I want to know which kind of movie do you think I should watch next? A comedy or an action movie?”
It may seem, at first, like that child is interested in your “will,” (because they are asking your opinion about the movie). However, they have demonstrated that they don’t truly care about your will. How? By actively rejecting your revealed will and focusing on something that you didn’t even say anything about.
We do this kind of thing to the Father a lot.
Sometimes, we are fornicating with our boyfriend or girlfriend during the same time period that we are praying for God to reveal to us whether or not we should marry them. But why would you ask God about His will for your marriage, while actively rebelling against the will that He has already revealed to you? Why obey His “marriage will” when you are already disregarding his “sexual morality will”?
Or another example could be someone who is living for money, career, and fame. And then they ask God whether they should take the job offer in Nashville or the job offer in New York? But think about it: Why does it matter if you don’t live for God in Nashville, or if you don’t live for God in New York? Either option is still not doing God’s will.
The truth is:
- If you aren’t following God, it doesn’t matter if you don’t follow Him in a Civic or in a Corolla.
- If you aren’t obeying God, it doesn’t matter if you don’t obey Him while dating Jimmy or you don’t obey Him while dating Bobby.
- If you aren’t living for God, it doesn’t matter whether you don’t live for Him at UF or if you don’t live for Him while at FSU.
Ah ha! And let’s not forget that the alternatives are also true:
- If you are following God, you can do so in a Civic or in a Corolla.
- You can obey God whether you marry Jimmy or Bobby.
- You can live for God at UF or at FSU.
Now, I don’t say that to imply that those decisions don’t matter. It might be that marrying Jimmy would make it easier for you to serve God than if you marry Bobby. If that is the case, marry Jimmy. It might be that you can serve God better in Gainesville than in Tallahassee. If so, go with Gainesville.
But the most important part of all of this is: are you committed to doing what God has revealed (in His 1,000 page book) no matter what situation you find yourself in? Because if you are doing that, then you are “doing God’s will” wherever it is that you are, and you will be “doing God’s will” wherever you go next.
But the most important part of all of this is: are you committed to doing what God has revealed (in His 1,000 page book) no matter what situation you find yourself in? Because if you are doing that, then you are “doing God’s will” wherever it is that you are, and you will be “doing God’s will” wherever you go next.
