Knowing God’s Will – Not As Mysterious As It Seems?

For anyone who’s ever aspired to be a Christian conference speaker, there’s one sure-fire way to pack the room with eager listeners. Call it “How to Know the Will of God.” That’s a subject that “inquiring minds” always want to know more about.

 

God’s will: Is it a mystery? A conundrum? A dilemma that no one has discovered how to discern? Trying to find a needle in a haystack?

The issue comes up often enough. If we’re young and desirous of following the Lord, we wonder what His will is regarding things like which college to attend, what to major in, who to marry, and what job to take. As we get older, we ponder God’s will regarding other issues: Should we have children – and if so, how many, and how soon should we start? What kind of house should we buy, and where? What make and model car does He want me to have? What church should I attend? Should I change careers?

 

The list of questions about God’s will is beyond number. As are the sermons given and books written about the topic. Maybe that’s because everyone has a perspective on how to know God’s will – or maybe because it’s a way of attracting folks to the Sunday morning service or selling books.

 

I’m of the opinion that the will of God isn’t as mysterious or unfathomable as we might think. Because if we consistently read and study His Word, we’ll discover that through it God reveals His will very clearly. Take the Ten Commandments, for example. If we wonder whether it’s okay to cuss someone who’s made us mad, it’s right there – “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God” (Exodus 20:7). If we wonder, “What if I don’t use His name?”, elsewhere we find this clarification: “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen” (Ephesians 4:29). 

 

We don’t have to agonize over what God’s will is concerning things like killing people, thievery or lying: “You shall not murder…. You shall not steal. You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor” (Exodus 20:13,15,16).

 

Even if people find themselves in a struggling marriage, or suddenly suspect that someone they’re not married to is their real “soulmate,” they don’t have to pray, asking, “Lord, what is Your will here?” Because He’s already told us: “You shall not commit adultery” (Exodus 20:14). This command doesn’t offer any exceptions; there’s no fine print to address extenuating circumstances.

 

What if your neighbor buys a new car, with all the very latest features, and you’re still driving around your 12-year-old, non-electric clunker – shouldn’t it be okay to feel somewhat envious, even jealous? God’s will on this is clear as well: “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife…or anything that belongs to your neighbor” (Exodus 20:17).

 

I know this seems to be oversimplifying, but in the Scriptures, God has set forth principles and truths that cast light on even the darkest dilemmas. They are woven throughout the Bible, often in the stories of His people. Again and again, we see many of them suffering the consequences of unchecked anger, deceit, greed, hatred, lust and virtually every other human vice. 

 

Years ago, before I became a follower of Jesus, I fell victim to the easy accessibility of consumer credit. Whenever I had a down moment, I’d try to cheer myself up by buying something I wanted. Not something I needed – just something I wanted. Like a new shirt, a record album, even tropical fish. All the while, I was singing, “I owe, I owe, it’s deep in debt I go.” 

 

Only later did I discover God had given a stern warning against this practice of willingly going into debt: “The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender” (Proverbs 22:7). Indeed, I had become servant to the lender – several, in fact – and it took years for my wife and me to extricate ourselves from my self-imposed slavery which began before we got married. We did so by following biblical principles for handling money.

 

I could cite many other examples, but hopefully by now you’ve gotten the point. Just as we use an owner’s manual to instruct us on how to operate a computer, appliance, car, power tool or some other helpful device, God in similar fashion has given us His Word to guide us in how to live – how to know and abide by His good and perfect will.

 

Sometimes discerning His will is extremely simple: “Should I buy the red dress – or the blue one?” Often His answer is, “I don’t care. You pick.” Other times the decision is much more complex, but His principles are there, readily available to point us in the right direction. 

 

And we don’t have just the Scriptures, although they are a lot more than we often realize. God also gives us His Spirit to give us wisdom, insight and understanding. Luke 11:13 says, “If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” And to this 1 Thessalonians 4:8 adds, “Therefore, anyone who rejects this instruction does not reject a human being but God, the very God who gives you His Holy Spirit.”

 

So, how can we know God’s will? It’s right there in His Word, interpreted by His Spirit, and if we are fortunate enough to have godly friends, the Lord can speak to us through them as well. It’s a matter of staying closely connected to Him. As Jesus told His disciples, “If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you” (John 15:7).

Who Says Walking by Faith Isn’t Fun?

Some years ago, action was taken by pro football officials to eliminate excessive celebrations in the end zone after touchdowns. Players were going overboard in their revelry. As a result, some critics said the NFL suddenly stood for “No Fun League.” 

 

What brings this to mind is there’s a similar opinion some hold that if people commit their lives to following Jesus Christ, they can’t have any fun anymore – that in becoming part of God’s family, they’d also be joining a “no fun league.”

 

It probably starts with how one defines “fun.” It’s true that after a life-changing encounter with Jesus, sometimes things that captivated us and commanded our attention lose their appeal. That’s why 2 Corinthians 5:17 declares, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

 

For instance, before I became a follower of Jesus, I avidly read horror novels. The thrills, twists and turns of the stories fascinated me. But over time I realized those story lines and plots were detrimental, pointing me away from Christ, rather than toward Him. I determined that if I were to succeed in following the admonition of Acts 17:28, “For in him we live and move and have our being,” that treasured pastime was one of the “old things” that needed to pass away.

 

My reasoning: Why focus on evil – there’s so much of it in the world already – when I can concentrate on “renewing my mind,” as Romans 12:2-3 puts it, by thinking and meditating on what’s good, being “able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.” 

 

It’s been said many times, “if sin wasn’t fun, we wouldn’t want to do it.” We’re never tempted to eat food we don’t like. But if you’re on a diet, a juicy cheeseburger or thick milkshake can seem almost irresistible. The “original sin” in the Bible was like that. God had given Adam and Eve freedom to partake of anything in the garden of Eden, except for one thing – the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Rather than trusting the Lord’s one restriction and abiding by it, they were enticed to sample from it anyway. This goes down as perhaps the worst decision in history.

 

Similarly, I’ve known men who found themselves consumed with pornography. They knew it was wrong, that it was not only unhealthy emotionally and spiritually, but also detrimental to their relationships with their wives. But because of the “fun,” their struggles continued.

 

Addressing this, the Bible tells how sin, so very enticing, can lead to disastrous consequences we never imagined. "For the lips of an adulteress drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil; but in the end she is bitter as gall, sharp as a double-edged sword" (Proverbs 15:3-4).

 

There are no simple answers or solutions for what are often called “besetting sins.” But a good place to start would be to follow an admonition from Israel’s King David, learned through experience: “How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word…. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you” (Psalms 119:9-11). If God’s truth is stored in our hearts, we have a powerful weapon to ward off temptation.

 

Equally important is recognizing that God is not a divine spoilsport, making rules to keep us from having fun. Being our Creator, our Father who knows best, His commands and statutes were established for our good. This is why Jesus could boldly tell His followers, “I came that they might have life, and might have it abundantly (to the full)” (John 10:10).

 

“Abundant life,” if we believe the messages TV shows and movies, commercials and advertising provide, is very different from what we see in the Scriptures. Much of what the media present to us appeals to our egos, sensuality and self-gratification, but that is not God’s way. 

 

The real path to a full, abundant, rewarding life is not by receiving and consuming, but by giving of ourselves. Jesus explained, “If anyone would come after me, he must take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it” (Luke 9:23-24). He also said, “it is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35), another principle we rarely hear from our secularized world.

 

I can attest that for more than 40 years, after Jesus invaded my life and began His lifelong process of transforming me into that “new creation” referred to above, it’s surpassed fun – an adventure filled with more surprises and more joy than I could have ever imagined. I never would have even hoped for the opportunities the Lord has presented to me. 

 

And it’s the same for anyone genuinely committed to serving Him. That’s why Jim Elliot, a missionary who died at the hands of the primitive Aucas in Ecuador in 1956, could write with great conviction, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”

 

When we give our hearts and lives to Jesus, it may mean that our personal definitions of “fun” changes, perhaps drastically. But if we had the choice of returning to the life we had before Christ, most of us would shout, “No way!” Because time has taught us that indeed, the Lord is “able to do immeasurably more than all we could ask of imagine, according to his power that is at work within us” (Ephesians 3:20). And that’s where the fun is!

When God Directs, How Will You Respond?

One of the most common questions believers ask is, “How can I know God’s will?” Many books have attempted to answer that question, so I won’t try to address it here. But an equally important question should be, “Once you sense you know God’s will, what are you going to do about it?”

 

Recently I participated in a Zoom online meeting in which the fellow giving the meditation posed the question, “When God directs, do we have enough faith to step out in obedience?”

 

Thinking back over my life, I can recall a number of times I felt God’s leading – sometimes a gentle nudge, other times a firm shove – to do something that was far outside of my comfort zone. In some of those instances I hesitated, thinking, “I can’t do that.” But after praying, God persisting, or both, I took the step He was asking me to take.

 

Each time I did, the Lord did “exceeding abundantly beyond anything I could think or imagine” (Ephesians 3:20). One of the first such times I remember was when I was concluding my newspaper career in suburban Houston, Texas, preparing to make a major job change in joining the staff of CBMC (Christian Business Men’s Connection) in Chattanooga, Tenn. 

 

God has many ways of making clear His will. In this case, I knew it was time to change employment, but the CBMC job offer was the only door that opened up. It was almost like the Lord saying, “Bob, you’re not smart enough to deal with multiple options, so this is the only opportunity I’m going to present.” So when the job offer came – to become CBMC’s editor and publications director – I accepted.

 

But I still felt anxious. My family and I had never been to Chattanooga, except when I traveled there for the job interview, and I knew next to nothing about CBMC or the people I would be working with. So in meeting with the pastor of my church to talk with him about going to work with a Christian organization, he suggested I take a few minutes during a Sunday morning service and tell the congregation about what I would be doing.

 

My initial reaction was, “No, I can’t do that.” Being pretty much of an introvert, and averse to speaking in front of a group, I couldn’t imagine getting up to speak before several hundred people, even for just a few minutes. But the pastor asked me to pray about it. As I did, I felt strongly impressed that was what God wanted me to do. Finally, I agreed, praying, “Okay, Lord, I’ll do it, but don’t let me embarrass myself – or You – In the process.”

 

That Sunday morning, as I sat near the front awaiting my time to speak, I felt very nervous. “What am I doing?” But as soon as I got up, stepped behind the pulpit and looked at the congregation, including many friends, I sensed the “peace that passes all understanding” Philippians 4:7 speaks about. With a steady voice and without stumbling around, I briefly explained how God was calling me – and my family – to Chattanooga where I would be writing and editing for a ministry dedicated to evangelizing and discipling business and professional people.

 

That step of obedience turned into a stepping stone for future opportunities. In part because of that experience, knowing that in God’s strength I could something I felt very uncomfortable about – public speaking – I’ve had numerous opportunities to speak since then, in many different settings. I’ll never been invited to be on a speaking circuit, but I have spoken at meetings all across the country, taught college classes in business communications for years, and even was invited to speak internationally in Hungary, the Netherlands, Canada, Mexico, El Salvador, Venezuela, and Jamaica.

 

There have been other times when I stepped out in obedience as God directed, such as discipling and mentoring another man spiritually; traveling to Brazil, where I knew no one and could not speak a word of Portuguese; and making another major career move.

 

On each occasion, God blessed my step of faith far beyond what I could have hoped. As Jeremiah 33:3 says, “Call on Me, and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.” I don’t even want to imagine what might have happened – or would not have happened – if I had resisted and refused to take a faithful first step.

 

What about you? Is God calling you, directing you, to do something and you’re thinking, “No way. I couldn’t do that!”? I think of the prophet Isaiah’s bold response: “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, 'Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?' And I said, "Here am I. Send me!" (Isaiah 6:8). Don’t miss out on some great adventure the Lord has for you by declining to respond, “Okay, I’ll go.”

The Hardest Words to Pray

Let’s face it. Prayer is a bit of a mystery. We pray to Someone we can’t see, sometimes matter-of-factly, sometimes with great passion, and sometimes in desperation. Rarely do we receive immediate responses, although we pray trusting God hears, knows what we need, and will answer us in His own time and His own way.

Sometimes He answers us by speaking through the Scriptures. I’ve experienced that multiple times. Many times He responds through a trusted friend, perhaps a timely sermon, or even a song. There are times when circumstances align and in retrospect we can’t help but believe, “That was God’s doing.”

One thing we know for certain: We’re commanded to pray. In 1 Thessalonians 5:17 we’re told, “Pray without ceasing.” That doesn’t mean dropping to our knees at all times, or always needing to close our eyes. Both are unwise to do if we pray while driving. But we’re to maintain an attitude of pray, somewhat like calling someone and never hanging up – the connection is always active.

In Luke 18, Jesus told His followers that they should always pray and not lose heart, telling them a parable about a widow who persisted in pleading to a judge for justice. To make her stop bothering him, the judge finally relented and did as she requested. 

Then Jesus said, “And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off?” (Luke 18:7). James 5:16 also  affirms, “The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”

So without question, we know God wants us to pray – to speak with Him sincerely and frequently. Because we’re His children and, like an earthly father, He delights in hearing from us, whether it’s to praise Him, express our needs, share our sorrows, or even honestly admit our times of anger, confusion and uncertainty.

There are four words, however, that I would submit are the hardest of all to pray. In the so-called Lord’s Prayer, which most theologians agree was intended as a model prayer for Jesus’ disciples who had asked Him, “Teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1), He presented a simple outline they could follow, one that’s also part of His message to the multitudes recounted in Matthew 6. 

You probably know how it starts: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come….” But then come the four hard words – “Your will be done” – followed by “on earth as it is in heaven.” Because if we’re honest, when we present our requests and petitions to the Lord, as Philippians 4:6 instructs, much of the time we have in mind exactly what we’d like Him to do. And sometimes, how we’d like it done. “My will be done” might be a more accurate way to phrase some of our prayers.

I recall a moment many years ago, during my “churchian” years – when I attended church but had no true relationship with Christ. A crisis was going on in my life, and I felt the need to pray, but had no clue how I should do it. The only prayer I knew at the time was what I’d been taught was the Lord’s Prayer. So that’s what I prayed. 

Except every time I got to the “Thy will be done” part, I stopped and couldn’t continue. Because I wanted my will to be accomplished, and I wasn’t sure that was what God had in mind. In fact, deep down I felt certain my will and His will were not at all in alignment.

So for some time, I’m not sure how long, I found myself at a prayer impasse. If I couldn’t pray “Your will be done,” there seemed no point in proceeding. Finally, with tears in my eyes and reluctant resignation – but also new resolve – I succeeded in praying, “Okay, God, Your will be done,” and finished the prayer.

I didn’t receive a specific answer right then, but something else happened. It seemed like the weight of the world had been lifted from my shoulders. Perhaps it was the burden of seeking to override God’s will with my own, I don’t know. But once I released that desire and sincerely and earnestly prayed, willing to accept whatever His will might be, I felt free.

Admittedly, this isn’t easy. We want our will: for a loved one to be healed of a serious, even terminal disease; career direction when it seems so muddled; resolution for a dire family dilemma; rescue from overwhelming financial struggle. Whatever it is, we want God to fix it – and right now.

However, whenever I ponder the nature of God’s will, I’m reminded of the title of the old TV show, “Father Knows Best.” Because, as Jeremiah 29:11 tells us, “’I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’”

“Finding” God’s Will

Wouldn't it be nice if God guided our lives similar to a GPS in a car?

At spiritual conferences, one of the most popular workshop topics is “How to Know God’s Will.” (That is, unless you don’t believe in God, in which case, who cares?) But for those of us that do believe, wouldn’t it be great to know, without a doubt, what God’s will is – whether for your career, marriage, family, maybe even which flat-screen TV to buy?

I’ve often heard people talk about “finding” God’s will, as if it’s some kind of treasure hunt, or a search for a divine needle in a haystack. Frankly, that approach is a bit too mysterious for me. “Is it really God’s will, or just the jalapenos I had on my nachos last night?”

Dozens, if not hundreds, of books have been written on this subject. And I’m not going to attempt giving a definitive answer in several hundred words. But there’s an aspect to following God’s will that’s similar to following the GPS in your car.

I remember the first time I drove a vehicle with a global positioning system, a rented car in Houston, Texas. I entered my destination, drove off, and when I failed to heed the spoken instructions and missed a turn, a feminine-sounding voice calmly announced, “Recalculating.” (Which I’ve since learned means, “You idiot! Pay attention. Now I have to revise the directions I gave you. I’ll get back to you in a few seconds.”)

As we journey through life, we usually feel we’re on the right course and right on time…until we realize we’re not. We might have missed a turn, or taken an exit we shouldn’t have. Most of the time these aren’t fatal errors – at least if we’re willing to take note when God offers a course correction, using “God’s positioning system.”

Unfortunately for those of us who are particularly dense when it comes to advice and reproof, He doesn’t usually speak in an audible voice. Instead, He speaks through the Bible, through fellow believers we trust – and through circumstances. There have been times in my life when I felt so low there was no place to look but up. That’s when I’ve heard the Lord most clearly.

Such moments have taught me the truth of Proverbs 16:9 – “In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.”

So whenever we sense we’ve strayed off course, that we’ve remained on the main road when it was time to exit, or we’ve taken an exit and realized too late we shouldn’t have, we can almost hear God saying, “Recalculating.”

He’s also prompting us to apply another of my favorite biblical promises: “Trust in the Lord will all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight” (Proverbs 3:5-6).