The Will of God

I can’t tell you how many times I have been asked the question: How do I know what God’s will for my life is? We love asking that question. And we typically get a little mixed up in answering it. The main reason for this is because many of us already know what we want to do with our lives. If that’s the case, the question is really “Does God’s will line up with my will?” And then alot of us ask this question, but in reality we are saying “What is my will for my life?”  We then end up with a mixed up blend of our ideas and God’s ideas. I mean, has God ever written an answer to this question in the sky for you to see? We somehow want God to deal with these specific questions for us. We want Him to speak audibly to us.

I think Christians have sometimes fallen into the difficulty of being more obsessed with God’s will than they are God himself. The truth is that God is indeed interested in the small things, but only to the extent that those small things can be used for His glory and His gospel. The fact is that God is more interested in who we are than what we do. When we seek God Himself, instead of the answers, most of the questions get answered.

My favorite verse on the topic is 1 Thessalonians 4:3 - “For this is the will of God, your sanctification.” Maybe if we spent more time focused on being sanctified and less time worried about answers, then we would find our answers. Scripture seems to be pretty clear on the will of God for us. The truth is that it's not about us at all, but rather about us pursuing Him. Proverbs 3: 5-6 deals with this as well in saying "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths." We are not to lean on our understanding, but to put our trust in the Lord. If our focus, as His followers, is truly on following Him, then He will guide us where we are to go. I pray that we as believers will not expend all of our energy seeking answers, but instead look to the One who already has them. He will then guide us, as we cannot help but look away from our great Lord and God.