How Do I Know the Will of God?

The above question is one that, as a teacher, I hear often.  Students who love the Lord dearly struggle to identify the will of God for their lives.  I, too, have struggled in this area at times.  What is ironic is that the answer to this question is quite simple.

I divide God's will into two different categories: God's moral will and God's directive will.  God's moral will concerns moral choices we make in life.  Crucial issues that might fall into this category are: Should I divorce?  Should I get an abortion?  Should I carry out this affair?  Should I assert my dominance in my family? Should I steal property at work? and so on.  God's moral will is, happily for us, clear.  The Bible speaks to all moral issues.  I was listening to the radio yesterday and a woman was talking about the time she considered divorce.  Instead of just listening to peers or popular TV shows, she went to the Word of God and researched and studied and prayed over every verse that dealt with divorce.  If you have a moral question, go to God's Word.  You will find your answer there.  I will warn you that sometimes you might not like the answer and it is likely you will need to commit to obedience to God no matter what you discover.

However, when I am asked the question, "How do I know the will of God for my life?", a person is rarely asking about God's moral will.  God's moral will is usually so obvious to us that we can answer moral questions quite easily.  What a person is asking me about is God's directive will, that is, which direction does God want me to take in life?  What college should I go to?  What job should I take?  What mission should I go on? etc.  Some Christians spend inordinate amounts of time worrying over these types of questions.  They are worried that if they make the wrong choice, they will have messed up God's plan.  So let me deal with that worry first: dear Christian, you cannot mess up God's plans!  "I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted" (Job 42:2).  You cannot mess up God's plan.  God will carry out his plan whatever choice you make.  You can rest in this truth and banish worry from your mind.

So how do I make choices?  God promises a gift to us, a gift given if we ask for it: "If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you" (James 1:5).  God gives us wisdom.  When you want to know what to do with your life, pray for wisdom, then act wisely.  Wisdom is not just intelligence; it is practical knowledge applied to life.  In wisdom, you consider the options before you.  Evaluate them.  Don't be afraid to use your head.  Using your head is not anti-God.  God gave you your brain and wisdom.  He wants you to make decisions, to think through choices.  (I will add that it is not wrong to go to other wise believers and ask their advice.  Godly advisers can help you think through your options, help you consider God's truth within them.  Use the spiritual body God has surrounded you with!)

Once you have considered your options, choose the one you think you should choose.  Remember that this is not God's moral will we are discussing.  We are not talking about evaluating a sinful choice.  Sin should always be discarded immediately.  We are talking about God's directive will.  When I graduated from college, I signed up with an organization to teach in China.  For a long time, I struggled with the thought, "What if God really doesn't want me in China?  What if my choice is outside his will?"  I thought this because even though the doors had opened widely, I worried that by walking through them I might not have done what God wanted because I never received a direct voice saying, "Yes, do this."  So I asked my Dad, "What if I'm not supposed to go to China?"  I'll never forget his answer.  He asked, "Will God use you in China?"  I answered, "Yes," and he said, "Then go."  His point was clear.  God will use you wherever you go.  Why hem and haw and worry?  Do you think God is incapable of using you wherever you go?

Oswald Chambers points out that God "guides our common sense" as we seek his will.  This is what wisdom does--wisdom "guides our common sense."  We evaluate, we consider, we use our mind given to us by God, and then we make a decision.  We need not worry over that decision.  Why?  Chambers also says that if we choose what God does not want, "He will check, and we must heed."  If God does not want you going a certain direction, he will close the door: You think you should go to a certain college, then your finances for it fall apart.  You sign up for a mission trip, but it is cancelled at the last moment.  You apply for a job that is everything you dreamed of, and the boss chooses someone else.  God will direct us to closed doors as well as open ones; it is our job to not grouse over the closed door, but to accept it as God's will.

Have you prayed for wisdom?  Have you acted in wisdom?  Has a door been opened?  Then walk through, dear Christian.  God will close the door when he wants you to move a different direction.  You do not have to worry.  Oswald Chambers also says this, "At first we want the consciousness of being guided by God, then as we go on we live so much in the consciousness of God that we do not need to ask what His will is, because the thought of choosing any other will never occur to us.  If we are saved and sanctified God guides us by our ordinary choices."  Every moment you submit to the Holy Spirit, God guides you.  If you are submitted, make a choice, don't worry and leave the results to God.