That We May Know The Good, Pleasing, & Perfect Will Of God!
How do we know God’s Will for our lives? Is it hidden? Do we have to search for it like a mysterious treasure that is alluding us? Does it sometimes seem like God’s Will is clouded or just out of our grasp? Like me, do you ever get stuck in indecision because you don’t know Gods Will for your life? You become almost frozen in place. This seems to happen most often when we are facing big decisions or even small decisions in our lives.
Here is what I want to encourage you with today...God has revealed much of His Will to us already! He has not left us blind, in fact He has made His Will known to us in Living Color, in black and white, through His Unchanging Word!
When we speak of God’s Will we often are referring to two types of God’s Will. Theologians put it this way often: God’s Revealed Will, and His Secret Will or Sovereign Will. I believe we have the most trouble understanding God’s Will when we get the order and priority of these two mixed up! I will explain more about that in a minute. There is a third aspect in my mind that I want to address as well and that is simply choices! So let’s look for a moment at the Revealed Will of God, what we mean by the Secret Will of God, and the Reality of our choices! My hope is that as we discuss this you may find freedom and rest for your souls because this has been many years of wrestling, learning, and study for me as I have come to know this truth, and rest in it. Just as a warning, however, this is still something I have to remind myself of quite often!
First, let’s talk about the Known Will Of God for us. The revealed Will of God! This is the Overall Will of God for ALL of us! God is very clear in Scripture what His Will is!
-That we come to KNOW Him/Have a Saving Relationship with Him - 1 Tim. 2:3-4, 2 Pet. 3:9, John 6:38-40
-That we are becoming like Him/Sanctified - 1 Thess. 4:3,
-That we are Sharing the Good News of Christ with others, Making Him KNOWN! - Matt. 28:19, Mark 16:15, Acts 1:8, 2 Cor. 5:18-20
-That we live a life Loving Him and Loving Others - Matt. 22:37-39,
There is of course more we can look at about this in Scripture. His Will is that we obey Him - John 14:15-17, His Will is that whatever we do we do for His Glory - 1 Cor. 10:31, His Will is that we are thankful in all circumstances - 1 Thess. 5:18, His Will is that we do Good - 1 Pet. 2:15
Now what do we mean when we say the secret Will of God? This is referring to the fact that God is Sovereign and rules Perfectly and meticulously over all! Nothing happens outside of His ultimate perfect will. We say that it is God’s hidden will because we don’t know about it until it happens! - “I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, “My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose.” Is. 46:9-10
Here lies the problem...we tend to take verses like that one or ones like Rom. 12:2... “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.” We read these and we like to add to them two words...”FOR ME!” We begin to see these scriptures as somehow referring to a very specific Will of God just for me! We are pretty self focused people right? We think this means there is a hidden, specific, just for me kind of will that God has, and while He of course has a purpose for you in this life, I think we often miss it, because we fail to recognize what He has Already Revealed His Will to Be!
Instead of just trying to find a Specific Will of God for us, I think more often we need to be asking ourselves if we are walking in the Will of God that He has already revealed to us and if we are, He will bring about the specific sovereignty of His Will in our lives as well!
That has been my own personal experience with ministry! What the Lord has created and brought forth in the area of Women’s Ministry and Bible Teaching was nothing I was seeking out or even thought of doing. This came about purely as I lived and longed to follow Christ! After surrendering my life to Jesus my desire was to know Him, and to be so filled with Him that I would be overflowing with His presence in such a way that others may come to know Him too. I see myself as no more than His servant and my prayer everyday is that He would share with me what He would have me do today, in this season. I long to be utterly spent for Him in this life. It was in seeking to fulfill His Will that is revealed in His Word, that He began to direct me specifically. He started opening doors and directing me into certain ministries and opportunities as I sought to do what He has called each one of us to in His Word! My advice about the Will of God is this:
Focus on the Revealed Will of God
Trust the Sovereign Will of God!
While we obey God’s revealed will, we can trust in God’s good providence—that as his secret will unfolds he is working all things together for the good of those who love him (Rom. 8:28). Whatever our days may hold, we can trust that the specifics are designed by a loving God for the good of our souls.
Now here is the third part! Choices!
We will always face the crossroads of decisions! It is here that we often get frozen wondering what God’s Will is! It is here that I believe we first ask ourselves am I seeking God’s revealed Will for me? Am I in relationship with Him? Am I becoming like Him? Am I walking in obedience? Am I Loving Him and others? If the answer is Yes, then first understand that you will hear God speak to you as you near these crossroads. That is why His Will is also that we are obedient and willing to do what He tells us. If He is leading you, follow him! If he is speaking about a decision because you are in active relationship...listen....if He has not spoken specifically about a decision you are faced with, then it is here that we need to know how to make wise choices! Every choice will have a consequence either good or bad! So go to the word of God to help you know how to make wise choices! Here is what God’s Word says we are to do when faced with decisions!
Go to God in Prayer - James 1:5
Go to the Word for Guidance and clarity - you should choose nothing that goes against His word! - 2 Tim. 3:16
Seek Godly Advice - Prov. 15:22
Do your research - Prov. 18:13
Learn from your past experiences - Ps. 90:12
Gods greatest concern about us is not always WHAT we do, but WHO we are and WHOSE we are! Let’s Live a Life Knowing and Obeying the Perfect Will of God!