Unless otherwise indicated, quotations are from the New King James Version.
The will of God is an important issue; in fact, Ephesians chapter 5 verse 17 tells us that we would be unwise not to understand the will of God.
When we think about God’s will, we are often searching for direction in our lives. All Christians should crave to know this. As a new believer, the Apostle Paul asked, ‘Lord, what do You want me to do?’ Acts 9. 6.
In one sense, God’s will is carried out regardless of anything that we do. His sovereign will demonstrates His ultimate control over all creation, and His purposes will happen. ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure’, Isa. 46. 10.
This is revealed through the instruction of scripture. Micah makes a statement about the moral will of God being declared to man, and that we have a responsibility to follow the instruction that we receive. ‘He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?’ Mic. 6. 8.
Practical instruction is given in the scriptures for this. Christians are to live holy lives, with different standards from the ‘world’. Paul writes, ‘For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication’, 1 Thess. 4. 3 KJV. We must not allow the world’s standards of morality to become acceptable to us. Rather, we must live pure lives, where sexual activity is reserved for marriage.
In the very next chapter, we learn more of the instruction of God revealing His will to us. We are reminded to, ‘Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you’, 1 Thess. 5. 16-18. When we do this, we are acknowledging that, whatever circumstances we find ourselves in, we will find reason to be grateful to God for our blessings. When we pray, we are aligning our will to God’s will and seeking to walk the path that He has designed for us.
Our lives are to reflect the character of God in the community around us. The example that the Lord Jesus left us was that He ‘went about doing good’, Acts 10. 38. The will of God is that we emulate this as a testimony to those who would deny the existence of God and be vocal about it. Peter wrote, ‘this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men’, 1 Pet. 2. 15.
There are other examples of the will of God being made explicit in scripture, and these should be evident in the lives of each believer.
When Christians ask about how they can know the will of God, they are often referring to personal, specific direction from God in their lives. In this regard, the Christian who is not living the way that God would have them live and is not obeying the ‘this is the will of God’ statements in the Bible, cannot expect to know His direction.
In response to what our Lord did for us upon the cross, we should ask daily what we can do for Him. We can only know joy and God’s blessing when we listen to the commands of God and respond with open obedience, as the servants did in response to Mary at the wedding at Cana, when she said, ‘Whatever He says to you, do it’, John 2. 5.
We cannot expect God’s will to be revealed to us while thinking we know best. His direction will be revealed to us when we, ‘Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding’, Prov. 3. 5. We need to acknowledge God in everything, if we are to truly know God’s promise, ‘And He shall direct your paths’, v. 6.
If we live lives that are no different from the world, we will not think like God and discern His will. We must not be ‘conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind’, Rom. 12. 2.
God’s will is not going to contradict His word. He speaks to us through the Bible, ‘Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path’, Ps. 119. 105.
God’s will is given when we allow our will to be aligned with His. To do this we need to be praying; the psalmist encouraged this, ‘Seek the Lord . . . Seek His face evermore!’ Ps. 105. 4.
When God reveals His will to us, it is often a step of faith to move forward trusting those plans. His plan is always best. Jeremiah the prophet, at a certain point in time, wrote down God’s plan for His people. Although it is specific to them at that point, it reveals the heart of God to those who trust Him. ‘For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope’, Jer. 29. 11.
As we seek the will of God, we are not alone. God gives us older, wiser believers to provide counsel. We are reminded that as we embark on this lifelong task of doing God’s will, the Holy Spirit is there throughout to lead us. We can be encouraged as we seek God’s will that, those who ‘are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God’, Rom. 8. 14.
