Finding God's Will

What exactly is the will of God?  How do we know if something is really His will or if it is just something we want?  Christians sometimes hope for a miraculous sign or audible voice from God when they face a major life decision.  While He has the power to do this, usually He speaks into our lives through more ordinary methods with a still, small voice.  We can overcomplicate this question, but if something aligns with God’s plan, He gives us the direction, inclination, and situation to make it happen.  Let’s look at each of these in turn.

First, God will direct us towards what He wants in our lives.  Prov 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”  He can guide us through the Bible, prayer, messages at church, words from Christian friends, and in many other small ways.  If we think God told us to do something, but it goes against what the Bible teaches, then it isn’t God’s will because He will not contradict himself.  It is important to read and know the Bible, so you can be aware of what it says and apply it when making decisions. 

Another way God gives us direction is through our pastors.  A church with the Holy Spirit at work often has amazingly applicable sermons that speak directly to us at the perfect time.  Listen to them as confirmation when you’re on the right track or as a warning when you’re going off course.  However, also keep in mind that just because you’re where God wants you to be right now and you’re headed in a certain direction, the end goal you’re picturing might not be the one He’s leading you towards.  It can be disappointing or confusing when this happens, but we need to trust God and realize His plan is better in the long run.

The second test of whether something is part of God’s plan for you is if you feel a natural inclination towards it.  Prov 16:9 states that “A man's heart plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps.”  God creates us all with unique personalities, likes, and abilities, and these qualities within us help us plan our lives.  He wants to use us in ways that resonate deeply within us and will maximize our potential while building His kingdom.  We should listen to our intuition when we feel drawn to a certain career, relationship or opportunity, as well as when we feel uneasy or repelled.  Moses possessed a desire to rescue the oppressed, which he showed when he killed the Egyptian who he saw beating a slave.  Peter was a bold leader, and Paul was a zealous theologian.  God took their natural character and used them to make major impacts.   We should feel excitement and fulfillment if we are walking where God calls us. 

Please don’t misunderstand inclination.  It doesn’t mean that we should do whatever we feel like doing or what we think will give us the most pleasure.  Direction from God still needs to come first and takes priority.  His direction usually complements our character, but we may have to step out in obedience and wait for a long time before we see how.  This was the case with Moses when he resisted going to Egypt to confront Pharaoh because he didn’t like public speaking.  He had to overcome that before he could fulfill his call as a deliverer. 

If you feel like God told you to do something, but it is something you absolutely don’t want to do, then stop and pray about it.  Ask him to reconfirm what he said, and to change your heart if that is what he wants you to do.  If he again points you down the same path, trust him and obey, even if you still don’t want to.  Jesus did this in the garden of Gethsemane when he begged the Father to not make him die on the cross and carry the sins of the world on his shoulders, but then went obediently once his prayer was not answered.

God will definitely push us out of our comfort zone and make us walk through tough circumstances, but the point is that he designed and prepared us in advance for these difficulties.  A great example of this is Abraham Lincoln.  His presidency during the Civil War was extremely difficult, thankless, stressful, and painful.  It was not fun by any stretch of the imagination, and once the war ended, he was assassinated.  However, this was God’s will for his life, and the test of inclination was met because God created him with the toughness, smarts, strength of character, and foresight to complete the task at hand.  And he found fulfillment by filling the purpose God had for him. 

Put simply, our God-given inclinations help us recognize what He designed us to do. 

Lastly, even if God directs us to do something and it agrees with our inclinations, the situation must also come into alignment for us to actually do it.  For example, a woman may have a strong desire and also be led by God to have children, but until she gets married, the situation is not right to start this calling.  We can prepare ourselves for what God wants us to do, but that may be all we can do until the right door opens.  Looking at Prov 16:9 again, it says that “A man's heart plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps.”  As stated above, the first half is talking about our inclinations and how God wants to use us based on how he made us and what he put on our hearts.  However, the second half shows that in order to achieve these plans, we have to let him direct our steps.  He guides us in our daily lives as we meet people, encounter obstacles, and hear about opportunities.  Learn to see his hand at work in the small details of life, and trust that if we follow him, he will guide us to our destination along the right path at just the right pace.

Pursuits

The bluegill flapped frantically and I felt its spines pricking my palm as I slid it onto a large hook.  After viewing the night landscape of the Schuylkill River illuminated by Philadelphia’s lights, I lobbed the bait into a channel just below the Waterworks dam.  As soon as it splashed down, the plastic balloon tied above the leader as a bobber pulled under violently.  The suddenness of the strike caught me off guard and I set the hook hard in a reactionary motion.  Unfortunately, this snapped my line and I watched helplessly as the balloon sped downriver with the current.  However, I noticed the balloon still being jerked downward.  The fish was still attached underneath it!

It looked like the fish was heading across the river as I began the chase.  My target species that night was striped bass, which are known to swim up from the ocean and lurk below the dam to ambush stunned baitfish.  This powerful predator and exciting game fish must have been what crushed the bluegill and was now trying to escape the strange tether that tugged upward on it.  I crossed a bridge with cars whizzing past, but kept my eyes focused on the balloon, trying to anticipate where the fish would head.  The Philadelphia Art Museum, most famous for Rocky’s triumphant run up the steps, loomed above me as I reached the railing on the far bank.  The fish’s progress had slowed and the balloon floated outside casting distance.  While the initial strike was abrupt and exciting, the river had resumed its peaceful flow as I watched and waited to see where the fish would head.  It slowly began to meander downstream in the center of the river, so I positioned myself back on the bridge and tied on a floating lure. 

As soon as it got within reach, I cast the lure towards my target and reeled it slowly to the balloon.  My line touched it but then slipped off, so I hurriedly retrieved the lure and cast again.  This time the line went under the balloon and hooked it.  I once more had the fish on my line!  Playing it lightly at first since I wasn’t sure how strong the connection was, I fought the fish towards the bridge.  It didn’t exhibit the surging runs of other striped bass I had caught, so I thought it was either a smaller fish or already worn out from struggling against the balloon.  While reeling the fish in, I thought about how to land it.  The bridge was 30 feet high, and it was risky pulling it up by the line with the lure tenuously hooked to the balloon.  It also would have been difficult to get down to the river bank from the bridge without losing it. 

However, once it was underneath me and lying on its side, I saw it wasn’t a striped bass after all.  It was a slimy catfish!  This was quite a disappointment after chasing it all over the river imagining a big striped bass.  Now that I knew what it was, I decided to haul it to the bridge with the line, since I could care less if it broke off.  It would actually be preferred so I wouldn’t have to get my hands slimy.  The line held as I winched it up, and after removing the hook I dropped the catfish onto the rocks below, wondering if the splat disturbed a homeless person sleeping under the bridge.  By now the night was far gone and getting cold, so I walked to the car and headed back to campus.

In our lives we all have certain goals or desires we care about and pursue.  Common ones include relationships, jobs, children, material possessions, money, and hobbies.  We long to get what we don’t have, or improve on what we already possess.   Any of these pursuits become wrong if we place more importance on them than on God.  With that said, many of our desires are natural and God-given.  James 1:17 says, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.”  We are told to bring our requests to the Lord in prayer and thankfulness, and He will answer according to His will.

We invariably want Him to answer yes to our requests, but thankfully He cares too much about our lives to do that.  Just as the balloon I chased all over the river proved a disappointment once I saw what was underneath, sometimes the things we pursue in life are not what we hoped they were.  We think we have a full understanding of the object we want, but many times the true nature is lurking under the surface and can only be revealed by actually obtaining it or with the passage of time.  For example, someone could get their dream job, only to have a corporate scandal come to light and the company fold six months later.  Or a person could marry someone they considered the ideal mate, who then prevents him or her from doing the life work God called them to. 

I often pridefully think I’ve worked out all the angles to a problem and determined the best solution, and question when God does it differently.  But then down the road it becomes clear how His way was better.  When it’s still not clear, it just means I’m not far enough down the road yet.  In support of God’s plan being best, Psalms 139:17-18 says, “How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!  How great is the sum of them!  If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand.”  Isn’t it amazing to consider this?!  God doesn’t just think of us every now and then, but has studied everything about our lives in infinite detail.  He has worked out exactly how to best bless us and use us for His glory.  Indeed, the verse before says “in your book they were all written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them.”  God has laid out every day and moment of our lives.

God desires for us to have an abundant and joyful life as He taps into our unique talents and hearts’ longings and uses them to advance His kingdom.  He designed everything about us and everything we’ve experienced to equip us for a certain purpose.  We can fulfill that purpose and live a blessed life if we follow the Lord’s lead.  This does not mean life will be easy or pain-free, because God uses challenges and hurts as tools to refine our character, strengthen us, prepare us for the tasks ahead, and draw others to Himself through our example.  It does mean our lives will be a grand adventure and Oh! so worth living. 

However, too often we stray off the path God has set before us in the pursuit of what looks good in our eyes, and we end up realizing too late we’ve been distracted by a catfish.  This is why we must look to Him rather than to our own wisdom for what “balloons” we should pursue.  The next few blogs will look more at how to do this, as well as waiting on the Lord to accomplish His work in our lives.