HOW TO FIND GOD’S WILL
Some of the high school bunch
were crowded around a table at Jim’s
The others munched on their French fries and waited for
her to continue.
“I mean, they give you all
those tests to figure out what your abilities are and what you’re interested
in. Then you’re expected to look through a lot of college catalogs, compare and
think about curriculum and quality and faculty-student ratio and dozens of
other things.” She paused for a sip of her Coke. “After all that, my head
swims, and I still don’t know what to do. If I only had a computer, I could
just give it all the facts and let it come up with some answers!”
“But what if you didn’t
like the answer your computer gave you?” asked Pete.
“Well”, sighed Sue, “I’m
not getting any answers I like on my own either.”
Dave, swirling his Coke,
said, “You know gang, we all have that problem. Making decisions is never easy.
I don’t know if a computer would really help. After all, it only knows what you
tell it. But I’ve been thinking about what that youth leader said a couple of
weeks ago at our Teen Life meeting.”
“You
mean about praying and asking God to show you what to do?” asked Joe.
“Yeah…
maybe he’s got something there.”
No wonder Sue wants a
computer to help her out! Finding the right college, choosing a career or life
partner, all the big decisions in life are hard to make. But Dave was right –
the computer only knows what you tell it. And in this confusing world, we need something better than that.
And
there is something better! Many teens
have discovered that God Himself has a personal interest in their
lives and will give that guidance they need.
God says, “I will instruct you… and guide you along the
best pathway for your life; I will advise you and watch your
progress” (Psalm 32:8, Living Psalms).
Have you ever driven down a country road in
the dark? You can’t see very far ahead,
and beyond the reach of the headlights
there’s only darkness. God’s guidance is like that. He doesn’t give
a preview of your future.
He does give enough light on the road to keep you moving, but you don’t get to see the whole
trip at a glance.
Another important thing: you
have to really want His guidance, and you have to accept it ahead of time,
sight unseen, in order to get it. Some people think they want to find God’s plan for their life, but they
don’t realize that they’ve put some qualifiers on their acceptance, little
things like “I’ll go anywhere but
Some young people think
that the minute they say that, they’ve abandoned all hope for happiness. But
God’s love is so big, that He wants to give you a wonderful life.
It’s true, there are some
people for whom God’s will means doing
without luxuries or being far from home, or working long hours with
little reward. But these people will tell you they have an inner satisfaction
that makes it all worthwhile.
But, how do you
find the course He has charted for you? Here are five steps that will help:
1. ANALYZE THE
CIRCUMSTANCES.
Start with yourself. What
are your interests and abilities? What possibilities are open to you? Say
you’re considering college. One school offers just what you need, but it’s too
expensive. Another one isn’t quite as good, but it offers you a scholarship.
Take all the facts into consideration. If something looks impossible, it just
might be. But on the other hand, nothing is too hard for God. Sometimes He takes over
“impossible” situations and works them out in demonstration of His power.
Maybe you have an
opportunity to be taught and trained by an experienced, spiritual leader or
Christian group who specializes in equipping Christians to do God’s will of
evangelism, of building up other Christian’s lives spiritually, and of growing
into Christ-like character yourself. It’s hard to find doctrinally sound
individuals or groups who specialize in such training programs. So you may want
to take advantage of such a program while the opportunity is there.
Remember that God’s will
is that we do things excellently (2 Pet.
1:5; 1 Pet.
2. STUDY THE
BIBLE.
The better you know God’s
Book, the clearer the channels for God’s communication to you. In your regular
times of Bible reading, be alert to anything that really relates to the
decision you’re facing. But be careful not to wrench verses out of context.
The Bible has general
guidelines that express God’s revealed will for every Christian. Are you obeying these? If not, you can’t expect God to give you special guidance in other matters. For example, if
you’re not evangelizing (seeking to save
the spiritually lost, Matt. 28:19, 20; Lk. 19:10; 2 Tim. 4:5), or helping
to spiritually build up other Christians (Rom.
14:19; 1 Thes. 5:11; Gal. 4:19), or growing into Christ-like character
yourself (1 Pet. 1:14-16; 2 Cor. 7:1; 1
Thes. 4:7; Matt. 5:48), then you can’t expect God to show you anything more
of His will (Lk. 8:18 and the last part
of 12:48).
But if you feel you’re
living by the revealed guidelines, then you’re ready to ask for specific
guidance. Set aside a time to study what the Bible says about God’s will and
how to find it. Here are some
passages to look up as a
starter: Eph. 5:17;
Prov. 3:5,
6; Matt. 28:19, 20; 2 Tim. 4:5; Eph. 4:11-13; 1 Pet. 1:14-16; 1 Thes.
You also need to discover
as much as you can in the Bible that applies to your particular situation. It
won’t say to you whom to marry, if you should even get married (1 Cor.
Of course, if there’s a
question of something that is clearly against a biblical principle, you’ll see
that you’ll have to pass it up. For instance, you wouldn’t go to a college or
accept a job that would require you to be dishonest or compromise your faith.
3. PRAY ABOUT
IT.
You
should be praying throughout the whole process of looking for guidance.
Talk to God about
everything, just as you talk to a friend. Tell Him all the circumstances and
how you feel about them. Let Him know you’re trusting
Him to guide you (Prov. 3:5, 6; James
1:5).
4. ASK FOR
ADVICE.
Talk
to someone you can trust who knows the Bible very well, has
been a Christian for a number of years, has been and is an
obedient-to-the-Bible Christian, is Spirit-controlled, and is an experienced,
mature, godly person. This person’s experience, obedience, and understanding can help you avoid booby traps.
You
can generally figure that if the person you are seeking advice from is
not obeying the clear commands of the Bible regarding evangelism, building up
believers spiritually, and living a Christ-like in character life, then you
can’t expect that person to advise you correctly because in doing so, he/she
would condemn himself/herself and be a hypocrite for not doing and being what
the Bible teaches. So whom you ask advice from is very important.
5. USE YOUR
HEAD.
What do you think of the
situation? The Lord expects you to use the
brains He gave you. A helpful device you might want to use involves a
piece of paper and a pencil. Draw columns on the paper to represent the choices
open to you – say, three different colleges. Then list
underneath the heading all the reasons
for that choice. Also, add a section for the reasons against each
choice.
Analyze this list in light
of the question, “How can I be most effective for God, doing and being what He
wants (what His Word teaches/commands)?”
Common sense and the process of deduction should reveal the best choice. But remember that God might overrule this choice
for reasons only He knows. If He has something else in mind, He’ll let you
know.
Now, after you’ve followed
these five steps, try to forget the
whole thing for awhile. Give
your unconscious thoughts and the Lord a chance to work on it together. You may find that the next time you think about it, the answer is surprisingly clear.
But in other cases, the
answer may not come that way. Maybe God wants you to make up your own mind.
Pray that you’ll make that right decision, then go ahead and decide. After you
make the choice, then trust your heavenly Father that He has guided you in the
right way. Later on you may clearly see that it was the right decision.
What’s the next step after
you know what to do? DO IT!! Then
you’ll be ready for the next hundred yards of light on the road ahead.
Whatever you do, do not go
by your feelings or emotions as to whether or not something is God’s will. Do
not go by whether or not you have peace about the decision. Do not go by
whether or not you have peace about something being God’s will. Use your brain,
not your feelings. Let’s take a look at some biblical examples of God’s will
and whether the people who were told God’s will had either peace of mind or peace
of circumstances about God’s will.
First, there’s Jeremiah. In Jer. 1:4, 5, God tells
Jeremiah that it’s His will for Jeremiah to be His prophet. But in Jer. 1:6;
Second, there’s Jonah. In Jonah 1:1, 2, Jonah is told by
God what His will is, but Jonah does not have peace of mind about it (1:3).
Third, there’s Moses. In Exodus 3:1, 4, 10 – 4:17, God
tells Moses His will, but Moses does not have peace of mind about it (3:11, 13; 4:1, 10, 13, 14; 6:30), nor
peace of circumstances (5:2, 4-23; 6:9,
12).
Fourth, Stephen didn’t have peace of circumstances when he
chose to do God’s will (Acts 6:8-12,
Fifth, Paul didn’t always have peace of mind when he chose
to do God’s will (1 Cor. 2:3; 2 Cor. 7:5),
nor did he always have peace of circumstances when he chose to do God’s will (Acts 26:12-26; 2 Cor. 4:8-11; 11:23-28; 1
Cor. 4:9-13).
Sixth, Jesus tells His disciples that when they do God’s
will, they won’t have peaceful circumstances (Matt.
Seventh, Proverbs 28:26 states that the person who trusts in
his own heart/feelings is a fool. So don’t trust in
feelings of peace as to whether something is God’s will. Rather, go by the
commands and principles of Scripture, God’s Word, in determining God’s will,
for Christians should walk/live by faith (in
God’s Word, the Bible) and not by sight (i.e.,
circumstances or feelings), 2 Cor. 5:17.