I've been thinking about knowing God's will...
I've been thinking about knowing God's will.
How many times have you had the thought, “I just wish I knew what God was doing…”? For me, I can’t count the number of times over the last 20 years that that thought has passed through my mind.
But, what if I told you that, God gives us a ‘heads up’?
True, God does not lay out a detailed timeline of your life before you with clear instructions like, what to major in, who to marry, which job to take, or when people will come in and out of our lives.
But, God makes His ways known.
In a discernible pattern in Scripture, God makes his plans known to people before He does something big. Don’t believe that? Check out the stories of:
Abraham
Moses
Joseph
David
Isaiah
Mary
The disciples
And others.
In the account mentioned above, God tells the person what He is going to do before He does it—often before it requires any action on their part. But here’s the thing: the recipients of the ‘heads up’ rarely get it before he does it. Read back through those stories above. The humans in the story often second guess what God is going to do – or how, or they completely misunderstand Him. And we’re no different on our own.
Proverbs 3:5-8 helps us know what to do:
Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight. [a]
7 Do not be wise in your own eyes;
fear the Lord and shun evil.
8 This will bring health to your body
and nourishment to your bones.
God has given us valuable assets to help discern His ways and do His will. Scripture encourages to trust in Him and “lean not on our own understanding”.
One of the assets that God has given us in that development of trust is the Holy Spirit.
The Spirit dwells in the life of the Christ followers to ‘lead us into all truth’ JN 4:26. The Holy Spirit helps us call to mind Scripture and leads us into greater trust of God the Father. We are not left on our own to figure out God’s leading.
The second asset we are given by God is Christ-centered community. Paul Miller says, “The great struggle of my life is not trying to discern God’s will; it is trying to discern and then disown my own.” I find that being surrounded by people who love Jesus and have Jesus’ love for you is the best way to discern and do God’s will. What a gift we have in the body of Christ.
So take a moment to settle in and prayerfully consider these questions:
What are some themes that have been recurring in my life over the last year or so?
When I pray and consider what God is doing in my life, what feelings, sensations, or thoughts rise to the surface?
Has there been anything that could be the Lord that I am ignoring?
Reflect on those questions, invite the Spirit to lead you in the prayer and processing. Then, call or text a friend who loves Jesus. Share what you are thinking and invite them to pray with you.
Thanks be to God that He makes Himself known.