Have you ever wondered what God’s will is for your life? Have you struggled to make a decision because you weren’t sure what God wanted you to do? Did you ask Him to show you His will for a certain decision, but you felt like He didn’t answer you or didn’t show up the way that you expected? Maybe it felt confusing and kept you from moving forward because you just didn’t know what He wanted you to do. Does His will feel mysterious?
Let’s talk about it!
What is God’s will?
Today we’re going to talk about a topic that is so important to our walk with God and that is knowing His will for our life – knowing what God wants us to do.
When we say God’s “will,” what does that really mean? When we talk about His will, we are talking about His desires for our life. It’s what He wants us to do. It’s what’s acceptable to Him and what He really wants from us.
It’s been a confusing topic for me for many years because I didn’t know what God wanted me to do. I thought His will was a mystery that I had to discover by looking for signs from God. I thought I had to figure out what He wanted me to do and perfectly discern decisions like who I should marry, which job should I take, or which coffee shop I should go to.
I really thought God’s will was so specific that I had to figure it out, and I was afraid of making a mistake. I was afraid of stepping out of God’s will, marrying the wrong person, doing the wrong thing…
But you don’t have to struggle like I did. So, I want to look at scripture with you today and see what it really says about what God’s will is for us.
The Bible talks a lot about God’s will.
Let’s start with Matthew 7:21, which says:
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”
Matthew 7:21
So, Jesus says it’s important to do the will of the Father. But we might wonder, if God’s will is so confusing, then how is it that He requires us to do it?
Can we even know what God’s will is for us?
The answer is yes! Absolutely. We can know His will for our life. God isn’t trying to trick us. If He requires us to do His will, then He’s going to reveal it to us so we can do it. He’s not saying that we must figure it out or that we must discern it by looking for signs from God.
We often fear missing signs from God as if missing some little detail means we ruin God’s plan for our life. That’s not the heart of who God is. If He requires us to do His will, then He will also reveal it to us so we can do it.
Let’s turn to Deuteronomy 29:29, which says:
“The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.”
Deuteronomy 29:29
So, what the Bible is saying is that some things are hidden. God has concealed some things, and He keeps them for Himself. But there are things that God has chosen to reveal to us for the purpose of allowing and enabling us to obey Him.
God has a hidden will, and He also has a revealed will.
We’re not accountable to figure out or do or solve the mystery of the things God has purposely hidden from us. We may not understand why things are working out the way that they are, but it’s part of His bigger will that we can’t see. He’s working it all together for the good of those who love Him (Romans 8:28).
We’ve got to trust Him in those things that we don’t understand. But the things He has revealed to us are revealed so that we can obey Him.
So how can we know his revealed will? What does that look like? Where do we find it? Where is it that it has been made known to us? Because often it feels like that mystery, right?
God’s will for us is revealed in Scripture. King David put it this way in the book of Psalms:
“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”
Psalm 119:105
He also says in Psalm 40:8:
“I delight to do your will. Oh God, your law is within my heart.”
Psalm 40:8
God’s will is clearly revealed to us in Scripture. It talks about how His word is a lamp to our feet, guiding our direction, guiding our steps so that we can walk securely. We know the path to take because we delight in His Word and have kept His law in our hearts.
We discover what pleases God when we study His Word. It’s not that hard, right? It can feel mysterious and overwhelming if we don’t know that God’s will is already revealed to us.
What does Scripture say to us about God’s will?
Truly, all of God’s word is His will for our lives. Scripture teaches us what pleases God. But here are several specific references to His will for our lives:
God’s will is for us to be saved.
“who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”
1 Timothy 2:4
God desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of truth. God desires for us to be saved. That is His will for us. It is His desire. It is His revealed will for us that we be saved, that we put our faith in Jesus Christ and come to a saving knowledge of Him. Unless we do that, we cannot walk in God’s will. Anyone in the world who does not put their faith in Jesus is already not walking in God’s will for their life.
God’s will is for us to be filled with His Spirit.
“Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is, and do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery. But be filled with the Spirit.”
Ephesians 5:17-18
God doesn’t want us to live in ignorance about not knowing His will. He wants us to be filled with His Holy Spirit and to continually be sanctified, living in a manner that pleases Him. Not getting drunk, but being filled with the Spirit.
God wants us to be sexually pure.
“For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; “
1 Thessalonians 4:3
If you’re trying to figure out if you should continue dating a guy or marry him, but you’re not already being sexually pure with him, it’s probably not God’s will for you to be with that guy. He wants us to walk in sexual purity.
God wants us to be submissive.
“Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or the officials he has appointed. For the king has sent them to punish those who do wrong and to honor those who do right. It is God’s will that your honorable lives should silence those ignorant people who make foolish accusations against you.”
1 Peter 2:13-15
So God says this is the will of God, that you be submissive to those who are in authority.
God’s will may be to suffer for doing good.
“For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.”
1 Peter 3:17
Sometimes it’s God’s will for us to suffer. He allows us to suffer for doing good.
God’s will is for you to be thankful.
“give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”
1 Thessalonians 5:18
There are more scriptures that talk about how God desires for us to live. Scripture tells us to put off the old life that we had, in which we did whatever we wanted, and to put on the new life in Christ Jesus.
God’s Word reveals His will for us and tells us what it looks like to please God.
Sometimes we pray and ask God for his will concerning a specific situation, but maybe we haven’t even opened the Bible to discover what He’s already said to us.
“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
Romans 12:2
As we’re renewing our minds with God’s Word, we begin to understand His will. Our way of thinking is transformed and becomes more in line with what God desires.
God isn’t trying to trick us. He has revealed His will through scripture so that we can do it. We don’t have to be afraid of stepping out of God’s will or making a mistake or marrying the wrong person or going to the wrong school, because God’s will is already clear.
If we are uncertain of what God’s will is, then maybe we need to spend more time reading His Word, meditating on scripture, and renewing our minds so that we can know the will of God.
What about situations where God doesn’t specifically tell us what to do in the Bible? How can we know what to do in that situation?
- Who should I marry?
- Which job should I take?
- Which school should I go to?
- Where should I live?
We’re going to cover these in upcoming posts. Stay tuned!
