Are you afraid of missing God’s will for your life? Are you worried that if you don’t figure out exactly what God wants you to do, then you’re going to mess up His entire plan for your life? How do we know if we’re walking in God’s will for our lives?
For years, I struggled with understanding God’s will. I thought it was really specific. I actually thought God had called me to be a TV producer and screenwriter and I was striving so hard to make that happen. But the reality is, God hadn’t called me to do that and I was putting pressure on myself to make it happen. Honestly, is so stressful, taking so much weight on your shoulders, trying to figure out God’s big plan for your life, and then making it happen. It’s just never what He intended us to do.
The Two Wills of God
“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
God reveals His will in Scripture so we know exactly what His will is for our life. We are not accountable to know what God doesn’t reveal to us. But God reveals what He does want us to know so we can be obedient. His desires for our lives are revealed in scripture so we know how to obey Him.
As we do what we know to do – what’s revealed in scripture – God works out His bigger plans for our lives. We can’t always see or know what He’s doing behind the scenes. Our part is obedience, not figuring out or making things happen. He’s going to make His secret plans happen in His timing.
I’ve seen Him at work in my own life and in my own journey with Him recently. I never expected to start a YouTube channel. For years, that was the furthest thing from my mind. I never even wanted to do that and I never felt comfortable on camera. But it’s something that fell into place recently. God put a desire in my heart to do it, my husband agreed it was a good time to do it, and I’m also able to put my screenwriting and producing degree to use.
Sometimes God leads us in ways we never expect and in ways we couldn’t figure out on our own. We must simply be diligent about what He’s already told us to do in His Word. As we are being diligent about what He’s already revealed to us and told us to do, He is going to make our way straight.
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.“
Proverbs 3:5-6
God fulfills His Purpose
As long as you’re acknowledging Him in all your ways, trusting Him even when it doesn’t make sense, His plan for your life will be fulfilled.
“I cry out to God most high, to God who fulfills his purpose for me.”
Psalms 57:2
Let’s be fair. King David, the psalmist, made a lot of mistakes. So to say that he was always walking in obedience and God’s perfect will for his life is simply not the case. In this passage, David, with plenty of his own mistakes behind him, declares confidently that God will fulfill His purpose for him.
God fulfills his purpose for us. Whatever He leads us to do, He initiates it and He makes it happen. We don’t have to worry about figuring it out or interpreting all the signs perfectly. He’s going to make it happen. He’s going to direct our paths as we trust in Him, as we lean on Him, and as we simply obey His word and do what we know to do.
“Behold, I go forward, but he is not there, and backward, but I do not perceive him; on the left hand when he is working, I do not behold him; he turns to the right hand, but I do not see him. But he knows the way that I take; when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold. My foot has held fast to his steps; I have kept his way and have not turned aside. I have not departed from the commandment of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my portion of food. But he is unchangeable, and who can turn him back? What he desires, that he does. For he will complete what he appoints for me, and many such things are in his mind.”
Job 23:8-14
If you’re familiar with the Bible and the book of Job, you know that Job went through a really hard time. And through that hard time, there’s no way he could have understood God’s plan for his life. All of a sudden, Job lost all of his children and flocks. God even allowed Satan to afflict his whole body with festering sores.
There’s no way that Job could have understood what was going on behind the scenes. But I love how in this passage, Job recognized that even though he could not see God, and he couldn’t see God at work in his life, he knew that God was watching him. God was fully aware of which way Job was going and every detail of his life. Job recognized that even in the midst of affliction and not understanding how his life is working, God was still in control. God had not left him and He would complete everything He appointed for Job.
Even in difficult circumstances, even when we take detours and routes that we don’t understand, God is still at work. Whether we go to the left or to the right, as long as we are walking with the Lord, staying in His Word and acknowledging Him, He is going to direct our steps. We can put our full confidence in Him.
Life is meant to be walked by faith. We don’t have all the answers, and when we’re tempted to try and figure things out, we just have to trust God. Rather than putting pressure on ourselves to figure everything out, Jesus asks us to come to Him and find rest for our souls (Matthew 11:38).
We were never meant to strive anxiously to figure things out or live in fear. Scripture is clear – God has not given us the spirit of fear, but one of power, of love and of self-control (2 Timothy 1:7). We don’t have to be afraid when life doesn’t make sense or when we don’t have all of our next steps figured out. As we are obedient to obey His scripture, He takes care of the big picture that we can’t see right now.
