GOD’S WILL IS GOD’S WORD
Jimmy is a professional fisherman. He makes his living fishing on the BASS (Bass Angler Sportsman Society) circuit. He is also a devout Christian and belongs to the FBC Keys, Oklahoma.
This year, BASS made a ruling that to be eligible for the fisherman of the year award ($100,000), you had to wear the patch and decal of a prominent sponsor--Busch Beer!
Jimmy Houston refused to do it, thereby forfeiting his chance at the $100,000. A fellow Christian fisherman on the circuit asked him, "Jimmy, have you prayed about that?" Jimmy replied, "I don’t have to pray about it. There is no decision for me to make. God has already made the decision in His Word when He said not to do anything that would damage our testimony as Christians."
He didn’t use these words, but Jimmy was saying to this fisherman, "This is not a part of God’s specific will, it’s a part of God’s general will. God’s Word clearly tells me what God’s will would be in this matter."
Once we understand that the majority of God’s will is revealed in the Word, and that the small part that is His specific will can only be discerned using principles taught in the Word, we can make a statement about knowing God’s will. The knowledge of God’s will and the knowledge of God’s Word are, for all practical purposes, one and the same! You cannot know God’s will without knowing His Word, and you cannot know God’s Word without discovering His will!
(Source: SBC Life, June 2003, pp 12. From a sermon by Tim Huie, "The Truth about Pleasing God" 1/16/2009)