Finding And Doing The Will Of God, Pt. 1 Series

Finding and Doing the Will of God

Ps. 37:23, 32:8

37:23 Steps…not just the life

32:8 “I will…”

One of the most inspiring truths in all the Bible is the fact that God has a plan for every life. (divine blueprint)

It matters where you work, because God has a plan for your life/where go to college (ill.—BBC/PCC)/who you marry (Willow)/career…

God doesn’t just call preachers…His divine will applies to all of us…what is your calling?

Young people, you have no right to just decide what YOU want to do, who YOU want to marry, where YOU want to go to college. We all must seek the face of God. Find out His plan!

Ill—Hollywood says, “follow your heart”…abortion?/date that person?

The Bible says, the heart is deceitful and desperately wicked!

“Let your conscience be your guide”

The Bible says, your conscience may be seared w/ a hot iron!

Why is it that we view the will of God like we’re taking Castor oil? “I know it’s best for me, but I’ll probably hate every minute of it.” Wrong!

No set of circumstances will bring you more joy, and more success, than being in the middle of the perfect will of God.

“but, if I surrender to God’s will, He might make me go to Africa!” Probably not! But what if He does? If He does, you’ll find more joy and more success there than you would out of His will. Africa is the safest place on earth for you if it’s His will. The conveniences of life wouldn’t hold a candle to the confines of His love…you wouldn’t trade it for the world. (missionary spirit we’ll see at conference…they don’t want you to feel sorry for them!)

Falwell’s definition of success: “finding the will of God as early in life as possible, and staying in it for the rest of your life.”

What is more pathetic than a Christian who has messed up and stepped out of the will of God?…I’ll tell you what’s worse than that: a Christian who has…and thinks they can’t get back on track!

Ill—Pat (permissive will) There’s no such thing!

God’s will begins today for you, not yesterday!!

God knows our strengths/weaknesses; capabilities/inabilities; spiritual gifts; innermost longings and desires/deepest fears.

No one is more qualified to lead, guide, and direct our lives, than our Creator, our Father, our Friend, our God. And there is a divine blueprint for your life, and you can find it, if you’re willing to seek the face of God, get the mind of God, and to do whatever He says to do.

Someone may say, “there’s no way in the universe that God cares about little old me”…I know it’s hard to imagine…I mean, did you hear they discovered a new galaxy?

Ill—new repaired Hubble telescope: they say they’ve seen a new galaxy, never seen before, that is 13 million light years away.

Remember, a light year is how far light can travel in a year…186,000 miles per second (roughly the top end of my Mustang)…even if you could go that fast, it would take 13 million years to get there (plus restroom stops)!

Then you remember that there’s thousands of galaxies that we know of…how could He even know where our solar system is?/much less our planet/our town/our church/me! But the Bible says that He does! And He not only knows where I am, but cares where I am…and even more, He knows how many hairs on my head, the Bible says! (some of you are easier to count than others!)

Here’s 3 reasons to believe in a God-planned life:

(just laying a foundation for tonite, when we’ll see how to find the will of God)

A God-planned life is:

1. Reasonable

A seamstress uses a pattern builder…blueprint/puzzle…picture/coach…gameplan/truck driver…map/cook…recipe

…and God has a plan for your life!

You see, it’s reasonable to say that God has a plan for every life…and it’s all the more reasonable to say He has a plan for the Christian’s life…for not only do you belong to God, you belong to God twice:

By virtue of creation/redemption

Ill—little boy/carved boat, w/ initials/put in river/got away/later it was found, sold to pawn shop/boy got older, in pawn shop, saw it/told owner, that’s mine/no, it’s mine, I bought it/so, boy bought it back and said, little boat, you’re mine…mine because I made you/bought you!

Christian, you are God’s twice!

Our God has a deep, vested interest in us, and it’s reasonable to believe that He doesn’t want us to go thru life filled w/ confusion and uncertainty, but to know where we are, why we’re there, and where we’re headed…to know His will!

A God-planned life is reasonable.

2. Practical

Acc’d to examples in God’s Word, and by much experience, we know that nothing happens by accident…not even the conception of a child!