Finding The Lord’s Will

Illus: Some think that finding the will of God for our life is like playing the game where you put a marble on the table, turn three cups upside down with one of the cups covering the marble. And then someone very quickly switches them around, then you try to guess which cup the marble is under. Most of the time they guess incorrectly.

Some have the idea that God plays this game concerning His will. That is, He makes it hard for us to know His will. Listen, that does not make sense. If God wants us to serve Him, why wouldn’t He want us to know His will?

WHY DON’T PEOPLE KNOW THE WILL OF GOD FOR THEIR LIFE? Sometimes it is because of -

(1) FALSE CLAIMS

They have heard other professing Christians make false claims that GOD FREQUENTLY appears to them, instructing them about His will for their life. Have you noticed that those that claim God has appeared to them, also claim they have been endued with the power of God that few others possess. In fact, they are so filled with the power of God, that while they are on television, all you have to do is lay your hands on the television set and you can be healed.

Illus: Did you hear about the elderly couple that was watching one of those television preachers? The husband was one of these lazy fellows that lays around the house most of the time, acting like he was about dead. The preacher faced the camera, and announced, "My friends, I'd like to share my healing powers with everyone watching this program. Place one hand on top of your TV & the other hand on your sick body and I will pray for your healing."

• The old woman hobbled to the television set and placed her hand on the television set.

• Then her husband crawled out of his easy chair and approached the television set, and placed his hand on it.

With a frown his wife said to him, "Ernest, he's talking about healing the sick, not raising the dead!"

But these television preachers not only claim to have such powers invested in them, but they also say that God frequently appears to them, telling them His will for their life. This confuses some folks, because as they seek the Lord for their life, they have not had similar experiences.

Another reason that many have never found out the will of God for their lives is because of -

(2) FALSE PROFESSIONS

Some profess that they want to know the Lord’s will for their life, but they really do not. They have big plans for what they want to do with their life, and the last thing they want is the will of God in their life, complicating their plans.

Have you noticed that people’s priorities today are all mixed up?

Illus: That reminds me of the young man who was driving his BMW around a curve, when he realized the car was out of control and about to plummet over a cliff. The young man jumped out, but his left arm was severed from his body. He stood there looking down at his burning BMW and said, "Oh, no! My car! My car!" A man, who had stopped to help, said, "Mister, you have just lost your left arm, and you're crying about your car?" The young man looked down and said, "Oh no, my Rolex watch!" (Frank Pollard, "Do You Like Where You Live?," Preaching Today, Tape No. 104.)

People’s priorities are all mixed up. Many folks are this way in the church, they will say, “Yes, I want to know the Lord’s will for my life”. The Lord does not reveal His will to them because He knows they do not want to know the will of God, because it would interfere with their plans for their life.

But thank the Lord, there are people in the church that TRULY WANT TO KNOW THE WILL OF GOD FOR THEIR LIFE.

What we need to ask ourselves is this, “What does it mean to know the will of God for our lives?” Someone said it this way, “Someone finding the will of God is a person who has denounced his own will, and is submitting to the will of God for his life in all that he or she does.”

We have the life of our Lord Jesus on earth as our example. He completely surrendered to God the Father, and before He ascended back to the Father, He said, in John 17:4, "I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.”

I do not know of anything more precious that can be written on our tombstone at the end of our life, than that we finished the work God gave us to do.