How Can I Know God's Will?

In his letter to the Ephesian church, Paul exhorted them to “redeem the time, because the days are evil. So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.”

It seems that one of the great mysteries of the Christian walk involves discovering God’s will for a person. That can be difficult to people sometimes because we either will not wait on His timing or we go about seeking His will the wrong way. Some faulty ways of seeking His will are:

FLEECES (Supernatural Signs)

FASTING (Giving up food to seek God)

FLIPPING (Leaving it up to the coin)

FEELING (Feelings not logic)

FLOUNDERING (Fishing anywhere and everywhere for answers)

In this message, we will examine the vital first steps to realizing God’s will for our lives, then seek out deeper steps to know His plan for the path of our lives. (Each point starts with a letter for the word GUIDE)

First, let us open our Bibles to…

ROMANS 12:2-GO TO THE LORD

Here, Paul seems to give some very clear steps to knowing God’s will for our lives. But hidden in these words is a great truth that we would never realize unless we dig deep into this verse.

The first point is that we are to pass an initial test—transforming not conforming. Tests require preparation for a passing grade. Book reading, lecture and lab work was necessary to achieve a passing grade in my class. The same is true in our Christian walk.

Book reading: A Bible in hand is worth two on the shelf. Psalm 42:1

Lecture: Regular attention to teaching and preaching. Romans 10:17

Lab work: Getting our hands on application to life. James 1:22

If we want to pass the first initial test, then we have to prove to God that our faith is genuine and will pass the test of time. Don’t expect God to reveal His will for you next week until you practice it today.

Next, we will “prove what is that good, perfect and acceptable will of God.” The word prove in the original Greek is DOZIMADZO. This word is curious in that it has a two part meaning:

Test, examine or scrutinize.

Recognize as genuine after examination.

WOW! If we will just take God at His promises, apply His word and practice what He tells us to do, then we can recognize His promises and word as genuine!

My daughter knows that when she reaches out to me that I will take her. Actually, she does that much more with her mother than she does me. She knows that one of us will take her because she has tried us time and time again, and gotten the same result.

Abraham is commended in Hebrews 11:8 for leaving his home, “not knowing where he was going.” Abraham had lived in Ur and received the command from God to go to a land he would be shown. He ignored that call, but after moving to Haran, he obeyed God’s command.

Proverbs 3:5 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and he shall direct your paths.”

PSALMS 119:105 & PROVERBS 6:23-UNDERSTAND HIS PRINCIPLES

If you want to know how to play a board game, you have to read the instruction book. If you read the rule book for Monopoly, it says that the “Free Parking” space is just that: Free Parking. It costs you nothing, and you gain nothing by landing on it. But if you rely on someone who has not read the rule book in a while, they will tell you that money for houses, hotels, taxes and whatever else goes in the center of the board and then to the person who lands on Free Parking.

The Bible clearly tells us that we are not to lust, covet, marry an unbeliever. It also clearly lets us know that God expects us to worship Him and Him alone, He expects us to be holy, and not to take a Christian to court. Sometimes matters are not so clear. For example, should I or should I not buy a lottery ticket? The Bible does not have a verse: “Thou shalt not play the numbers.” But Proverbs 28:22 does tell us that “A man with an evil eye hastens after wealth, But he who makes haste to be rich will not go unpunished.” God’s Word does not tell us “For the time will come when they will prefer Big Macs to healthy food,” but it does tell us in I Corinthians 6:19-20 to treat our bodies like a holy temple.

PROVERBS 18:17-INVESTIGATE YOUR OPTIONS

Let’s say that you have gone to the capitol of WV, Myrtle Beach. You are out in the water and see a shark fin coming your way. You have several options. You could ignore it. You could try to take on the shark with your bare hands. Or you could discreetly head to shore, not drawing attention to yourself. Obviously, there is one wise option: head for shore.