How To Miss The Will Of God

July 31, 2005

Dakota Community Church

Understanding God’s Will

Week One: Common Misconceptions

Introduction:

Friday night we went as a family to see “Kingdom of Heaven” and several times the will of God was a major theme.

- When the magistrate wanted to flee on the fastest horses.

- When they sailed for Jerusalem.

- When they decided to force war with the Muslims.

Not once when they declared "It is the will of God" was it really the will of God.

We need to know the will of God and - we can know it.

Romans 12: 2

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

There is one will of God.

We need to know it in order to pray effectively.

When we pray sketchy, “If it be thy will” prayers we are double minded.

James 1: 6-8

But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.

The “If” indicates doubt.

In order to exercise faith, in order to know peace, in order to know the confidence required for an abundant life we need to know the will of God.

Since knowing God’s will is so vital, why is it so often missed?

Misconceptions about finding God’s will:

1. Circumstantial evidence determines God’s will.

- If it happens it must be God’s will.

- God allowed it to happen.

That is just not good theology.

2Peter 3: 9

The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

God’s will is that everyone comes to repentance and is saved.

Free will means that God’s will does not always get done.

Numbers 14: 26-33

And the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, “How long shall I bear with this evil congregation who complain against Me? I have heard the complaints which the children of Israel make against Me. Say to them, ‘As I live,’ says the LORD, ‘just as you have spoken in My hearing, so I will do to you: The carcasses of you who have complained against Me shall fall in this wilderness, all of you who were numbered, according to your entire number, from twenty years old and above. Except for Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun, you shall by no means enter the land which I swore I would make you dwell in. But your little ones, whom you said would be victims, I will bring in, and they shall know the land which you have despised. But as for you, your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness. And your sons shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years, and bear the brunt of your infidelity, until your carcasses are consumed in the wilderness.

God’s will was for the people He supernaturally delivered from slavery in Egypt to enter the promised land - they did not.

1Kings 11: 1-3

King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh’s daughter—Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites. They were from nations about which the LORD had told the Israelites, "You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods." Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love. He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray.

Matthew 14: 28-31

"Lord, if it’s you," Peter replied, "tell me to come to you on the water."

"Come," he said.

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!"

Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?"

All of these illustrate the ability of man using free will to make something other than God’s will happen.

When we allow circumstance to dictate the will of God we make God seem to outside observers to be insane.

Want to miss the will of God completely? Let the circumstances guide you.

2. Playing Bible roulette determines Gods will.

This is what I call the easy seek solution.

Rather than taking the time to search the scriptures or listen in prayer we take the Bible flip it randomly open and stab the page with our finger.

On some level we know it is not right but we want the quick and easy magic answer.