One Day At A Time

I have entitled our message for this morning “One Day at a Time.” What I am going to share has to do with understanding God’s will for our life, and this is a subject matter that concerns each of us as believers.

Henry Blackaby, in his book Experiencing God, says that all you have to do find God’s will is to listen to how He speaks; and that God speaks by the Holy spirit through the Bible, prayer, circumstances, and the church to reveal Himself, His purposes, and His ways; and he says that God speaks to involve us in His plans – that God wants to invite us on mission. I want to state upfront that I believe there are times that God has a certain mission He wants us to be involved in, and sometimes the Lord is very specific in communicating that mission, like He did with Abraham and Moses. In fact, I’ve preached an entire series on how to pursue wholeheartedly once God shares a calling.

Sometimes, though, God doesn’t reveal to us a grand mission or some exciting adventure. Years ago, my wife and I heard the Lord tell us very plainly to go on mission to South Dakota, and we up and went! There was a time in our life where God would speak and we would just go; but it’s been a while since He’s spoken like that. I believe we’re still willing to follow the Lord in the same way; but perhaps He’s dealing with us differently, because we’re now in a different stage of life – perhaps a similar stage as many other young to middle-aged parents. We’re no longer newlyweds or parents with small toddlers. We have budding teenagers who need stability, and we have other family obligations. And I bet many of you can identify with what I’m talking about!

There are just times when God doesn’t reveal a “big plan.” So, does this mean that we are distant from the Lord, or that maybe we are not hearing Him correctly? Well, maybe sometimes there’s a relationship problem between us and God, but not always. I want to share some insights into understanding God’s will when the excitement seems missing, or when times are slow. So, let’s see what this is all about!

God Knows What Tomorrow Holds (vv. 9-11)

9 What profit has the worker from that in which he labors? 10 I have seen the God-given task with which the sons of men are to be occupied. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.

In verse 9, Solomon asks, “What profit has the worker from that in which he labors?” He’s basically asking, “What is the meaning of life?” “Why do I do what I do?” Or, you could reduce this question to “What is God’s will for my life?” This is a question that weighs on the hearts of many Christians. We desire to know what God has in store for us, and we want the assurance that what we do in life has meaning, purpose and significance. Does my labor amount to anything in the whole scheme of things?

You know, I find myself asking this question frequently. I want the assurance that where I’m serving is where I will have the greatest impact for God’s kingdom. I must add, however, that knowing God’s will, and having that sought-after assurance that we are truly in His will, can sometimes seem elusive and difficult to understand. So, why is this?

The reason why many of us have problems in understanding, or deciphering, God’s will has to do with our preconception about how we arrive at God’s will. “Convention teaches us that the will of God consists of a specific pathway we should follow into the future. God knows what this pathway is, and He has laid it out for us to follow. Our responsibility is to discover this pathway – God’s plan for our lives.”(1) “If and when we make the right choice; we will receive His favor, fulfill our divine destiny, and succeed in life” (Sittser, pp. 22-23). This puts a whole lot of pressure and stress on people to make the “right” decision, and many of us desire to please the Lord so badly that we are in constant suspense and turmoil wondering if we are on the right “path.” Sometimes we are so afraid of making the wrong decision that we don’t make any decision at all.

From what I’ve read about how God wants us to have peace in or lives, I do not believe that it’s His desire for us to live in anxiety and spiritual paralysis, so there must be something wrong with this common approach to understanding God’s will; and I’m going to point out what’s wrong as we go along.