“God’s Will for Our Lives”
Introduction:
I don’t know about you, but I like doing puzzles. Crossword puzzles are always fun. I usually answer the five or six that I know and then retire and go to a new puzzle. Some people like those word search puzzles too, where you din a word in a group of letters. The new craze today is those sudouko puzzles, which are highly addictive. I as a kid loved the Highlight Magazine; they had puzzles in there where you searched for an object within a bigger picture. Puzzles are tough for me to figure out, but I enjoy doing them. I think that some people view the will of God kind of like doing one of those puzzles. Knowing God’s will for our lives is one of the toughest questions that we could possibly ask and is perhaps the question I get asked more than any other. A lot of times we are faced with difficult decisions and perhaps you sit at that point today. Perhaps your wondering what God’s will is for your career path; should you change jobs, should you quit your old job or should you retire. Perhaps you want to know God’s will for relationships that you may be. I know that when I was dating Stephanie the big question I was always asking was, is this God’s will for my life? Perhaps you are wondering what God’s will is for some other aspect of your life is.
We all are faced with decisions every day. You had to make a decision this morning as to which way you were going to come to church. You had to make a decision of what you are going to where, what you are going to eat and many are probably sitting here trying to make a decision as to what they are going to do for their lunch. Most of those decisions are not difficult decisions that you do not sweat over too much, things that you probably don’t decide on by prayer and fasting. The truth is there are bigger questions that we have to answer at certain occasions in our lives, when we want to know God’s will for our lives. Sometimes we may even wonder, does God really care about those decisions that we are making? When we are considering moving, changing jobs, or anything else in life, we may want to know if God really cares what we do and has a will for our lives. I want to know God’s purpose for my life and I want to know if God does have a plan and a purpose for my life how can I figure out and learn what plans God has for. Let me assure you this morning that God does care about those decisions that we are making in this life and has a plan for our lives.
The time I remember I most had to seek the will of God was when I was seventeen years old, I hadn’t been a Christian for very long, I heard many people at a summer camp I attended talking about full-time Christian ministry. I had friends that we going into full-time Christian ministry, but I sure didn’t think that was for me. I wasn’t a great public speaker, I was shy, I wasn’t too bright, my grades were not great, and I hadn’t been a Christian very long. I knew though it was something at least to consider. I wanted to just know what God’s will was for my life. I never heard a voice, saw a vision or anything peculiar, I simply felt a burden on my heart for lost souls that I sensed was God’s will for my life to do something about it. People that knew me in High school would still be shocked to know that I am in ministry. Yes, I had to give up my dreams of playing basketball at Duke University and then the millions the pros had to offer.
There are several hard things about God’s will. It’s hard to see some of the bad things that happen in this world as the will of God. A lot of times we place the blame on God for things that takes place and labels it under “God’s Will”. God allows some things that are not His will to take place. Secondly, it is hard for us to determine what the will of God is in our lives. The problem is that God isn’t going to chase us down and let us know what he wants us to do regarding every decision we must make. Let me assure you that God does have a will, a plan, and a purpose for every one of us. It’s not always easy to see, but I believe we can find and know the will of God for our lives.
A lot of times we have our lives mapped out and we make our decisions and think that we are so wise in our decision making, but it is important with our decisions always to strive to dot he will of God.
Text: James 4:13-17
I. The Will of God is More About Who we Become
God’s primary will for our life is for us to be totally and completely surrendered to him and not conformed to the pattern of this world. I know that it would be nice if God would reveal his will for us on every aspect of our lives, but God’s will is more about who we become than what decisions that we make. It would be so easy if through hearing this message I could give you an answer to the tough decisions that you are making in your life. I believe that knowing and understanding what God’s will is for our lives begins with who we are.
Mark 3:31-35
I John 2:17
During the US civil war Abraham Lincoln met with a group of ministers for a prayer breakfast. Lincoln was a man of deep, if at times unorthodox, faith. At one point one of the ministers said, "Mr. President, let us pray that God is on our side". Lincoln’s response showed far greater insight, "No, gentlemen, let us pray that we are on God’s side."
If we want to know what God wants us to do, then we must first strive to live a life of conformity to Him.
Romans 12:1-2
For me the will of God is a very tough thing to grasp. In most decisions we should be willing to ask what is God’s will in this situation.
1. God has a moral will
The Scriptures teach that God has a moral will or a will for each and every one of us. In Second Peter we learn that God’s will is that all be saved and come to repentance. There is no person that it is not the will of God that they are saved.
I Thessalonians 4:3
It is God’s will that each of us strive to live a holy life so that our daily life may reach outsiders with the good news of Jesus Christ.
I Thessalonians 5:16-18
I think God is more concerned about our character and how we live our lives for Christ than what specific choices we make about other aspects of life. Whenever we read of a statement in Scripture about what the will of God is for us it is always more general than it is specific. It is usually saying that a certain character trait or action is the will of God. With certain moral decisions you do not have to look any further than the Word of God to determine the Will of God. It is never God’s will that you sin. It is never God’s will that you lie, steal, hurt another person, etc. I think that before we can expect to know and be in the will of God regarding decisions we are making in life we need to strive to be in God’s moral will for us. Many people want answers and direction to every aspect of their lives, but my suggestion is that if you remain in the moral will of God other answers will be more clear.
2. God has a circumstantial will
I think that God also has a circumstantial will that can change with the circumstances. It was God’s will at one point to destroy all the Israelites and begin again with Moses. God’s will though changed due to the circumstances. It was God’s will that King Hezekiah would die, but God’s will changed due to the circumstances. Incidentally, both of those times God’s will changed with his people praying. In Acts 16 we learn that Paul and his companions did not enter a city called Bithynia because the Spirit would not let them because of some unknown circumstances, but rather God wanted them to go and preach in Macedonia.
Acts 16:6-10
The will of God depends much on the circumstances surrounding a decision that we may make. Let me remind you again though that God’s will is more about our character than what we do.
3. God has a permissive will
I believe that there are also decisions that we may make in life where God does not have a specific will for your decision. A lot of decisions we make fall within what God allows us to do and decide to do with our own free will. I do not believe however, that God’s will is the same for every person. What God’s will is for me may be different than God’s will for you. We are very unique people; each one of us is different and has different gifts and abilities, much of God’s will for what he would have us do depends on those gifts and talents that He has given to us.
Romans 12:3-8
Perhaps today you are sitting here agonizing over a decision that you are in the process of making. Perhaps you are sitting here wondering what God’s will is for your life. Perhaps you are wondering what God’s will is for you to do for Him or how you can serve Him. Maybe some of the teenagers here are wondering what God’s will is for them to do with their lives. I think that seeing the will of God depends on our character first of all and secondly on our willingness to follow the will of God. For some you may not like what you think God’s will is for you. The reality is we need to be willing to be open to the will of God. We readily sing, but do we mean:
I’ll go where you want me to go, dear Lord o’er mount or plain or sea
I’ll do you what you want me to do dear Lord
I’ll be what you want me to be
II. The Will of God is More About us Following Jesus
When Jesus called his disciple he gave them a simple command call, and that was, “Follow me”. I have heard it said that is the command repeated the most by Jesus.We have been given the same call to follow Jesus, with the same fervency that the disciples did.
Following Jesus closely helps us to better see God’s will for our lives. The better we know someone the easier it is to know what his or her will may be. The longer I am married the more I know Stephanie’s will and the more I know about her will the less trouble I stay in.
Jesus said that if you have seen Him you have seen the Father. The best way for us to know God’s will for our lives is to walk closely with Jesus and God’s will should become evident to us because if we have seen Jesus we have seen the Father and the more we know Him and conform ourselves to Him the less we will have to wonder what His will is because we will know and our wills will begin to match more frequently.
The Psalmists said, “Delight yourselves in the Lord and he will give you the desires of the heart.” Many people get that backwards, “give me the desires of my heart and I will delight in you.” For many people their relationship to God is dependent on God’s will being in harmony with what they want it to be. Jonah didn’t like it when God’s will and his will didn’t match up. Jonah’s will was that the people of Nineveh would be destroyed because they didn’t deserve God’s grace and his will was not to be the one to preach to them. It was God’s will though that Jonah goes and preaches to them. Many people get mad at God and pull a Jonah and run from God when they feel that God’s will is not the best for them and it is not working out best. Let me assure you today that what God is doing now may seem frustrating and may not make much sense, but God is faithful, God is all knowing and he knows what He is doing. Some people have said that God’s will is like a Hebrew word; you can understand it best when you read it backwards. Hindsight is 20/20 and God’s will always works out for the best because He knows what he is doing. A lot of times we pray for God’s will to be done in a person’s life, about a sick person our tough situation, and then when He answers sometimes we don’t like the response. We need to be satisfied with the will of God. Our wills though do not always match up with God’s and our goal should be to get them to match and be in harmony. We should want to be in the will of God. We have a habit though of trying to force God’s will to be our will even when it may not be.
An old Scottish woman went from home to home across the countryside selling thread, buttons, and shoestrings. When she came to an unmarked crossroad, she would toss a stick into the air and go in the direction the stick pointed when it landed. One day, however, she was seen tossing the stick up several times. "Why do you toss the stick more than once?" someone asked. "Because," replied the woman, "it keeps pointing to the left, and I want to take the road on the right." She then dutifully kept throwing the stick into the air until it pointed the way she wanted to go!
Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a step by stepg guide for how to see and learn the will of God for your life? It would be nice, but there isn’t, but I do believe there are some things we can do to better see the will of God.
1. Prayer Helps Our will to match God’s Will
Jesus instructed his disciples to pray, “thy kingdom come, thy will be done.” In fact even Jesus had to pray in the garden of Gethsemane, “not my will, but your will be done.” That is the prayer we should pray when seeking God’s will. The question comes down to, “how do we know what God’s will is?” Do we wait for some sign to tell us? Again, God’s will is best seen when we are following Jesus. Prayer is one of greatest tools in trying to learn the will of God and to help our wills to match God’s. A lot of times, however, when we pray for God to reveal His will for us we really mean, “let me know that what I want to do is really ok.” It doesn’t always work that way because our will and God’s will do not always match up.
2. God’s Word Helps Reveal God’s Will
In January 2001 Nairobi police raided the home of a former university lecturer and his wife to find their six children emaciated and starving. The kids were ages 2-11 and could not stand up they were in such a bad state. Their legs were stick thin, their hair was falling out and they were all infected with disease. And why were they like this? The ex university professor claimed that he was doing it on God’s orders, that at Christmas time God had ordered him to fast until further orders. They did so, drinking only water, despite the desperate decline of the children.
Many people have done wicked things claiming it as the will of God. The will of God will always be in line with God’s Word. Nothing is the will of God that violates a Scriptural command or principle. Sometimes the Devil impresses his will on people and they see it as the will of God, but we can be sure that the will of God is consistent with the character of God as revealed in His Word.
In the Scriptures there are some things that are revealed plainly. Sometimes in Scripture we have principles that we can follow to determine what God’s will is. The commands and principles of Scripture point us towards the will of God. We know what God’s will is on some subjects and therefore we do not have to spend time praying for God to reveal to us God’s Will. For example, we do not have to spend time praying and asking God if it is will that we be saved. Because we know that God wants all to be saved and to come to repentance.
In the Scriptures also we learn a lot about God’s character. Since we can learn of God’s character we can probably more readily be able to determine what God would have us do.
We do not have to pray over a lot of things because God’s will has been revealed on some issues and we know God’s character through His word. The Scriptures might not directly answer ever question that you have as to the will of God, but through the Word of God we can learn principles that can be used to help us determine the will of God. Many people want to know what God’s will is as to whom they should marry. I do not think that anyone can open up to a Scripture and find an answer directly to that question, but we can find some principles. The Scriptures teach that God does not want His people to be unequally yoked.
--How do we know what God’s will is in decision-making?
Decision making is difficult and maybe even more difficult for those of us who seek God’s will on decisions they make. The question arises, how do we really know what God’s will is for a particular decision? Though God’s will is more about who we are and what we are than what particular things we do, God does care about those seemingly small decisions we make in life. I believe too that there are ways to know the will of God.
1. Open and Closed Doors
I Corinthians 16:9
God has a way of opening and closing doors to lead us and guide us. I don’t expect to hear God speak to me and to direct me, but I do believe God shows us His will be opening up doors for us when it is His will and closing doors when it is not His will. We need though to be willing to go through open doors and stop at the one’s God closes for us and trust that God is good and that He is all wise and knowing and that His will and plan is best for us. Remember God has the hairs on our head numbered, he knows what we are going to ask before we ask it of Him. He knows how to open and close doors and lead us to the right decisions, but we must be attentive enough to pick up on it.
2. A Sense of Peace
I believe also we can know God’s will by a sense of peace that only God can give.
Philippians 4:6-7
Seeing and finding God’s will for decisions that we make begins with prayer first. God gives a peace that transcends all understanding.
Remember, that God’s will is more about our character and about following Jesus that particular decisions that we may make in life. If we say we want to be in the will of God it begins by living in the will of God. God has given us free will to make decisions on our own. Sometimes he may point us in the right direction, but in the end the decision is ours to make. Our choice when we learn of the will of God is to accept it or reject it, to follow it or to run from it. The best parameters for making a decision is
1. Being sure that it does not violate a command or principle in Scripture
It will never be the will of God for you to violate a command, no matter what the circumstances. If you are contemplating a decision that involves sin you are wasting your time because God’s will has been revealed on that issue.
2. Being sure that it is best for you spiritually
It will never be the will of God for you to do something that is going to hurt you spiritually. God’s will is for you to grow in godliness and to become more like Christ. I have heard many people sincerely wanting to know if doing something that would hurt them spiritually is the will of God. Whether speaking of a job or being involved with something that we bring you down, you can take it to the bank that God will never will you to do something that will cause you to stumble or to digress in your faith. On anything you consider the will of God you should be able with a good conscience to pray God’s blessing upon it. If you cannot pray God’s blessing upon it then it is likely that it is not the will of God that you be doing it.
In the movie Alice in Wonderland, Alice came to an icy fork in the road. Panic stung her as she stood frozen by indecision. She lifted her eyes toward heaven, looking for guidance. Her eyes did not find God, only the Cheshire cat leering at her from his perch in the tree above. "Which way should I go?" blurted Alice.
’That depends, . . . ."said the cat, fixing a strange smile on the confused girl.
"On what?" Alice managed to reply.
"On your destination. Where are you going?" queried the Cat.
"I don’t know, . . . " stammered Alice.
"Then," said the cat, with a grin spreading wider, "it doesn’t matter."
Many of us feel like Alice in Wonderland, we stand at some crossroads in our life and don’t know which road to take. The difference between us and Alice however is that we DO know where we are going.
