A middle-aged farmer wanted to be a preacher for years, but wasn't sure if it was God's will. One day, while he was working in the field, he decided to rest under a tree. As he looked up into the sky he saw that the clouds seemed to form into the letters P and C. As he thought about it, he realized that PC stood for Preach Christ! Immediately, he jumped up, sold his farm and went out to preach Christ. He was convinced that this was what God was leading him to do.
Unfortunately, he turned out to be a horrible preacher. After one of his sermons, a neighbor turned to his wife and whispered in her ear, "I'm not so sure that God wasn't just trying to tell him to Plant Corn!"
Unfortunately, I’m afraid that a lot of us approach the whole idea of God’s will a lot like that farmer. We view it as some mysterious concept and we look for God to reveal it to us in some supernatural manner. The reality, however, is that God isn’t trying to hide His will from us and make it hard to find. In fact, as we’ll see this morning, the real challenge isn’t trying to discover God’s will, it is attempting to do it.
So go ahead and turn in your Bibles to James 4 and follow along as I read beginning in verse 13:
Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”—yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
(James 4:13-17 ESV)
For Jesus, there was nothing more important to Him during His earthly ministry than doing the will of God. When His disciples returned one afternoon after Jesus had been speaking to the Samaritan woman at the well in Sychar and encouraged Jesus to eat something, Jesus responded to them with words that I’m sure were completely unexpected by His disciples:
Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.
(John 4:34 ESV)
Sometime later, after healing a lame man at the pool of Bethesda in Jerusalem, Jesus reiterated His desire to do God’s will:
I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.
(John 5:30 ESV)
So it’s not surprising that as James continues to lay out a number of tests to determine the genuineness and maturity of the faith of the Jewish believers to whom he is writing that he would focus on the importance of doing God’s will. After all, if we want to be like Jesus and that was important to Him, then it ought to be important to us as well.
Here in James, we find that there were three different ways that people in his audience were responding to God’s will. Nothing has really changed today. Every person chooses to respond to the will of God in one of these three ways.
3 Possible Ways to Respond to God’s Will:
1. Deny it
First, there was the group that was saying “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”. The verb “say” in verse 13 is in the present tense, which indicates that these people were constantly engaging in this practice. It was a habit in their lives. And that particular verb “to say” indicates that they were saying something based on reasoning and logic. It is the same word from which we get our English word “logic.”
So the picture here is that they were carefully making plans based on logic and reason. Now there was nothing wrong with the fact that they were making plans. In fact, God commends planning in the Bible and financial planning in particular is essential for good, Biblical stewardship. Nor was there anything wrong with the fact that they were engaged in business in order to make a profit. The Bible commends hard work and makes it clear that man is to profit from his labor.
In fact, the problem here isn’t really indicated by what is said, but rather by what is not said. Obviously we need to be careful about drawing conclusions based on arguments from silence in the Bible. But in this case, given the context, it is obvious that what is missing in this planning is any mention at all of God. The problem here is that these people were making plans as if they were sovereign. They made the mistake of assuming that they could somehow control their future. So they chose their own time, their own location, their own operation and their own objective completely apart from God.
By their actions and their mindset they were essentially denying that God had a will for them at all. We could call this practical atheism. Even though they may have said they believed in God, they were living as if God didn’t exist at all.
Obviously, we all fall into the trap of making our plans apart from God from time to time in our lives. I’ve certainly done that, and in some cases, I’ve certainly paid the price for ignoring God like that. But far more often, because He is merciful, God has certainly spared me from many of the consequences of trying to play God in that manner. And I’m certainly grateful for God’s mercy in those cases.
But if we constantly live our lives without ever even considering that God might have a will for our lives and make our own plans without involving God in the process, then we need to honestly evaluate the genuineness of our faith.
2. Defy it
This is the situation James is addressing in verses 16 and 17.
In verse 16 he refers to those who are “boasting in their arrogance.” The word translated “arrogance” in that verse is a really interesting word. It comes from a root word that means “to wander about” and it was used describe quack doctors who would wander around peddling their pills and potions which they claimed could sure anything, but which were in fact, useless. Eventually the word came to mean a “pretentious braggart” who promised things he could not deliver.
While these people may have not denied that God had a will for their lives, they were bragging about their own cleverness and skill and so they also usurped the place of God in their lives by exalting their own will above that of God.
Then in verse 17, we come to a verse with a familiar theme that at first may seem to be disconnected with the rest of the passage. In fact, that verse is often used apart from the context of this passage to teach about what many call “sins of omission.” That teaching is not necessarily unbiblical since the Scripture certainly does confirm the idea that we can sin by failing to do good when we have the opportunity to do it. In fact, James has consistently pointed out that sin is not merely a matter of doing something we are commanded not to do, but that it can also involve not doing something we should.
But in the context of this passage, James is taking this even a step further. He is pointing out that there are some who affirm that there is a God, acknowledge that He is sovereign and that He has a will for their lives and yet choose to disobey that will. Although they may not be outwardly arrogant like the person described in verse 16, they are really exercising that same kind of arrogance by their actions, or even their lack of action. They, too, are in effect exalting their own will above that of God.
In verse 14, James has a word of warning for those who deny or defy God’s will. He reminds them that their life is fragile and that it is largely out of their control. This certainly reminds us of the parable of the rich fool in Luke 12. The rich man produced so many crops that he had nowhere to store them. So rather than be generous with others he decided to build bigger barns in order to hoard that grain for himself. Jesus ended that parable with these words that sound a lot like what James is writing here in his letter:
But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”
(Luke 12:20-21 ESV)
But there is a better way, one that we find in verse 15. Instead of denying or defying God’s will, we need to…
3. Desire it
Verse 15 is one of those verses that people have just turned into a pithy little saying that we often add to any reference we make to our plans. So we’ll say something like, “Lord willing, I’ll see you on Sunday.” But James, like his half-brother Jesus, is much more concerned about what’s in our heart than just the words that we speak.
It’s not enough to just say “Lord willing”. In our hearts, we need to have a genuine desire to both know and to be obedient to God’s will. Obviously, our obedience to God’s will is never going to be perfect like it was in Jesus’ life. But if I’m a genuine disciple of Jesus who is maturing in my relationship with Him, then I will love God enough that it is my heart’s desire to be obedient to His will.
It is also clear from this passage that we need to acknowledge God’s sovereignty over every area of our lives. James makes it clear that we can’t separate our “secular” life from our “spiritual” life. Our business life and our family life and our school life are just as much subject to God’s will as our church life. God wants us to desire and obey His will in every area of our lives.
Since I’m convinced that at least most of us here this morning want to be in that third group that desires God’s will, it seems prudent to spend a few minutes discussing…
How to Know God’s Will for My Life
Most of you are probably like me – you’ve seen or heard a lot of teaching on this topic. And much of that teaching seems to be based on the concept that God is somehow trying to hide His will from us and make it hard to find. So much of that teaching gets pretty complicated.
But the reality is that God wants us to know His will more than we often really want to know it. So He’s actually made it pretty easy to discover. In fact, I want to suggest to you that knowing God’s will for your life requires only two simple steps.
1. Obey the part of God’s will He has already revealed
There is a prerequisite for knowing God’s will – being willing to do it even before we know what it is. God never says, “I’ll show you my will and then you get to decide whether to obey it or not.” And the best way to demonstrate that I’m willing to obey His will is to obey the part of God’s will I already know. And fortunately for us, God has revealed in His Word five things that are God’s will for every single one of us. Let’s look at those briefly.
It is God’s will that I be:
• Saved
This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
(1 Timothy 2:3-4 ESV)
God has done everything that is needed for every single person on the face of the earth to be saved from their sins. He sent His Son, Jesus to die on the cross to pay the penalty for the sin of every single person who has ever lived. And then He raised Jesus from the grave to prove his power over sin and death.
It is God’s will that all people respond to what He has done for us and come to the knowledge of the truth and accept His gift of salvation. But God will never force anyone to make that decision. He has offered the gift of eternal life, but we must accept that gift by placing our trust in Jesus alone as the means for being made right with God so that we can have a relationship with Him.
This morning, if you’ve made that decision to make Jesus your Savior and your Lord, then you’re obeying God’s will. But if you haven’t personally made that commitment, then you have denied and defied God’s will for you.
• Spirit-controlled
Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,
(Ephesians 5:17-18 ESV)
It is God’s will that every one of His children be controlled by the Holy Spirit. The very moment that we commit our lives to Jesus and put Him in control of our lives, He sends the Holy Spirit to dwell permanently in our lives. And because I think we all need to have a better understanding of how the Holy Spirit works in our lives, I’m going to be preaching a series of messages on the Holy Spirit after we finish our study of James.
But what I want us to understand right now is that even though the Holy Spirit is always present in the life of a Christ follower, that doesn’t mean that He is automatically free to operate fully in our lives. Although His purpose is to reveal God and lead us into truth, we have to cooperate with Him in order for that work to be profitable in our lives. We become Spirit-controlled when we yield to the leading of the Holy Spirit in our lives and obey Him.
• Sanctified
For this is the will of God, your sanctification…
(1 Thessalonians 4:3 ESV)
Sanctification is one of those big theological words that we tend to throw around in church without always understanding what it means. Sanctification is very closely related to holiness and it describes the process of setting someone or something apart for the use intended by its designer. For instance a pen would be sanctified when it is used to write or baseball bat would be sanctified when it is used to hit a baseball.
In the theological sense, people or things are sanctified when they are used for the purpose God intends. Therefore we are sanctified when we live according to God’s design and purpose for our lives – when we are who God created us to be.
Obviously none of us do that perfectly – only Jesus has ever done that. So we have to go through a process of sanctification where we are being conformed more and more to the image of Christ which will allow us to become more and more who God wants us to be.
• Submitted
Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people.
(1 Peter 2:13-15 ESV)
It is God’s will that we submit to the human institutions that God has established for our benefit and protection. In this passage, Peter specifically addresses our obligation to submit to governmental authority, particularly when governments punish those who are evil and praise those who do good. But there are many other places in the Scriptures where we are commanded to submit:
o Within the body of Christ we are to submit to one another out of reverence for Christ (Ephesians 5:21)
o Wives are to submit to husbands (Ephesians 5:22-24)
o Children are to submit to parents (Ephesians 6:1-2)
o Employees are to submit to employers (Ephesians 6:5-8)
o Christ followers are to submit to church leaders (Hebrews 13:17)
When we obey those Biblical commands to submit to those authorities that God has established then we are doing His will.
• Suffering
For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil.
(1 Peter 3:17 ESV)
Unlike the first four aspects of God’s will that we looked at, this last one is conditional. While we don’t always suffer for doing good and being obedient to God, that is certainly becoming more and more common in our culture. Fortunately, because of His mercy, we don’t always experience suffering, but it is certainly God’s will that I am willing to suffer if that is the result of being obedient to Him.
So the first step in knowing God’s will is to obey the part of God’s will that I already know – that which He has revealed to me in His Word. Obviously none of us will ever do that perfectly. But if our life is consistently characterized by being saved, being Spirit-controlled, being sanctified, being submitted and suffering, then knowing God’s will requires only one more simple step. I’ll let Eddie and Tommie describe that step with you in their own unique manner.
[“God’s Will” video http://skitguys.com/videos/item/what-is-gods-will]
How do I know God’s will? I think Eddie hit the nail on the head with his next to last statement – the one right before he said “I have to go, the idiot needs me”:
Be the person that God created you to be.
And how do I do that? I think the video showed how to do that pretty well. Once I’m saved, Spirit-filled, sanctified, submitted and suffering I can…
2. Do what I want
That seems way too simple doesn’t it? As a matter of fact, my guess is that a lot of you right now are even thinking it’s unbiblical. But that is exactly what David said we ought to do in Psalm 37.
Delight yourself in the LORD,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
(Psalm 37:4 ESV)
As we’ve discussed frequently before, David is not saying that God is obligated to give us whatever we ask for. What He is saying is that if we delight in God, the desires we have will be the ones that God has put into our hearts. And how do we delight in God? I would suggest that we do that by being saved, Spirit-filled, sanctified, submitted and suffering – by obeying the part of God’s will we already know. If we’ve done that we can be sure that our desires are the ones God wants us to have.
So when I want to know where to go to school or what job to take or who to marry or where to go on vacation, or even what to eat for dinner tonight, I can follow my heart’s desires because God is the author of those desires. Obviously, as Eddie pointed out in the video, God’s will won’t ever be in conflict with God’s Word. But if we’re really being obedient to God and seeking Him, He’ll keep us from violating His Word.
Now I’m certainly not saying that we can’t take other prudent steps. There is certainly nothing wrong with considering the pros and cons of our decisions. Obviously, we should seek out the counsel of others, especially when making a major life decision. But usually those actions tend to be part of the first step of obeying the part of God’s will we already know. God certainly uses others in my life as part of the process of being saved, Spirit-controlled, sanctified and submitted.
Ultimately, doing what I want actually demonstrates my trust in a sovereign God. In being who God created me to be, I am trusting that God has uniquely designed me in a way that will allow me to fulfill His purposes, plans and ways in my life. I am acknowledging that my abilities, my passions, my likes and dislikes are all part of God’s unique design for me.
God is probably not going to reveal His will for you in some clouds in the shape of letters. His will for your life is actually much easier than that to discover. Delighting in God and being the person who God created you to be is actually a much better way to know and do God’s will in your life.
