DISCOVERING HIS WILL FOR YOUR LIFE
(Section 1 –His Will)
I. A PLANNED LIFE
“Go to God Himself, and ask for the calling of God; for as certainly as He has a plan or
calling for you, He will somehow guide you into it.” Horace Bushnell
A. Every Life Is A Plan of God
1. Does God have an ideal and detailed will and plan for every life? Is this a valid concept, or is it only a view that has been read into Scriptures wrongly. If there is such a plan, it is of paramount importance that we get to know it. If it is only a myth, the sooner it is laid to rest the better. pg 10
a. One Extreme --- There is no detailed will and plan for a person’s life.
b. Another Extreme --- God has a meticulous, complete detailed plan.
Does God plan which socks you will wear each day?
Does God dictate what you will for desert when eating out?
c. A reasonable ground in between --- God has a will and a plan.
2. Divine guidance concerns people who have been endowed with the awesome
power of free choice. Every day we have to make decisions and choices, some
of which will affect our whole future. We are not automatons controlled by a
heavenly computer! pg 10 - 11
3. Some thoughts about the will of God moving from the most general to the more
specific:
a. God’s will first includes that not one should perish, but that every one should come to Him through His Son Jesus Christ.
II Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count
slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”
b. God’s will would then be concerned with our manner of life ---how we conduct ourselves. I Thes 4:3 “This is the will of God even your sanctification.” This will should be consistent with all, perhaps clarified by opportunity and knowledge.
c. God’s will would then become more specific and personal for each person. Of utmost importance would be our God ordained ministry. (If our manner of life is inconsistent, we cannot fulfill our ministry.)
d. Very specifics might include: Choices like marriage, dwelling location on this planet, occupation/vocation/profession.
How specific God might be on these topics can be difficult to discern
and open to debate. (If we make these choices out of the will of God, our ministry may be hindered, perhaps limited if not destroyed.)
3. The circumstances surrounding our lives are not accidental but are devised by an
all-wise and loving Father, who knows how best we can glorify Him and yet at
the same time achieve our own highest good. When this becomes a conviction, believed and accepted, then every part of life becomes significant, and life itself becomes one long voyage of discovery of God and of our own true selves. pg 11
4. As we seek God's plan for our lives, it is by no means uncommon to meet many
obstacles in our way. These obstructions are not necessarily an indication that we
are out of His will, but are put in place to develop our faith and strengthen our
character. pg 13
a. How many quit when an obstacle blocks their path?
b. How far would Apostle Paul have gone if he quit due to obstacles?
B. The Element of Mystery pg 15
1. There are secret things that belong to God alone, and we will have to wait until
eternity dawns for their explanation. Deut 29:29 Acts 1:7 Romans 11:33
Deut. 29:29 “The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.”
Acts 1:7 “And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.”
Romans 11:33 “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!”
2. We think in limited terms. God does not. Isa. 55:8-9
(v. 8) “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.“
(v. 9) “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
3. We may not now understand. John 13:7 Hebrews 11:8
John 13:7 “Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter.”
I KNEW NOT WHY
God bade me go when I would stay
(“Twas cool within the wood);
I did not know the reason why.
I heard a boulder crashing by.
Across the path where I stood.
He bade me stay when I would go;
“Thy will be done,” I said.
They found one day at early dawn;
Across the way I would have gone,
A serpent with a mangled head.
No more I ask the reason why,
Although I may not see
The path ahead, His way I go;
For though I know not, He doth know,
And He will choose safe paths for me.
Anonymous Taken from Pulpit Helps, May 2001
Hebrews 11:8 “By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.”
C. Guidance Is Needed
1. God directs when we listen. Jer 10:23 Prov. 3:5
Jeremiah 10:23 “O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in
man that walketh to direct his steps.”
Proverbs 3:5 “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.”
For the Christian, daily guidance is an indispensable necessity. But experience teaches that not everyone who professes to be seeking the plan of God is sincerely committed to doing God's will if it is revealed. pg 19
2. Our own wisdom is too limited, and our long vision too defective.
God can see the end from the beginning. We must therefore trust Him.
3. The events of life are not in our hands, but in God's.
Often we find ourselves in circumstances over which we have no control. We can neither forecast the actions of others nor regulate them. pg 19
Psalms 31:15 “My times are in thy hand: deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me.”
06256 `eth {ayth} from 05703; TWOT - 1650b; n f
AV - time 257, season 16, when 7, always 4, eveningtide + 06153 2, misc 10; 296
1) time
1a) time (of an event)
1b) time (usual)
1c) experiences, fortunes
1d) occurrence, occasion
v 15. times--“course of life”. JFB
We are not immune to "the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune" simply
because we are Christians. It rains on the just and the unjust.
Poem: “My Times Are In Thy Hands”
D. Does God Really Guide?
1. One of the sure signs of advancing spiritual maturity is an increasing desire to know
God and, after that, to come to know His will for one's life.
"What shall I do, Lord?" Acts 22:10 Psalms 143:10 Matt. 6:10
Acts 22:10 “And I said, What shall I do, LORD? And the Lord said unto me, Arise, and go into Damascus; and there it shall be told thee of all things which are appointed for thee to do.”
Psalms 143:10 “143:10 Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God: thy spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness.”
Matt. 6:10 “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.”
2. When an eminent missionary to India was asked the question, "Does God really
guide?" he replied, "It would be strange if He didn't!" pg 22
Psalms 32:8 “I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.”
Psalms 48:14 “For this God is our God for ever and ever: he will be our guide even unto death.”
Psalms 25:8 “Good and upright is the LORD: therefore will he teach sinners in the way.”
Psalms 25:9 “The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way.”
Isa. 58:11 “And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.”
3. "Shew me now thy way" Exodus 33:13 Exodus 34:5 -7 (Read)
Exodus 33:13 “Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, shew me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight: and consider that this nation is thy people.”
Exodus 34:5 “And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. 34:6 And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, 34:7 Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.”
4. "A right conception of God is basic, not only to systematic theology, but to practical living as well." A. W. Tozer
God does guide and we must believe this and pursue it to recognize it and then
enjoy it.
E. God is Revealed
1. In the Created Universe Psalms 19:1 “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.”
2. In the Scriptures. John 16:13 “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.”
John 20:31 “But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.”
3. In the Person of His Son John 14:9 “Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?”
F. Myths About God and Guidance pg 26
1. That if we surrender our wills to God He will ask us to do some difficult thing
we don't want to do.
2. That God will ask us to do something irrational by normal standards.
3. That if there is something we want to do desperately, the likelihood is that God
won't want us to do it.
Psalms 37:4 “Delight thyself also in the LORD: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.”
Ps. 37:5 “Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.”
4. That if we make a faulty decision and miss God's will, we are doomed to a
second-best life thereafter.
5. That the normal and adequate mode of guidance is through impressions made on
the mind and heart by the Holy Spirit with appropriate accompanying feelings.
6. That our intuitions are the direct voice of God.
7. That every open door or favorable concurrence of circumstances constitutes
a call from God and is sufficient warrant to move forward.
8. That a closed door is the end of the matter.
9. That we receive guidance from God by making our mind blank.
"Those who assume that whatever 'vision' fills the blank is from God, have no
defense against the invasion of obsessive, grandiose, self-serving imaginations
spawned by their own conceit." J. I. Packer
G. The Will of God pg 32
1. We love to do "our own thing."
Isa 53:6 “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.”
2. Be transformed . . . Romans 12:2 “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”
a. good? --- It is good for us.
b. acceptable? --- Acceptable to God.
c. perfect? --- Nothing need be added or subtracted.
3. Psalms 40:8 “I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.”
H. Does God Have an Individual Will? pg 35
1. Ephesians 2:10 “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good
works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”
Amplified Bible Ephesians 2:10
"For we are God's [own] handiwork (His workmanship), recreated in Christ
Jesus, [born anew] that we may do those good works which God predestined
(planned beforehand) for us, (taking paths which He prepared ahead of time)
that we should walk in them--living the good life which He prearranged and
made ready for us to live.
2. Psalms 32:8 -9
32:8 “I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye. 32:9 Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee.”
3. The realization of the will of God in one's life depends upon a true surrender of
your will to Him for the fulfillment of His plan as and where He sees best.
I find the doing of the will of God leaves me no time for disputing about His plans.
I ASKED GOD
I asked God for strength, that I might achieve.
I was made weak, that I might learn to obey.
I asked for health, that I do greater things.
I was given infirmity, that I might do better things.
I asked for riches, that I might be happy.
I was given poverty, that I might be wise.
I asked for power, that I might have the praise of men.
I was given weakness, that I might feel the need of God.
I asked for all things, that I might enjoy life.
I was given life, that I might enjoy all things.
I got nothing that I asked for--but everything I had hoped for.
Almost despite of myself, my unspoken prayers were answered.
I am, among all men, most richly blessed.
Author Unknown Taken from Pulpit Helps Feb 2001
