Illus: Some think that finding the will of God for our life is like playing the game where you put a marble on the table, turn three cups upside down with one of the cups covering the marble. And then someone very quickly switches them around, then you try to guess which cup the marble is under. Most of the time they guess incorrectly.
Some have the idea that God plays this game concerning His will. That is, He makes it hard for us to know His will. Listen, that does not make sense. If God wants us to serve Him, why wouldn’t He want us to know His will?
WHY DON’T PEOPLE KNOW THE WILL OF GOD FOR THEIR LIFE? Sometimes it is because of -
(1) FALSE CLAIMS
They have heard other professing Christians make false claims that GOD FREQUENTLY appears to them, instructing them about His will for their life. Have you noticed that those that claim God has appeared to them, also claim they have been endued with the power of God that few others possess. In fact, they are so filled with the power of God, that while they are on television, all you have to do is lay your hands on the television set and you can be healed.
Illus: Did you hear about the elderly couple that was watching one of those television preachers? The husband was one of these lazy fellows that lays around the house most of the time, acting like he was about dead. The preacher faced the camera, and announced, "My friends, I'd like to share my healing powers with everyone watching this program. Place one hand on top of your TV & the other hand on your sick body and I will pray for your healing."
• The old woman hobbled to the television set and placed her hand on the television set.
• Then her husband crawled out of his easy chair and approached the television set, and placed his hand on it.
With a frown his wife said to him, "Ernest, he's talking about healing the sick, not raising the dead!"
But these television preachers not only claim to have such powers invested in them, but they also say that God frequently appears to them, telling them His will for their life. This confuses some folks, because as they seek the Lord for their life, they have not had similar experiences.
Another reason that many have never found out the will of God for their lives is because of -
(2) FALSE PROFESSIONS
Some profess that they want to know the Lord’s will for their life, but they really do not. They have big plans for what they want to do with their life, and the last thing they want is the will of God in their life, complicating their plans.
Have you noticed that people’s priorities today are all mixed up?
Illus: That reminds me of the young man who was driving his BMW around a curve, when he realized the car was out of control and about to plummet over a cliff. The young man jumped out, but his left arm was severed from his body. He stood there looking down at his burning BMW and said, "Oh, no! My car! My car!" A man, who had stopped to help, said, "Mister, you have just lost your left arm, and you're crying about your car?" The young man looked down and said, "Oh no, my Rolex watch!" (Frank Pollard, "Do You Like Where You Live?," Preaching Today, Tape No. 104.)
People’s priorities are all mixed up. Many folks are this way in the church, they will say, “Yes, I want to know the Lord’s will for my life”. The Lord does not reveal His will to them because He knows they do not want to know the will of God, because it would interfere with their plans for their life.
But thank the Lord, there are people in the church that TRULY WANT TO KNOW THE WILL OF GOD FOR THEIR LIFE.
What we need to ask ourselves is this, “What does it mean to know the will of God for our lives?” Someone said it this way, “Someone finding the will of God is a person who has denounced his own will, and is submitting to the will of God for his life in all that he or she does.”
We have the life of our Lord Jesus on earth as our example. He completely surrendered to God the Father, and before He ascended back to the Father, He said, in John 17:4, "I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.”
I do not know of anything more precious that can be written on our tombstone at the end of our life, than that we finished the work God gave us to do.
Illus: You can walk through a cemetery and read some interesting things on grave markers. Such as:
• On the grave of Ezekial Aikle, in East Dalhousie Cemetery, Nova Scotia: we read, “Here lies Ezekial Aikle, Age 102, The Good Die Young.”
• In a Ribbesford, England, cemetery: Anna Wallace: “The children of Israel wanted bread, and the Lord sent them manna. Old man Wallace wanted a wife, and the Devil sent him Anna.”
• In a Ruidoso, New Mexico, cemetery: “Here lies Johnny Yeast, pardon me for not rising.”
• “Here lies Lester Moore, four slugs from a .44, no Less no more.”
• Bill Wilson had this written on his tombstone: “I told you I was sick!”
• In a cemetery in Hartscombe, England: “On the 22nd of June - Jonathan Fiddle - went out of tune.”
• Anna Hopewell's grave in Enosburg Falls, Vermont, reads, “Here lies the body of our Anna, done to death by a banana. It wasn't the fruit that laid her low, but the skin of the thing that made her go.”
• Someone in Winslow, Maine, didn't like Mr. Wood. On his tombstone these words were inscribed: “In Memory of Beza Wood, departed this life Nov. 2, 1837. Here lies one Wood enclosed in wood, one Wood within another. The outer wood is very good: We cannot praise the other.”
• On a grave from the 1880's in Nantucket, Massachusetts: “Under the sod and under the trees lies the body of Jonathan Pease. He is not here, there's only the pod: Pease shelled out and went to God.”
• “Oops! Harry Edsel Smith, of Albany, New York: Born 1903--Died 1942. Looked up the elevator shaft to see if the car was on the way down. It was.”
• In a cemetery in England: “Remember man, as you walk by, as you are now, so once was I. As I am now, so shall you be, remember this and follow me.” To which someone replied by writing on the tombstone: “To follow you I'll not consent, until I know which way you went.”
All kinds of things have been written on the tombstones of people, and each of these things tells us a little about the deceased. But I believe the greatest thing that can be inscribed on a tombstone of a deceased person, are these words, “I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.”
Just as the Lord Jesus was assigned a specific task to perform on earth, each Christian is assigned special tasks which we must perform. It is our primary mission to learn the will of the Lord, and to do it well. Let’s look at-
I. THE INDIVIDUALITY OF THE LORD’S WILL
We know some things about the will of God immediately.
A. GOD’S WILL IS DIVINE
Some folks have the idea that only pastors, evangelists and missionaries have a divine calling on their life. THAT IS INCORRECT! God’s divine calls also extend to painters, carpenters, plumbers, brick layers, secretaries, bank tellers, tile setters, etc., as much as He calls some to preach.
God has a divine will for everyone.
• Look at Eph. 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.”
• Look at Acts 22:14, “And he said, The God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldest know HIS WILL, and see that Just One, and shouldest hear the voice of his mouth.”
God’s will for our life is a divine calling. When we are functioning in the will of God, we are doing what we were put here to do.
However, many times the world does not think the things that God has called us to do are a worthwhile pursuit.
Illus: For example, Dr. Odell Belger, had a young Christian boy in his church(12 years of age) that loved the Lord very much. He would gather children together in his neighborhood and conduct a church service on their level, and preach the Gospel to them in the carport of his home. It was obvious that God had his hand on this young boy, and most likely he was going to be a missionary, evangelist or a pastor. But because he was bright, his parents thought he would be wasting his time to pursue any of these professions, and they encouraged him to become a lawyer.
Listen, there are preachers, missionaries and evangelists all over this country that could do well in the business world, but they know that God has called them to preach His word.
The lost world looks at some of these gifted servants of God and thinks they could make a lot more money if they did this or that….AND THEY COULD!
• When we stand before God on the Judgment day, we are going to see that those who were led by MONEY were foolish. Look at 1 Cor. 3:19, “For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.”
• We will see that those who were led by the Spirit of God to do the Will of God, were the smartest people on this earth.
GOD’S WILL IS DIVINE and -
B. GOD’S WILL IS DESIGNED
It is a fact of life, that some people can not do what others can do. God designed us that way! Aren’t you thankful for variety? Suppose all the car makers made -
• The same kind of car design year after year
• The same color year after year
Illus: Listen, I have a hard enough time trying to find my car in a parking lot already, that would be a major problem if all cars were made alike.
But the car makers knew that variety is the spice of life and so does God. He designed us all differently!
That is, some are gifted in some areas while others are handicapped in those areas.
• Have you ever heard anyone sing a special in church that should not be singing a special in church? (Perhaps not even in the shower).
• Have you ever heard anyone teach a Sunday school class that should not be teaching a Sunday school class?
• Have you ever heard anyone in the pulpit preaching the Word of God, and it was obvious they should be in the third row.
God has a DIVINE WILL for everyone, and you can rest assured that GOD’S WILL IS DESIGNED for the person that God has called to do a certain job. That is, God’s divine will for our life always FITS THE PERSON.
The Word of God says, in Psa. 37:23, “The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way.”
The thing God has called us to do, is suited to our personalities, talents, needs, potential, and the age in which we live. God knows our makeup, he made us, and He designed us in such a way to do certain things.
Not only does God equip us, He also has certain times in history that He places us here to do a certain job. For example, Esther was put here on earth at a certain time to defend God’s people.
Look at Esther 4:14, we read, “For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether THOU ART COME TO THE KINGDOM FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS?”
What ever God calls us to do, He also equips us to do.
Eph. 4:11-12, “And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; FOR THE PERFECTING OF THE SAINTS, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:”
Look at the word “Perfecting”, this is the word “Katartismos”, (Pronounced as Kat-ar-tis-mos which means complete furnishing.
Illus: When you rent a furnished apartment, it means the things that you need to live in that apartment are completely furnished. And when God calls a person to do something, He furnishes that person with what they have need of to do the job.
God’s will is always DIVINE, and DESIGNED, but also -
C. GOD’S WILL IS DEFINITE
God does not ask us to do something, and later change His mind.
Illus: Did you hear about the man who came to another man and said, “I changed my mind”. The man said, “Good, I hope this one is better than the other one you had.”
God does not change His mind. The Word of God says, in Romans 11:29, “For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.”
WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? That simply means that if God has called you to do something, He does not change His mind later. We may not be in His will all the time, but His will is there for us all the time.
Illus: God’s will for our life is like a path in the wilderness that we must follow. When we wander off the path, our progress is hindered and we need to get back where we can move ahead with His work.
E. GOD’S WILL IS DESIRABLE
Psa. 143:8, “Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: CAUSE ME TO KNOW THE WAY WHEREIN I SHOULD WALK; for I lift up my soul unto thee.”
The Psalmist cries out for the Lord to SHOW him the way to go. Notice, he asks this in the morning so he can know where he SHOULD GO.
Everyone who has ever entered a race, understands the significance of getting off to a good start. Before our feet hit the floor in the morning, we need to DESIRE to do the will of God and get off to a good start each day. Timing is important!
Illus: Just ask the tennis player or the baseball player. Swing too early or too late and YOU MISS!
Illus: If you men think timing is not important, just wait until your wife has:
• Four pots of food cooking at once
• A cake in the oven
• And is talking to some salesman on the phone
Then go ask her if she loves you. You will find out that timing is important!
We need to start off each day DESIRING THE WILL OF GOD FOR OUR LIVES! That is wiser than waiting until the end of the day when it is to late.
We saw THE INDIVIDUALITY OF THE LORD’S WILL, now look at ...
II. THE IMPORTANCE OF THE LORD’S WILL
Illus: Many of us can remember when we were Juniors and Seniors in high school. The “Guidance Counselor” called us into the office and said, “What do you plan to do with your life?”
(Humor) And if you were one of those students that made straight “D’s” on your report card, and you told her you were going to be a brain surgeon, she got a worried look on her face.
But you do not have to be a genius to figure some things out. For example, someone has wisely discovered:
• If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you.
• Money can't buy happiness...but it sure makes misery easier to live with.
• Psychiatrists say that 1 of 4 people are mentally ill. If you have 3 friends who are OK, then you're it.
• It has recently been discovered that research causes cancer in rats.
• The trouble with doing something right the first time is that nobody appreciates how difficult it was.
• The average woman would rather have beauty than brains, because the average man can see better than he can think.
• If clothes make the man, naked people have little or no influence on society.
While we can learn some things from life, we are incapable of planning our own lives. Jer. 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.”
ONLY GOD knows the future, and ONLY GOD is able to guide us and to show us what He wants us to do.
We looked at THE INDIVIDUALITY OF THE LORD’S WILL and THE IMPORTANCE OF THE LORD’S WILL. Now look at ...
III. THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE LORD’S WILL
Psalm 37 will help us here.
A. TRUST IN THE LORD
Psa. 37:3, “Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.”
We must trust God, and know that He loves us and wants what is best in our lives, if we want the BLESSING of God in our lives.
B. DELIGHT YOURSELF IN THE LORD
Psa. 37:4, “Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.”
Be eager and willing to know His will and obey. Notice the Bible says that He will give us the desires of our heart. Some claim the last part of that verse, “…And He shall give thee the desires of thine heart.” They fall on their knees praying, “God give me that new Cadillac!” They overlook the first part of that verse which states, “Delight thyself also in the Lord….”
You see, once we DELIGHT OURSELVES IN HIM, our DESIRES WILL THEN BE GODLY DESIRES.
C. COMMIT YOUR WAY UNTO THE LORD
Psa. 37:5, “Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.”
We must have complete commitment to do the will of God. Partial commitment is not sufficient. Remember that PARTIAL OBEDIENCE IS NO MORE THAN DISOBEDIENCE.
D. REST IN THE LORD
Psa. 37:7a, “Rest in the LORD, and WAIT PATIENTLY FOR HIM:....”
After you have done all that you know to do to be in God’s will, REST IN THE LORD. He promises to guide, but that doesn’t mean that He will do it on the same day that we ask.
Conclusion:
We have looked at:
I. THE INDIVIDUALITY OF THE LORD’S WILL
II. THE IMPORTANCE OF THE LORD’S WILL
III. THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE LORD’S WILL
