WHAT GOD'S WILL IS NOT
1. God’s will is not something that you find
For some reason we tend to have this idea that we must discover God’s will for our lives. That’s not how it works. God is the one who finds YOU. Abraham did not choose God; God chose Abraham. David did not choose to become the king of Israel; God chose David to be the king of Israel. When God is ready, He reveals His will to you. God’s will for your life is a calling, whether that’s a ministry or a career, an occupation or a position, a trial or a test. You don’t find it—it finds you.
2. God’s will is not a list of things to do
In his book The Four Wills of God, Emerson Eggerichs explains that there are four explicit wills of God found in the Bible. These are as follows: Believe in Jesus Christ (John 6:40); abstain from sexual sin (I Thess. 4:3); give thanks in everything (I Thess. 5:18); and submit in doing right (I Pet. 2:13-15). Emerson basically says that if you are following these four commands, then you are secure in the will of God. Of course, there are many other things you could add to the list that would be God’s will to do (go to church, witness, etc.).
While obedience is crucial in the Christian life, I don’t think God’s will is a big list of things to do. After all, you could do them all out of a sense of duty, and not love. God is much more concerned with your heart. “How do I know I’m in God’s will?” “Just do these 15 things and you’re good.” NO! God is not an overbearing Master who demands strict adherence to a list of do’s and don’ts. He wants your love and worship. And when you really love God, you will obey Him.
3. God’s will is not necessarily in line with your will
This is the hard one. If you’re like me, you like to plan everything out. I quickly discovered that God’s plan was different than mine. Perhaps your life has not gone the way you wanted. That’s okay. It is far more important that your life turns out the way God wants.
Sometimes God brings tragedy into life. Cancer, death of a loved one, etc. It can be hard to accept that this was God’s will, but we have to remember that God knows best. I’ll touch on this more a little later.
Genesis 50:20, “But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.”
Romans 8:28, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”
“God doesn’t work on our timetable. He has a plan that He will execute perfectly and for the highest, greatest good of all, and for His ultimate glory.” —Charles Swindoll
WHAT GOD'S WILL IS
1. God’s will involves total surrender
Romans 12:1-2, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 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.”
Illustration: There once was a young boy who worked in his uncle’s shoe shop. The uncle required that the boy go to church, and through a loving Sunday School teacher, he was saved. He soon realized that God was calling him to preach, so he surrendered. His name was Dwight L. Moody. Not long after that, Moody was in a meeting where the preacher said these words: “The world has yet to see what God can do with one man fully surrendered to Him.” That night Moody said, “By God’s grace I will be that man!” He would go on to shake two continents for God and see over a million people come to Christ by faith. Why? Not because Moody was special, but because he was surrendered.
Read I Kings 20:1-4. Total surrender.
2. God’s will is all about God, not you
One of the greatest traps of the devil is to convince Christians that their life is all about what they want to do. This is what the world says. “Do what you love. Do what makes you happy.” It sounds good, doesn’t it? But for the Christian, it’s completely wrong. It’s self-centered, leaving God out of the picture. You see, life isn’t about doing what you want, it’s about doing God’s will for your life; and God’s will is all about God.
In his book Experiencing God, Henry Blackaby lays out the way in which God works in a Christian’s life. He talks about seven realities and uses Moses as an example. First, God is always at work around you. God had a plan to redeem His people from Egypt. Second, God pursues a continuing love relationship with you that is real and personal. God got Moses’ attention with the burning bush. Third, God invites you to become involved with Him in His work. God told Moses all about His plan to redeem His people from Egypt. Fourth, God speaks by the Holy Spirit through the Bible, prayer, circumstances, and the church to reveal Himself, His purposes, and His ways. God spoke to Moses in a unique way through the burning bush to reveal His purpose. Fifth, God’s invitation for you to work with Him always leads to a crisis of belief that requires faith and action. Moses offered many objections to God’s plan. Sixth, you must make major adjustments in your life to join God in what He is doing. Moses could not stay in the desert, he had to be willing to stand before Pharaoh. Finally, you come to know God by experience as you obey Him and He accomplishes His work through you. Moses obeyed God, and God successfully brought the Children of Israel out of Egypt.
So as you can see, none of that has to do with what you want. Life isn’t about getting what you want. Life isn’t about you. The Apostle Paul understood this when he said, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Phil. 1:21).
This is why when tragedy strikes, it’s not the end of the world. ex: I have known people from college who have died; Wes and Sarah Betancourt
3. God’s will is completely satisfying
If you are truly saved, then you will never be happy outside of the will of God. You could have good health, money, and fame, but if you’ve turned your back on God to get those, then you will not be happy. One of the devil’s oldest lies is that money brings happiness. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Hebrews 11:25, “Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.”
Psalm 16:11, “Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.”
Illustration: An old man once asked a teenage boy about his future. “Young man, what will you do after you graduate High School?” “Well,” the young man replied, “I suppose I will go to college to learn a valuable career.” “What then?” asked the old man. “I suppose I will get married to a nice young lady.” “Good,” said the old man. “And what then?” “I suppose we will have some children and raise a nice family.” “And what then?” the old man asked again. “I suppose I will work hard to provide for my family and also to teach my children as they grow.” “That’s very good,” said the old man. “What then?” “I suppose I’ll retire once I’m old enough and the kids are all out of the house.” The old man looked pleased, but he was not done. “And what then?” “I suppose…I will die.” The old man leaned forward. “And what then?”
Understanding Perfect Will and Permissive Will
God’s perfect will for your life could be defined as the plan He has for you even before you were born.
Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.”
Jeremiah 1:5, “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.”
Because you have a free will, it’s possible that you would step outside of God’s perfect will. This can happen if you make a major decision that can change the rest of your life. Now you’ve stepped into God’s permissive will, and there’s no going back to His perfect will.
A good example of moving out of God’s perfect will to His permissive will would be the nation of Israel.
Young people: stay in God’s perfect will!
Those who have stepped out of God’s perfect will, be faithful to the Lord now. “Today is the beginning of the rest of your Christian life.”
CONCLUSION
So how do you know that you’re in the will of God right now? It’s simple: you know that you are doing everything God has revealed to you. We tend to think of God’s will as BIG decisions, but don’t forget the little things.
Luke 16:10, “He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.”
Illustration: William Borden grew up in a very wealthy family. As a high school graduation gift, his parents paid for William to travel around the world. Seeing the hurting people of the world, William was burdened to be a missionary. One friend expressed disbelief that William was “throwing himself away as a missionary.” In response, William wrote these words in the back of his Bible: “No reserves.”
In 1905, William arrived at Yale University and was recognized by his classmates for being far more spiritual than them. While at college he wrote an entry in his journal that said, “Say ‘no’ to self and ‘yes’ to Jesus every time.”
William was burdened by a lack of fervency in the Yale students and faculty, so he started a prayer group. This gave birth to a movement that soon spread across the campus. By the time William was a senior, 1,000 of Yale’s 1,300 students were meeting in prayer groups.
William also cared for widows, orphans, and the disabled. He rescued drunks from the streets of New Haven and founded the Yale Hope Mission. He would often be found in the lower parts of the city at night trying to win to Christ the most debased men.
William’s missionary call narrowed to the Muslim Kansu people in China. Fixing his eyes on that goal, he never wavered. He also challenged his classmates to consider foreign missionary service. It was said that William had iron in him, and was of the stuff that martyrs were made of.
Upon graduation from Yale, Borden turned down some high-paying job offers. It was around this time that he wrote two more words in his Bible: “No retreats.” He went on to do graduate work at Princeton Seminary in New Jersey. When he finished his studies at Princeton, he sailed for China. Because he was hoping to work with Muslims, he stopped first in Egypt to study Arabic. While there, he contracted spinal meningitis. Within a month, 25-year-old William Borden was dead.
Shortly before his death, he wrote these words in his Bible: “No regrets.”
Was it God’s will for William Borden to die at such a young age? Absolutely. Here was a young man who was totally surrendered to God. He was in the perfect will of God. And yet, why would God allow him to die so young? We don’t know.
Are you totally surrendered to God? If God’s will is far different than what you want, is that okay? If God were to take you home to heaven before today ends, could you say that you have no regrets? We need to come to the realization that life is not about us. We are so busy pursuing what we want instead of pursuing a relationship with God. That is what matters! God’s will is all about God, and you belong right in the middle of His perfect will.
