DISCERNING GOD’S WILL
When I was in Canada as a new Christian I had a huge choice to make. I had three options in front of me to choose from. All of these choices were good and moral. It was not a choice between right or wrong but rather an inconclusive choice. I had to pick from these three options and whatever choice I made would change the rest of my life. I had the option of staying home in Nova Scotia and finishing my course in Heat, Ventilation, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration. Also, I could go to Sunset School of Preaching to the AIM program. This is where you have six months of classroom study in American and then you travel to a foreign country to do missions. The last option that I had was to attend Brown Trail School of Preacher for two years. The decision had to be made and ultimately I choose to attend Brown Trail. But was God in this choice? Did he care about which option I picked?
Have you ever wondered if God cares about the decisions that you make in life? Is God in the details of our existence? Do we truly believe that God has a plan for our time on earth or do we rule out God’s place in our lives? Are we on our own as we choose and life through this work? Is it up to every individual Christian to life without any input from the Lord? If the Lord is in the details of life, than how are we to discern His will for our lives?
As we take the journey of life with God, there are major choices that we must make. We have to take paths that will lead us down roads that once we are on them there comes a point of no return. Some chooses forever change us and shape us into the people that we are. For example, the person you marry is a life shaping event. Can we discern the Lord’s will for our partners in life? How about the place that we work? Let’s say that you have given another job offer that looks very attractive, you have to pick to stay in your present job or accept the new job proposal. Having children is an important decision in a family’s life. Or you have to choose whether you will have another child or not. Even the place that you go to college will affect your future. So how can we if God does influence our large choices in life discern his will?
I remember when I was a young Christian asking Brian Garnett this same question. How do we know God’s will in the important events in life? We were sitting someplace in the United States, I believe someplace close to St. Louis. He told me that he believed that God was involved in our choices in life but he was not sure how. Maybe this question cannot be answered. But I believe that the scripture can address this dilemma.
Now I do not believe that God is in every choice. The majority of choices that we make are inconsequential. They overall do not have any bearing on our future or development. God is not concerned about whether we choose Coke instead of Pepsi or if we eat steak instead of chicken tonight. God is not telling us what to do in every situation. Unlike some people who believe that God is whispering into their ear every moment about whether or not they should have milk or cokes, I do not believe that the Lord operates in this fashion. You do not see the Lord doing so with the prophets or Abraham or even David and I believe we would be hard pressed to build a strong case for the Lord working in this manner today.
Now I also do not believe that God is whispering in my ear what he wants for me. Some people in the religious world think that the Lord is telling them clearly what he wants from them. That the Lord speaks clearly and precisely about what they are to do. People think that the Holy Spirit is guiding them into the Lord’s will with a few words. As far as I know I have never hear the Holy Spirit tell me anything besides what I read in the Bible which the first century writers wrote through the power of the Holy Spirit. Discerning God’s will is more difficult than just waiting for a whisper.
The people who believe that the Lord operates in this mode in today’s world take their proof from John 14-16. In this section Jesus is promising to send the Apostle the comforter or Advocate. This is another term for the Holy Spirit. It is literally in the Greek as paraclete. Now I believe that we receive some of the blessings of the paraclete but not all of them. We can be comforted by the Holy Spirit but we are not given the blessing of believing lead into all truth. This is the promise to the Apostles to help them evangelize the world. John 16:13 states “"But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.”
Now moreover I do not believe that we can see God’s will in every sign that happens to us. Some people state that God in the details of life shows us his will. That everything that happens is a divine sign. They think that the woman wearing the blue skirt that met them as they were turning left is a sign to get help with their depression. They also think that the dog that was nice to them is a sign from God that they need to be more loving. We can only wish that discerning God’s will was this easy but it is not.
I remember once talking with a lady who was a Native American. She was telling me how her god would communicate with her. She said that she would sweat and go into a trance and she would have a vision. I would call this dehydration not communication. Also, she said that God would tell her things in her dreams. Once again I do not believe that the Lord is doing so in today’s world. Besides, I can never remember my dreams anyway.
But I do not deny that God is still active in this world today. In the formation of America there was a strong philosophy of deism that was popular. This idea was establish in the scientific revolution. During this time period, people tended to deny the miracles of Jesus and deny God’s evolvement with the earth. They thought that God created the world and set the laws of earth in order and left man to fend for himself. These people thought that God was not concerned with the affairs of man.
Now I do believe God is still evolved in the events of life. Surely we do. If we did not believe that God was involved in our lives we should just quit praying. There would be little sense of offering prayers to God because he would not be able or allowed to answer them. The Bible is clear that Christians are to pray with expecting faith for an answer. James 1:16 “But let him ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.” We believe in the power of prayer. James 5:16 “Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.” God must be active in the affairs of man if a prayer by a righteous man can accomplish sometime here on earth. Actually, our prayers are very powerful. John 15:7 “"If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it shall be done for you.”
The reason that we believe in the power of prayer is because we believe in the presence of providence. Now there is a difference between providence and miracles. Miracles are done in the present of everyone and can be witnesses by the human eye. These are clear demonstrations of God’s power on earth. But providence is the hidden workings of God from the human eye. Providence is God’s actions below the line of human knowledge. We maybe able to sense God’s work in retrospect but cannot see evidence that he is working at the present time. Paul recognized this providence in Philemon 15-16 “For perhaps he was for this reason parted from you for a while, that you should have him back forever, no longer as a slave, but more than a slave, a beloved brother, especially to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.” Paul was not sure that God was working in this situation of bring Onesimus to Paul to minister to him and also to convert to Christ, but Paul sees maybe a possibility of God’s hand in this story. Clearly God is not dead or has left earth and man to dwell on his own. The Bible tells us numerous times that we serve a living God. 1 Timothy 4:10 “For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers.”
Personally, I have to believe in providence. There are too many occasions in my life that just seemed to work out perfectly. There are too many situations that just seemed to help me progress in my ministry. I think that meeting my mentor Burnice was a providential moment. Because I meet him one Sunday, my life was changed. I got me to go to Hartsville Pike where I meet Charity and where I worked for two years to complete my Masters which was a goal of mine. Meeting him helped my life.
Now that we have established that the Lord is involved in our world and our lives. We are left with the difficult task of attempting to discern his will in the major choices of life. How do we know what the next step is on our journey with God and how do we know what he wants from us? Discerning God’s will is a difficult job and I do not claim to be an expert. But I do want to think theologically concerning this topic and see what the scripture says concerning this important matter.
The first way that we can discern God’s will in found in Matthew 6:33 “"But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you.” In this context Christ is encouraging the people to not worry because if God will look after the birds of the field and the lilies of the ponds, then he will surely look after humanity. Jesus specifies that God will provide food and shelter for his people. Our role in this equation is to seek first the Kingdom of God. If we are about kingdom business, we can know the Lord is helping us in life. Therefore, we are to be obedient and moral people who are working for the Lord in the Kingdom or the church.
I remember when I was in school in I wrote on a test that I was praying for a good Christian wife. I said I was worried about finding a girl that I would truly love and would truly love me in return. On this report I stated that I was worried about this. When I received the report back the teacher wrote one comment on it. He penned Matthew 6:33. Instead of worrying about the choosing that we make we just have to be busy in doing the Lord’s will.
Another way that we can discern God’s will is through prayer. James 1:5 “But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.” In this verse we are instructed to pray for wisdom and the Lord promises to grant us this requested wisdom. Now I am not exactly sure how he grants this wisdom to us. But I know that through studying the Bible we can learn the principles to help guide us, through asking other spiritual people, and through meditation we can have wisdom imparted to us.
I remember at Heritage I was praying about if I should continue with my studies on a graduate level in Bible or should I learn another discipline. This was a hard choice to make at the time. But I remember the time that I made up my mind. I was listening to Steven Guy preach a sermon at lectureship and after that sermon I feel like I knew what I needed to do.
Unfortunately, discerning God’s will is not an exact science. I in the big decisions of life you never really know what the Lord truly wants for you. Should you take the new job, should you have another child, or should you marry that man or woman in college, and should you become an elder or deacon. God’s will is not very discernable in this world.
But I know the Bible teaches us that we can walk with the Lord with trust and confidence that we are making the right chooses. If we are serving, loving, and obeying him we can know that he is guiding our path. If we are studying his word, fellowship with his saints, and praying fervent prayers we can trust that he is guiding us. As we take the steps of life in relationship with the Lord we can walk by faith into the future. In life it is not so much discerning his will in the big choices of life but rather confidently walking with the Lord by faith into unknown territory. Roman 8:28 “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”
