Everyone today is at one time or another wondering what this is all about. What’s going on and where is God in all of this. Over the next several articles I want to take a look at the Will of God and how we go about finding out just what it is for us. And perhaps a good place to begin is with one of my favorite quotes from Paul Little.
The will of God is not like a magic package let down from heaven by a string. The will of God is far more like a scroll that unrolls every day. The will of God is something to be discerned and to be lived out every day of our lives. It is not something to be grasped as a package once for all. Our call, therefore, is basically not to follow a plan or a blueprint, or to go to a place or take up a work, but rather to follow the Lord Jesus Christ.
For most of us that’s not what we really want to hear. We would much prefer it if God would just sit us down and tell us the whole plan; all at one time. But that’s not how He operates. He is much more interested in our continued dependence than He is in our short term success. I know if He told me what it was all about I would very quickly mess it all up by taking control. No, Paul has it right — our job is to forget the blueprints and just follow Jesus one day at a time.
If each and every Believer were to get in his or her place and start walking out God’s perfect plan for their life there would be such an overwhelming change in the body that those on the outside couldn’t resist finding out what it was all about. The most noticeable change would be the confidence level believers would walk in. Have you ever been around someone who really had that kind of confidence? I don’t mean the ones who are trying to make themselves believe something but the ones who truly know who they are and where they’re going. When you meet someone like that there is a quiet confidence in their demeanor, not a forceful drive to accomplish some personally set goal. Someone who knows that path they are on is the one that God ordained from the beginning of time is a spiritual force to be reckoned with.
I’ve met those believers in all walks of life and they all share one common element … they have learned the secret to freedom in life. Each one has come to that time and place where a conscious decision was made to “take their hands off the wheel” for good. We have all done that many times only to grab control once again when it suited our needs. What makes these believers different is that they have learned not to “grab the wheel” when the urge arises. It takes a commitment but more than that it takes a burning desire inside to serve the one in control. Unless we have that desire we won’t be able to stand up to the pressure of the flesh; pressure that wants to be the captain of its own destiny.
So how do we know God’s Will for our life?
Let’s start at the beginning with God’s Word on the subject.
Pro 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
Eph 5:17 Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.
Ps 32:8-9 I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye. 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.
In looking at these three passages we become instantly aware of several important issues regarding the will of God and how we are to find it and walk in it. The first (Pro 3:5) is that we won’t find it by ourselves. Our own understanding will not direct our path to the will of God. When we determine to follow our own ideas we are sure to eventually stumble and fall when doubt shows up.
Doubt is the door opener for fear. The enemy uses it all the time to confuse and disorient us as we live out this life in the flesh. If we are not certain that “we know that we know” what God’s Word says, then doubt will always open the door and fear walks in. On the other hand, if we know that we have God’s Word on the subject at hand, doubt knocks but faith answers and doubt and fear never get in. Let me give you a personal example.
When the idea of adoption first came up I wrestled with it because of this very issue. I knew that if this wasn’t God’s plan I wouldn’t be able to stand under the pressure of doubt when it would come; and come it would. But by submitting it all to the Lord and waiting for His answer in faith I was able to determine His Will. When you have that your flesh and the enemy have no chance to talk you out of it. You can walk right on in the midst of all the circumstances and know that you know you are on the right path.
We need to rise above the fear and anxiety that follow us when we lean on our own understanding (Ps 55:22; 1Pet 5:7). If we lean on ourselves we will wind up like Israel when it leaned on Egypt for deliverance and, like a reed, it broke (2Kings 18:21). Isaiah addressed this in regard to Babylon when that country was full of pride and looked to itself as the “end all” (Isa 47:10).
So, one of the key elements in knowing God’s will is that perfect peace that only He can give. It never comes from our flesh, which wrestles constantly with doubt and fear in the sea of our own understanding. Knowing His will requires wisdom.
Secondly (Eph 5:17), we are directed not to be unwise. That word comes from the Greek word aphron, which not only means mindless, ignorant and stupid but also has two more very significant meanings as applied here. The first refers to being egotistic (thinking you know it all) and the second is what we just noted above; unbelief. Unbelief is not having faith in God and His moral desires for your life. We need to be very wise in determining the course we set for our life’s work. We show true wisdom when we spend our time seeking to understand the will of God. When we allow Him He will give us the desires of our heart (Ps 37:4) that always line up with His perfect wisdom and result in perfect guidance.
Thirdly in Ps 32:8 David says that God will guide us with His eye. This comes from the Hebrew word for eye (ayin), which refers to God setting for us the standards of good and evil. It is interesting that the very next verse tells us not to be like an animal that needs to be controlled because it lacks understanding or discernment; they don’t know the difference. Look at these verses in the living translation:
Ps 32:8-9 I will instruct you (says the Lord) and guide you along the best pathway for your life; I will advise you and watch your progress. Don’t be like a senseless horse or mule that has to have a bit in its mouth to keep it in line!
We need to rely on Him to give us direction for the right decisions in our lives and not be like stupid beasts that require strong correction to keep them on the path. God tells us that He is watching our progress and advising us along the way. So a VERY large part of our walk with Him is listening for His voice of correction. And we can only hear that voice when we aren’t listening to our own mind, which is the definition of leaning on our own understanding. David is speaking from personal experience and is a good example for us of passing on what we have painfully learned by God’s hand to benefit others.
Knowing God’s perfect will for our life can only come by turning to Him with the sacrifice of our selfish interests. We must learn to put aside all of our natural knowledge for His wisdom and that doesn’t happen overnight. It is the result of a personal walk with Him whereby we grow daily in the knowledge of who He really is. How sad it is that we so often treat the Creator of the Universe like some bystander in the background, just waiting to be called in for advice when all else has failed.
God’s will for us is just that, His Will. Until we determine to keep our head and hands out of it we are destined to come up short of His very best each and every time. I can’t recount the number of times I have had to deal with this lesson in my life. It is a constant source of pain and frustration to realize that, once again, I have taken control and am walking in my own power and authority. I have always liked the expression coined by Oral Roberts; Let go and Let God. Let go always means that I have taken hold of something that rightfully belongs to God. It is very hard to walk with God if we don’t know where He is going because the majority of the time we are taking off in the wrong direction and wondering why He isn’t following!
He Is Our Source For Direction
Phil 2:13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
The context of this verse is in the present tense and reflects a continuing process. God is “working” in us all the time, literally “willing and doing.” We ultimately take action by the willing of God in us. Remember Ps 37:4: Delight thyself also in the Lord, and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart. To delight means to be soft, pliable or delicate in our relationship to God. When we are, He is able to put in our hearts the desires of His perfect will. He made us for a purpose and when we are filled with the desire for that purpose we learn His will and walk in His peace.
In the previous verse (Phil 2:12) Paul finished the statement with work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; or with a humble frame of mind or with caution. The “why” comes in verse 13; because it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do His good pleasure. He will give us both the will and all we need to do His will (His good pleasure).
We need to consider three things with regard to the issue of work in this verse. First, it is NOT that God works for us but rather we “will and do” as a result of God influencing us. Second, God does not force us to act but uses His will to influence us when we allow Him. And third, we need to remember that God does not physically force us to do anything. He simply exerts His influence on us (His Holy Spirit) so that the desired result, His will, is of our own choosing. However, if our will is not submitted to Him then none of these three will have any effect in the doing of His good pleasure. We simply move on like the world and pursue our own selfish interests; like Cain. He pursued the world while pretending to serve God.
But what is God’s good pleasure?
It is His delight or that which pleases Him. We can’t accomplish this on our own without some help and God is the only one who can give it. If we are serious about overcoming the enemy in our daily walk shouldn’t we accept any help we can get? With this attitude we won’t be looking at His will as some sort of infringement on our freedom. We will see that the purpose of His very will is to set us free and not to throw obstacles in our path. People generally dread God’s direction in their hearts because it is leading them away from their own selfish interests. When the choice seems so difficult we need to remember that God not only gives us His will but also the power to do His will; the Holy Spirit. Our part is to submit, do and watch His good pleasure become the result.
Now, one final thought before we move on to finding His will.
If we are to be successful in walking out God’s perfect will for our life we have to remember that He is not focused on those material things, which always seem to be our focus. Read Matt 6 again and notice how material things follow after a heart that first seeks God. That’s the real golden nugget here. When we allow His desires to become ours then our “work” becomes His work and the result is the realization of His good pleasure; that which is the very best possible for us! In the process He takes care of all our needs because He knows what we need before we do. In other words, if we focus on the material things they are always going to be a struggle and His will gets set-aside in the process. On the other hand, if we focus on His will the material needs get met as a natural part of the process. God will never ask you to do something and leave you standing there without the means to accomplish the task. That would make Him a liar and He is not a man such that He should lie (Num 23:19).
The First Step In Finding His Perfect Will
John 15:5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
A grape at the end of a branch will never mature and develop into sweet fruit unless it is fed from the vine. The vine produces the life and as a result the branch produces the fruit. If we (the branches) aren’t connected to Jesus (the vine) we won’t produce any fruit. We have previously examined the word “abide” but let’s take another look at it in conjunction with God’s will.
When we continue to dwell, tarry or endure in His presence we become like a branch that is firmly fixed to the vine. John tells us the result is not just fruit but much fruit. We branches become the conduits for His will concerning others (the fruit). We will only know His will and be able to respond to it if we are in an abiding relationship with Jesus. In that state we are open to the voice of the Holy Spirit when He says “go here” or “don’t go there” or “say this” or “don’t say that”. We each have a wonderfully unique path (His will) designed by the Creator that can only be determined by staying attached to the vine.
Can you imagine a severed branch lying on the ground having any fruit growing on it? What I see is a dead or dying branch with dead, dying or rotting fruit at the end of it. Just like that branch we have to have life flowing into us every moment or our fruit will be nonexistent or rotten at best. The vine provides the sap that carries the nutrients and the instructions to the branch to produce fruit. Our vine (Jesus) provides life in His Spirit, which carries with it the directions for each of our lives; the will of God. You see, His will is a natural byproduct of our abiding in the vine.
Next time we will explore the objectives of His will. If His Will is to become our will then we need to be sure our priorities are in line with His. Until then consider …
Peace is the deliberate adjustment of my life to the will of God.