How To Know God's Will

[Laela]

Disclaimer: I enjoy these series..just sharing for anyone else who may have had the same thoughts as I do. I'm not "preaching" to anyone here. Thank you.



How To Know God's Will
Written by Mary Whelchel
Monday, May 28, 2012

One of the areas where we Christians seem to be confused is how we can know God's will for our lives. Let me share with you some of the reasons that I believe we struggle with this.

First, we think God's will is some kind of a mystery; a heavenly game of hide and seek that God is playing with us. But God doesn't send us on a treasure hunt to find his will. He wants us to know it more than we want to know it. Consider Romans 12:2 which reads "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will."

It doesn't say, "Then you'll be able to make a good guess and hope you've found what God's will is for you." No, it is clear that we should be able to know the perfect and pleasing will of God-no mystery, no treasure hunt, no confusion.

In Ephesians 5:17 it says, "Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is." Paul is saying that when we don't know God's will, we are foolish or unwise. It's not God's fault; it's our own foolishness.

Proverbs 3:5 and 6 tells us to "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight." Again, we are promised that God will show us his way, not maybe or hopefully or if you know how to read the road signs and decipher his hidden code.

There are many unbiblical ideas about how you'll know what God's will is for your life. Some think it has to be a traumatic or emotional experience, where you are moved in some mystical way. Lots of people talk about putting out their fleeces, based on Gideon's experience as found in Judges 6. They set up a test for God: If this happens or that doesn't happen, then I'll know God has shown me exactly what to do.

Well, if you'll study that story about Gideon, you'll find that when Gideon asked God to do a miracle with the fleece, it was because Gideon hadn't believed what God already had promised him. It was because of his weak faith that Gideon put out a fleece, not because he didn't know what God wanted him to do.

Knowing God's will is not necessarily an emotional experience, a "calling," a light that strikes you or a bush that burns. Oh, true, sometimes God uses unusual ways to talk to us, but those are rare exceptions. Most of the time he reveals his will through his Word to those who are living in obedience and saturating their lives daily with his truth. Always his will for us will be in total agreement with the written Word of God.

Knowing God's will in your life is not difficult. It is an inevitable result if you fulfill the prerequisites

 

[Laela]

dupe post
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[NaturallySweet73]

Disclaimer: I enjoy these series..just sharing for anyone else who may have had the same thoughts as I do. I'm not "preaching" to anyone here. Thank you.



How To Know God's Will
Written by Mary Whelchel
Monday, May 28, 2012

One of the areas where we Christians seem to be confused is how we can know God's will for our lives. Let me share with you some of the reasons that I believe we struggle with this.

First, we think God's will is some kind of a mystery; a heavenly game of hide and seek that God is playing with us. But God doesn't send us on a treasure hunt to find his will. He wants us to know it more than we want to know it. Consider Romans 12:2 which reads "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will."

It doesn't say, "Then you'll be able to make a good guess and hope you've found what God's will is for you." No, it is clear that we should be able to know the perfect and pleasing will of God-no mystery, no treasure hunt, no confusion.

In Ephesians 5:17 it says, "Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is." Paul is saying that when we don't know God's will, we are foolish or unwise. It's not God's fault; it's our own foolishness.

Proverbs 3:5 and 6 tells us to "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight." Again, we are promised that God will show us his way, not maybe or hopefully or if you know how to read the road signs and decipher his hidden code.

There are many unbiblical ideas about how you'll know what God's will is for your life. Some think it has to be a traumatic or emotional experience, where you are moved in some mystical way. Lots of people talk about putting out their fleeces, based on Gideon's experience as found in Judges 6. They set up a test for God: If this happens or that doesn't happen, then I'll know God has shown me exactly what to do.

Well, if you'll study that story about Gideon, you'll find that when Gideon asked God to do a miracle with the fleece, it was because Gideon hadn't believed what God already had promised him. It was because of his weak faith that Gideon put out a fleece, not because he didn't know what God wanted him to do.

Knowing God's will is not necessarily an emotional experience, a "calling," a light that strikes you or a bush that burns. Oh, true, sometimes God uses unusual ways to talk to us, but those are rare exceptions. Most of the time he reveals his will through his Word to those who are living in obedience and saturating their lives daily with his truth. Always his will for us will be in total agreement with the written Word of God.

Knowing God's will in your life is not difficult. It is an inevitable result if you fulfill the prerequisites

AMEN TO EVERY SINGLE THING YOU SAID SISTER!!!! PRAISE GOD!!! His will is revealed through his word. WOW!

I want to say so much but have to do some cookin' for the kids lol Will return with something to add!!!

 

[loolalooh]

Timely. Thank you for sharing, Laela.

 

[Laela]

You're welcome ladies... good stuff... here's more! God bless....

 

[Laela]

How To Know God's Will
Written by Mary Whelchel
Wednesday May 30, 2012

God's will - do those words strike a note of fear or confusion in you? It seems many times we struggle with God's will for our lives because we're afraid of it. We fear that what God wants us to do will be too hard, require too much sacrifice, too demanding, not what we want, or not what will make us happy!

You remember the story of the rich man who came to Jesus and asked what he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus told him to sell everything he had and give it to the poor and he would have treasure in heaven. Then he could follow Jesus.

Now, Jesus didn't tell him this to make him miserable, but because Jesus knew this would bring him fulfillment and peace. He wanted him to have God's best-eternal treasures, instead of settling for the meager riches of earth.

The rich man gave lip service to doing the will of Jesus, but backed out when he learned the price tag. What would people think if he gave everything away? What would his family do? Besides, that was his money and why should he have to give it away in order to follow Jesus? Didn't make sense! So, his answer was no.

He wanted the will of God to fit within his pre-planned agenda. He leaned to his own understanding and decided that keeping his money was the right thing to do. But we read in Mark 10 that he went away sad! He chose not to do God's will, and it caused him great sadness. Had he opted for eternal treasures, he would have been free and happy.

Don't you imagine he spent many days wishing he'd followed Jesus, knowing he'd missed the important things of life? I don't believe he ever enjoyed his money again; it was a burden to him. He chose it because he was afraid to do what Jesus told him to do.

Isaiah 53:6 tells us when we go our own way, we go astray. He chose his own way, went terribly astray and was very sad.

Have you been giving lip service to wanting God's will in your life, but in reality you've been scared to death of allowing him to call the shots? That fear is totally unfounded and unreasonable, and it's a trick of the enemy to keep you from all the riches that God has for you.

He's the God of all the universe, with all power, knowledge and wisdom; he loves you more than anyone else ever will and wants only the best for you, and he never makes a mistake. If he asks you to do something that looks like it's too hard or requires too much sacrifice, remember the rich man. He kept his riches, but he lived a very sad life.

 

[Laela]

How To Know God's Will
Written by Mary Whelchel
Thursday, May 31, 2012

Are you having some difficulty discovering God's will? Those of us who are born from above have a God-given desire to know and do God's will. A lot of unbiblical thinking has infiltrated our minds and sometimes we have the wrong idea about what God's will is.


For example, lots of people think God's will is some specific life or set of circumstances or choices that we must discover, and if we don't do it right, we've blown it. In other words, there is one person for me to marry, one school I should attend, one career I should pursue, one place I should live, one ministry I should have, etc. I've got to find that one set of circumstances. If I miss it, I've blown it for life and missed God's will.

I don't find anything in Scripture which teaches that God's will for my life is one path and only one, and I must make sure I make perfect and flawless decisions at every point so I don't miss God's will. Believing that would be a frightful way to live, because I would fear at every point that I might read the road signs incorrectly or not hear God's voice clearly.

God is far more interested in who we are than where we are or what we do. His will is for me to become more and more like Jesus through close communion and fellowship, through his Word, through obedience and a growing faith. I believe there are other paths I could have taken and still have been in God's will.

He is using me now in this ministry, in writing books, in speaking to groups, as well as my church involvement. I love what I'm doing, but God could and would use me if I lived in another part of the country, never saw a radio studio, never wrote a book. I think I would still have the gifts I have, but they would be used in a different setting.

Furthermore, as I more and more am filled with his Spirit, the desires of my heart will be his desires. So, in a sense, God's will becomes my own desires. I can do what I want to do because I can trust him to give me good desires, good ambitions, and good goals. It's the life of Christ living in me.

Let me tell you, you've got to get in motion if you want to know God's will. I think many times we ask God to give us the road map from here to the end, and we don't want to start until the path is clear. God almost never works that way. It's one step at a time, and I find that God gives me clear understanding of his will when I'm already involved and moving.

What are you doing today that is helping others to know Jesus? What are you involved in that is eternally significant? You won't know God's will for your life sitting on the sidelines. Get involved; God uses people who are already moving.

 

[Laela]

How To Know God's Will
Written by Mary Whelchel
Friday, June 1, 2012

Like most of you, I really want to know and do God's will for my life. So, I pray for wisdom, I stay in fellowship with Him, I seek guidance through His Word, and I trust Him to keep me on the right path. That's how I know God's will for my life.

Sometimes I miss the path. I seek God's will, I ask for wisdom, but I just don't make the best decision and looking back on it, I think, "I should have done something else." But that doesn't mean I'm out of God's will for my life.

When my child was twelve years old, she was not as equipped to make decisions as wise as mine. As an obedient child, based on what she had been taught for twelve years and on what she had observed of me, she tried to make good choices. When she failed, as a good parent, I bailed her out. I taught her the error of her decision, so she would learn and grow, but I didn't hold her accountable for a 25-year-old decision when she was only 12.

We are God's children. He deals with us as a perfect Father. We grow in His grace and knowledge and more and more we are equipped to know His mind, make better and better decisions, stay in His way more perfectly. Even when we miss it, our life is not ruined. He puts us back on the right path and guides us.

In my day-to-day environment, as I'm faced with all kinds of decisions, large and small, I don't have to go into panic mode over every decision, worried as to what is God's will. Many times I have to make immediate decisions, but if I consistently pray for God's wisdom and meet the prerequisites for knowing His will, the mind of Christ in me will guide my decisions and keep me safely in God's will.

I don't live in fear of missing God's will, nor do I live in confusion as to what it is. God does not give me a spirit of fear, as we read in James 1:5-8.

I make better decisions today than I did five years ago. That should be true because I should have five years of growth to help me. I'll make better decisions five years from now than today, if I'm a healthy child of God. That does not make me fearful of choosing today.

We who are born from above have the mind of Christ. He has promised us wisdom. If we acknowledge Him in all our ways, present our bodies as living sacrifices, he will direct our paths, and that even includes the less-than-optimum choices and decisions we make; that includes our mistakes.

Knowing God's will is primarily a function of your relationship with Jesus. Just as an obedient child knows what her parents would want her to do because she knows her parents, she's lived with them and talked to them and listened to them many times, so I, as God's child, can go through my life without fear of missing His will because I know Him.

The longer I know Him and the better I know Him, the easier it is to know His will.

 

[ItsMeFre]

This is confirmation for me...thanks for posting this Laela and thanks for showing it to me loolalooh

 

[Laela]

ItsMeFre... blessings to you.. .glad to hear this post was confirmation for you! God is Good..

 

[stephluv]

I still dont know what God's will is for me but this thread is confirmation I need to pray more about it...if anyone has any other steps I should take to please let me know I feel lost and really need some guidance