Living in the Will of God

Over the past 35 years, I have heard numerous pastors and preachers say, "You must know the will of God for your life." And most newer Christians ask, "How do I know what the will of God is?" The simple answer is, the Bible has all the answers on living in the will of God. But some will say, "Oh, but that sounds so generic." Well, the Bible does have all the answers for living our lives in the way God wants us to. There is no hidden mystery or secret formula to use. As a Christian, we should be students of the Bible; we should read it and study it and seek God in prayer on how to interpret it.

I don't know what the percentage is but I would guess that a lot of Christians don't do this, read the Bible. Don't get me wrong, this is a fair guess and if you talk to Christians at random and ask how often they read their Bible, the number who read it every day or even a few times a week, would be small. I'm not picking on Christians, I'm a Christian, but I am speaking what I have good reason to believe. Just try that sometime, maybe when you are in Church the next time. You might be surprised.

Now, if I'm wrong on that, I will admit it. In a Lifeway survey of 2900 Church attenders, only 19% read their Bibles daily. I know a person can search the Internet and find all kinds of polling numbers on this topic and some of the group sizes are smaller than the one I quoted above. That is why I suggested asking people in the Church you attend but do it in a loving way, not in a criticizing way. All this is said just to lead into the fact that the answers for how God wants you to live your life is in the Bible. If Christians are not reading their Bible, how will they know how God wants them to live.

Don't misunderstand, the Bible is not going to pick out your clothes for you tomorrow morning but it will tell you in what manner you should dress (1Pet 3:3-6). Colossians 3 tells us how to live our Christian lives, Ephesians 5 talks to us about husbands and wives and Galatians 5 tells us how to live our lives according to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. In 1 Cor. 7, we read the guide lines for Christian marriage and the allowance of separation between a Christian couple (no allowance), and also for a couple in which one is saved and the other is not. This chapter also includes guidelines for single Christians considering marriage.

These are just some of the information within the Bible which will give us what we need to know concerning God's will for our Christian lives. I could go on and on with other examples; I didn't even mention the 10 Commandments which outline straight forward commands on how we need, not suggest, to live our Christian lives according to God's will. And, right at the top of the 10 Commandments, 'you shall have no other Gods before me.' Even as Christians, striving to live our lives according to His will, we get that one wrong sometimes. Have you ever skipped church for some other activity for either yourself or you kids? That's not meant to be a condemning question, it is just an example and a lot of us have been there at one time or another. But we had placed something before God at that given time.

The one example in the Bible I really like when it comes to God's will in our lives is in Acts 16. The following passage of scripture tells us how the Holy Spirit guided Paul to his next destination instead of where Paul, himself, was attempting to go.

They passed through the Phrygian and Galatian region, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia;  and after they came to Mysia, they were trying to go into Bithynia, and the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them;  and passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas.  A vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing and appealing to him, and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.”  When he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.  Acts 16:6-10

Have you ever experienced anything like this in your life? I'm not speaking of the same specifics but in a general sense which concerned anything in your life, when you wanted to do one thing but God kept throwing up road blocks. If we don't recognize it right away, it can become very frustrating for us. But once we get smart and realize it is God telling us no, then we will understand. The next thing we should do is seek what His will is for us in that situation. In Paul's case, he was given a vision of the man in Macedonia calling for his help.

Do you think this is only something which happened in the Bible? Do you really think God can't do similar things in our lives today? There was a time when my wife and I were praying about relocating across the country. That's a big move and I was praying every day and asking God if this is what he wanted me to do. I began to understand this was what God wanted me to do but still wasn't completely sure. I contacted a pastor in the area in which we were going and laid out my situation to him. His response was the passage above. I didn't have a vision but it was from God's word that I was given a message from God that He wanted me to go.

Some would say this was nothing more than a coincidence or I was making something from nothing. But when I got to where we were going, God used me in the way He intended. So, to me, it wasn't my imagination, it was guidance and direction from God. There is so much more to this story but that's for another time. If we seek God's will for our lives, He will show us. He is not in the business of hanging us out there. A student of scripture, that's one who reads and studies the Bible, will know how to seek out His will for their lives. The Bible is not just a book we carry back and forth to church, it is our manual for life and the more we read it, the more we understand how God wants us to live.

Finally, don't fall into the trap of taking the shortcut of making  a trip to the local Bible Book Store and finding the hottest selling book on Christian Living. The book was written by a person, the Bible was written by God. Go straight to the source and don't involve a middle man. Also, don't survey your Christian friends to see how God is working in their lives. God will not ordain His will in your life in the same manner He does with someone else.

The following verse is another example of God's will in our lives.

 God’s will is for you to be holy, so stay away from all sexual sin. Then each of you will control his own body and live in holiness and honor— not in lustful passion like the pagans who do not know God and his ways. I Thess 4:3-5

You could stop at, 'God's will is for you to be holy.' His will for our lives is to continue to be sanctified or to grow to be more like Him. The remainder of that verse is specific behavior to refrain from. This is God's will in general for all of us. When it comes to specifics in our lives, we must first pray and seek God's guidance and direction. He might provide the response and guidance in His word, in a passage or chapter you are reading or He might give you the answer through another person. Don't ever doubt that God will let you know what His will is for you.

Hudson Taylor was an Englishman who opened up the Inland China Mission field, now known as OMF International. He was a steady and hard worker and had a strong desire for the Chinese to know Jesus. When the Lord wanted him (His will) to return to England for furlough and rest, Taylor ignored Him. Eventually, after ignoring God's urging him to return, the Lord had no other choice but to make him return. Taylor ended up on his back, in bed for a year. God made sure Taylor received the rest he so badly needed but refused to take. This was God inserting His will in this man's life for the man's own good. After a year in England, Taylor returned to China and resumed his work but by that time understanding what God's will for his life had been.

If you are struggling with what God's will for your life might be, maybe you need to spend more time with Him. Most of us, who have been married for a while, understand and know our spouse pretty good. That's because we have an active relationship with each other. It is the same with our relationship with God. If we are not communicating with Him and we have a stale relationship with Him, how will we know Him or what His will for our lives might be? Close the gap in this relationship and draw close to Him in prayer and reading His word. Then, understanding His will for your life will become much easier.