Each of us is confronted with decisions each day.  Now, for those who who do not have a prayer life, and do not seek after God’s will, this message will not be meaningful.  However, if you do desire to be in God’s will, we’re going to take a look at what that means Biblically.

Many times people walk haphazardly through life, and then retroactively say that it “must have been God’s will, because He is sovereign.”  That is a horrible way to go through life, and definitely not rooted in the Bible.  Yes, God is sovereign over all things, but just as God hates sin, yet it still exists, He also has a desire for your life, that you will either walk in or not.  The Bible is explaining how you can be in the moral will of God, where you can live in such a way that is in accordance with His perfect nature and righteoussness, where He desires you to be.  To appeal to God’s sovereignty as justification for any behavior or emotions, makes a mockery of God’s love for us.  At best, that kind of god is apathetic, and at worst not good at all.  God give us His Word, as an umerited gift to us – grace, that we can know Him, and in knowing Him, know what He desires for us.

Romans 12:1-2 – “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed bythe renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

What is the framework by which we should filter decisions to determine God’s will?  First we must know that God’s will means sacrifice for us.  We must choose to follow God, even when it is not easy (it seldom will be).  We must choose to follow God, when we do not feel like it.  We are to be living sacrifices.  Following God’s will doesn’t always mean doing what the world does, just in a slightly better way, it means that we follow the Word of God, regardless of social norms, regardless of peer pressure, regardless of our own anxieties.  We shouldn’t conform ourselves to the world, but we should allow the Holy Spirit, through the Word of God, to transform our minds.  Only then, when we see and savor God Himself in His Word, will we be able to see clearly what His will is for us.

From God’s Word, our mind sees to understand God, and our heart’s affections are pierced to desire God Himself.  We see for example, in Matthew 6:31-33 that because God is sovereign over all things, we should pursue first His Kingdom and righteousness.  “Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”  The knowledge of the sovereignty of God, is meant to allow our hearts to have peace in the goodness of God amidst life’s struggles, so that we are free to pursue a life glorifying to God. 

Where do Christian’s go wrong in discerning God’s will?  Usually it is one of two ways.  1)  They aren’t looking for God’s will in His Word.  If you pray to God to reveal His will to you, and you aren’t looking for an answer from His Word, you are allowing yourself to be deceived.  Now, these aren’t the people who are going through life haphazardly.  These are Christians who are genuinely seeking God’s will through prayer.  The problem is that they allow their own emotional response to be the arbiter of truth.  Our hearts are sinful and deceiving.  Jeremiah 17:9 – “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?”   That’d be like me wanting to flip off the driver in front of me after he cuts me off, and saying – well that must be God’s will because He is sovereign over my emotions.  No, my heart is sick, and needs to be transformed into the image of God, so that its desires will be for God, not my own personal wants.

2)  They are receiving bad counsel.  I thought about breaking this out into two categories, but I’ll keep it to one.  Obviously if you are receiving counsel about what you should do in life from a non-believer, you should assume that is likely not God’s will for you.  The second category would be receiving counsel from believers who do not point you back to God’s Word, but only talk about your feelings.  God’s sovereignty over feelings doesn’t mean you should place trust in them, your trust is in your identity in Christ.

I’ve learned this much about myself and others throughout my time here on earth.  Romans 3:10-11 is true.  “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God.”  That any of us have a heart’s affection for God, is the grace of God upon our lives.  We’ve been ransomed by the blood of Christ, not to continue on as slaves of sin, but as slaves to Christ in righteousness.  This righteousness will never be found apart from God in the counsel of non-believers, in the will of a fallen world/society, or in our own personal emotions.  The righteoussness of God is found in seeing and savoring God in His Word, sacrificing your own desires to His, and trusting that He is good above all else.

Psalm 1:1-2 – “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.”

Grace and Peace,
Adam