“What does God want me to do with my life? “
“How can I make this important decision that I am facing?”
Perhaps you have burning questions like these. You may be in the midst of a crucial decision, or you may be seeking God for some specific direction in your life and ministry. I have good news for you! God is concerned about decisions you make. He wants you to know his will – both in the long term issues and the little details of life.
“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you.” (Psalm 32:8)
This verse gives you God’s promise. He promises to guide you and reveal his will to you personally as your Instructor and Counsellor. He is constantly watching over you for that very purpose. But he is also looking for a response from you. The next verse says:
“Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding but must be controlled by the bit and bridle or they will not come to you.” (Psalm 32:9)
God wants you to be open-hearted and responsive to him. He doesn’t want you to be guided merely by external restraints like a horse or a mule that stubbornly resists every prod and pull. He has given you a new nature that is born of God. The Holy Spirit lives within you to reveal God’s will to you and he enables you joyfully to fulfil it.
It is possible to know God so personally that you become intimately acquainted with his will and his ways. His will can cease to be something alien to you, but in the mysterious working of God’s Spirit within you, you can come to love his will and his ways, your nature conforming to his.
“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.” (Romans 12:2)
God’s will is good and pleasing – not harsh exclusion from that which is enjoyable. He invites you to approve it! He is inviting you to taste and see that the Lord is good and that his will is best. Just taste his will for you and you will be sure to approve it. We have all tasted the fruit of our own will and have proved how devastating it can be. What a contrast to God’s plan for us!
“‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'” (Jeremiah 19:11)
Do you not long to know God’s will for you in every detail? God, the creator of all things, is never short of ideas. He has had plans for you from the beginning of the world. The apostle Paul said:
“For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Ephesians 2:10)
This verse tells us two things. First of all, God has prepared you for good works which only you can do. Secondly, this verse teaches that God has prepared good works for you to do, just as he has prepared you for good works. This means your special will for your life is tailor-made.
Don’t you long to find God’s perfect will for you and begin to fulfil it? I wonder, have you ever sat down and earnestly asked God what he wants you to do with your life? If not, or if you need his direction in any other way, why not ask him now? God promises to answer if you sincerely ask him in faith.
“If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.” (James 1:5)
“Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.” (Jeremiah 33:3)
How God guides you
The question now is: “How does God guide me? How will he show me his plan?” There are many explanations of how to find the will of God, but one stands out from the others. That is the three “Ws” :
* God’s Word – the Bible
* God’s Will – his specific plan for you
* God’s Way – the way in which his plan is to be fulfilled
These are like three traffic lights. All three must be green before you can proceed on life’s highway. They must all check out before you can be sure that a particular direction or course of action is from the Lord. You must be determined to find it and be sure to follow it. You will need to go patiently, being careful not to rush on to the next test before you have properly checked out the previous one.