The will of God. For people who are concerned about knowing it, it often becomes the source of much anxiety. Many people get worked up about knowing God’s will for their lives, as if He has an exact roadmap that marks out every moment of their existence and if they don’t know it or follow it, they are outside of His will and are displeasing to Him. They stress out about finding the exact person whom God has “willed” to be their spouse, or the perfect job that He has designated for them, or the best car to buy, etc.; it is some great mystery that they are always trying to discover. For them, the will of God brings no rest, no comfort, and no joy. If this describes you, I’m sorry. Believe me, I’ve been there too. However, it’s not that complicated. Seriously.
The first place we must look when discerning the will of God for our lives is His Word, the Bible. God has spoken quite clearly about what His will is and what He desires for our lives; it’s all in The Book. As John MacArthur points out, it is God’s will that you be:
- Saved (1 Tim.2:3-4; 2 Pet.3:9)
- Spirit-filled (Eph.5:17-18)
- Sanctified (1 Thess.4:3-7)
- Submissive (1 Pet.2:13-15)
- Suffering (Phil.1:29; 2 Tim.3:12)
He goes on to say, “If all those things are true in your life, you may do whatever you want.” No roadmap. No mystery. No stress.
Whom should I marry? If I’m a believer, Paul tells me to marry only in the Lord (1 Cor.7:39), meaning another believer; nobody specifically, but a Christian in general. What house or car should I buy? Ones that fit within my budget after I’ve made provision to give a tithe and offering to the work of the Lord (Mal.3:10) and ones that don’t cause me to fall into enslaving amounts of debt (Prov.22:7). Where should I work? Preferably anywhere that does not violate some moral or ethical principle of the Bible or anywhere where an employer does not do the same.
So does God have a detailed plan laid out for me? Well, He is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End (Rev.1:8; 21:6; 22:13), which means that He knows the end from the beginning; He already knows the way that we will take. So I guess that is a roadmap of sorts, but it’s one known only by Him that we unfold daily throughout our lives. It’s a map that He knows, but that we chart with the help of His Word. So do you really want to know God’s will for your life? Then you gotta get in The Book.
