I hope that you have been affirmed in how glorious God's will is for your life. You know what the best thing is, however? Follower of Christ, you actually have NO idea how glorious God's will is for your life! 1 Corinthians 2:9 says that, " 9 But, as it is written “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him” Our God is not a God who meets our expectations-He is a God who blows our expectations out of the water. If you could give a "customer satisfaction survey" to the people in heaven, I don't imagine that you would be getting too many people responding that their expectations had been "met." I think that even king David and Moses, two men who knew God better than perhaps anyone in history, would admit that even their experiences on earth did not prepare them for how glorious the reality of dwelling in the presence of God is. I think a great thing to pray for ourselves and one another is that we would have an eternal mindset. Pray that we would look towards eternity with the choices that we make and with our faith in God's plan for each of our lives.
So, to return to the original question of this blog, is asking what is God's will for your life biblical in the context that we normally ask it in? I would have to say, sadly, it is not. One of my goals is to never speak in absolutes where God has not, so DO NOT hear me saying that each and every time in your life that you seek God's will you are sinning. That's not the case. We have seen that God's will for your life is 1. for you to glorify Him 2. for you to be adopted by Him 3. for you to be filled with His Spirt 4. for you to be submissive 5. for you to suffer 6. for you to be grateful 7. for you to be transformed into the image of His Son. So what about decisions that don't necessarily fall into any of those categories (side note: the number of things that don't fall into one of those categories is probably MUCH smaller than we think)? If you were faced with a decision like whether or not to take a certain job or to date a certain person, what should you do? I would say do whatever it is that you want.
If you find yourself facing a tough decision, I would find someone who can speak truth into your life. I would have them over for dinner and have the two of you go over your life with a fine toothed comb. Ask yourself, and them, am I living for God's glory in ALL areas of my life? Ask yourself, and them, do you see evidence in my life that I am a true follower of Jesus Christ? Ask yourself, and them, do you see the fruits of the Spirit evident in my life? Ask yourself, and them, am I submitting to God and those He has placed in authority over me in all areas? Ask yourself, and them, am I suffering well for the sake of His Name? Ask yourself, and them, am I overflowing with gratitude and humility? Ask yourself, and them, am I being transformed into the image of the Son? If the answer is no in any one of these areas, pray for mercy and grace to fix that area. When you have THAT part of your life in line, return to the question at hand. If the answer is yes in all of these areas, do whatever it is that you want. How can you know that what you want is what God wants? Because, as David Platt likes to say, our God has this thing rigged (ha!)! Philippians 2:13 says this, " 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure." Did you see that? God Himself is working in you to shape your desires to match His own desire for your life!
Even with all this knowledge, there are still going to be times when your heart is unsure of what to do. You may find yourself saying yes to all of those questions and STILL be unsure of what to do. Keep wrestling with God in prayer. Keep seeking HIM and NOT seeking a road map. He wants you to want Him, and He will be faithful to reveal himself to those who persevere. Finally, don't be afraid to fail. Personally, a lot of times when I ask "God what is your will for me?" what I'm really saying is "God, what should I do that will match my definition of success and keep me out of harm?" We don't ask who we should pursue in dating that would bring the most glory to God, we ask who we should pursue in dating that will not reject us or hurt us. We don't ask what job will cause us to rely on our Father the most and bring him glory, we ask what job we should take that will make us comfortable. Thank God that His definition of success is better than mine. Think about Paul. Think about the things he wanted to do (go to Spain, return to Corinth) that he was unable to do. Then think about all of the things that resulted from his "failures" (the book of Romans and 2 Corinthians). Paul never asked what was safe-he only wanted to make much of Jesus Christ. If we will make our minds up that that is what we want, then I think we will find that even our supposed failures will please our Father who is in Heaven.
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