I have struggled with finding out the will of God for my life, like what does He want me to do career-wise and in other areas. But when I travelled home to Nigeria last summer, my mum gave me a book written by Pastor Bankie, titled Guided by the Spirit: How to know the will of God and be led by the Spirit. Reading this book helped shed some light on my quest.
What is the will of God? God’s will is not our personal preference; what feels good to us or our personal goals. God’s will describes only that which is congruent with the plan and purpose of God. It is what is pleasing to God. When trying to determine the will of God, though it is not wrong to ask, will this job give me the desired promotion or advancement in my career? The heart seeking the will of God will be more interested in asking how the job will foster commitment to Christian values or if it will be a hinderance to godly living.
I’ll just talk briefly on some things that need to occur before we can discover the will of God for our lives. Take this text from Romans 12:2, “don’t copy the behaviours and custom of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect” NLT.
The first thing that we have to do before finding out the will of God, is for us to let go of the things and pleasures of this world. Romans 12:2 says, “do not copy the behaviours and customs of this world”. It means we can not be chasing after the pleasures of this world and expect to discover God’s will. We may say if God could just tell us what to do, we will do it, but it is doubtful if that is going to happen. This is because at that stage, we do not have the right spirit or heart within us. The mind is still in a carnal state, and not submissive to God’s will. For instance, the children of Israel had the commandments of the Lord but yet they broke almost all of them. Also, Paul in Rom 7:21-23 said that even though he knew the Law and wanted to keep it, obeying it was another matter.
The first thing we have to do is surrender our will, desire, and goals to God. We can not say we want to do God’s will and still be holding on to our plans, pursuits, etc.
The second thing is to let God transform us into a new person by changing the way we think. I asked myself why is it about the way we think; why can’t we just follow a set of rules in order to know His will? I do not have the answer to that, but I know there is something powerful about our thoughts and mind. Proverbs 23:7 says that for as he thinketh in his heart, so is he. Therefore, before we can know God’s will, we have to allow God to transform us into a new person by changing the way we think, NKJV says renewing of the mind. At this stage, God desires to form in us a heart that understands what He likes and does not like. He wants us to understand what is right from His perspective.
After these two stages have taken place, the bible says we will learn to know God’s will. It does not say we will know but learn to know, there is a difference. It is a process of learning and experiencing. It is our spiritual senses that are being trained to know and have God’s attitude. And how is this training done? It is done by the Word of God and spending time with Him. It is a gradual process. Our part is just to meditate on the truth of God’s word and let it become part of us and before long we will begin to think like God. Then the decisions we make are in the will of God, because at this stage we already have the mind of Christ. Paul in 1 Cor. 7:25, 40; even though he did not have a direct command from the Lord, he said we could trust what He was saying because the Lord had given him wisdom.
And I believe that this is where God wants to take us; where we do not have to necessarily hear audibly from God to know His will but because we have the mind of Christ and have learnt to know that which pleases Him, we can make decisions that are in line with His will.
Finally, to know and walk in the will of God, therefore, comes from knowing the word of God. It is not about praying until He speaks; but rather it is to take that which He has spoken in the scriptures and pray for understanding; building ourselves up in the knowledge of His word. It is using our knowledge of the word to make decisions, which is wisdom – application of knowledge. When we make decisions based on the word of God we are walking in the will of God.
Written by: Sis Pelumi Ola