Have you ever struggled to find the will of God in your life? Growing up, I thought life would be so much easier if there was a “Book of Jake” to explicitly guide my life. As a young man, I wondered all sorts of questions: Where should I go to school? What should I major in? What is God’s divine will for my life? As we get older, we tend to look back and wonder whether we made the right decisions. Sometimes, we develop regrets or significant consequences in our lives for choices that we made. We begin to wonder different questions then: What does God want from me now? What am I supposed to do with a difficult job? How do I handle a rebellious child? As we peer forward even further, we can get to an age when we begin to wonder, why am I here? What purpose do I serve through my physical limitations? Again, we wonder, what is God’s will for me now?
At each stage of life, we find ourselves contemplating the will of God. Would it not be simply easier to have a field guide of God’s will to direct us? Many of us have dwelt on Psalm 119.105, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” We know God directs us step by step, rather than providing us with a flood light to brighten the street ahead. Yet, He has told us, O man, what is His will. The phrase “will of God” occurs multiple times in Scripture. Many of the apostles, in their epistles, are quite explicit on what God’s will is for you. It may not be specific enough to explicitly tell you what to do with every major choice (i.e. which school to go to), but it is very explicit on how to do it. Consider these instructions: Doing Good “For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish pride.” (1 Peter 2.15), Your Holiness “For this is the will of God, your sanctification, that you abstain from sexual immorality.” (1 Thessalonians 4.3), Thanksgiving “Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” (1 Thessalonians 5.18), and Paul’s instruction that we are to discern the will of God by not conforming to the values of this age (Romans 12.2).
From these passages, we learn God’s will in our lives takes a particular kind of understanding from His people. As God’s people, His will takes discernment. Wisdom does not simply flow from our age, experience, or life situation. Discernment assumes a love for God’s Word and His values. This kind of discernment is not only concerned about the outcome but also how the outcome is determined. Healthy attitudes are a part of God’s will for our lives. These attitudes enable us to live out the will of God when it is costly to us. Sometimes it is the cost of our foolish pride. Other times, it is a willingness to bear a burden that is not our own…even when the burden, itself, feels foolish to us.
How do we find ourselves able to live out the will of God? We look to the fulfillment of God’s will, the Lord Jesus. For it was the will of the LORD to crush His faithful Messiah. It was the LORD who willfully put our Savior to grief and made Him the sacrifice for our sin. Our ability to discern the will of God stems from our knowledge of God’s love for us in Christ Jesus.
~ Pastor Bennett
