What Is The Will of God?

If there is anything we all want to know as followers of Jesus it is the will of God for our life. The problem as I see it is “Knowing” is often very difficult to identify. Why is it so hard to discern the will of God when both the Lord and we want it badly? Something similar could be said about the 10 commandments in which we are told to love the Lord with all our heart, mind and strength and yet if we struggle to identify what love is we may never really reach the goal of consistently doing so. Knowing the will of God has so much to do with how we “Hear” God or don’t.

Deu 13:18

“If you will listen to the voice of the Lord your God ….”

To start with, being born again is similar to being born naturally. It takes years for us to develop the ability to understand and speak a language as we hear people talk, but one of the sure-fire way to learn a language is to pay attention to those we become bonded with, like our mother or father. That bonding relationship motivates us to pickup on the cues that surround sounds and words spoken. Pretty soon we identify sounds that relate to words and then sentences.

Walking in the Spirit takes time to familiarize ourselves with the “Language” of God and his desire for us either in the short term or for larger goals in life. If our relationship with God is mostly about memorizing scripture, as important as that might be for establishing morals, rather than picking up on cues with our spirit we learn to mainly read God’s thoughts and intentions “Second Hand.” Reading scripture helps us understand what God thinks about different subjects but it doesn’t necessarily tell us what God wants to say to us personally at any given moment about any given subject.

One of the hardest things for us in understanding God’s will is relaxing in the learning process and not becoming rigid in what we accept or don’t when God speaks. If God wants to communicate his love through creation and we are rigid about how he speaks to us we could be overlooking a beautiful lake or ocean and totally ignore his message of love because it wasn’t the way we wanted him to speak. It’s like traveling to a foreign land and being frustrated with the language barrier. If we just relax and observe people when they speak we can start to pick up words associated to what the person speaking another language is trying to say.

Many years ago I traveled  to Sweden to speak in different places when I was asked to pastor two small churches. At first I declined the invitation because I didn’t speak Swedish. Then the Holy Spirit told me to accept the offer and he would help me learn what I didn’t know. I told my translator not to speak to me in English for two weeks regardless of how flustered I might become. The object was to immerse myself in the flow of language to pick up cues in the conversation. Within two weeks i could pick up 6-7 words in a sentence even though I could not speak those words. When I told groups of people what I thought they were saying they were amazed at how much I understood. The same is true with God speaking: relaxing in the learning, and observing, can reveal a whole new world of conversation with God.

Jesus equated doing the will of God to being his family. He wanted people to press into the relationship like a baby would to their mom and dad. He wanted his followers to build relationship with him and the Father, not just be part of the team. Relationship is personal and deeper than friendship. It requires more investment and vulnerability. Our relationship with God is meant to be developing and deepening the more we interact.

Mark 3:35

For whoever does the will of God, he is My brother and sister and mother.”

In a relationship we are willing to be hurt by the words of the ones we love, and so it is in having a relationship with God. Sometimes the will of God brings or produces sorrow, yet we are willing to endure it for the sake of our relationship. We know that the person who we love, loves us and wants our best, like the baby who gets fed and changed. Our care comes from them so the pain of learning and discipline bring a deeper message of love.

2 Corinthians 7:10

For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death.

The apostle Paul says that our desire should come to doing the will of God because we are slaves of God. If we believe and accept that God literally “Bought” our relationship through Christ’s sacrifice we embrace our bonding to him and his will. If, on the other hand, all we sought in Jesus was forgiveness then relationship is not so important and we will not pursue it passionately.

Ephesians 6:6

Not by way of eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart.

In the end, as we learn to press into the “Presence” of God as we understand it, we will learn the language of God and ultimately know the will of God for our lives. It doesn’t happen over night but it will happen over time as we pursue him like a little child. We also discover that his love confirms to us that if God is in charge and we follow him closely he makes things work out for our good as Paul wrote in the book of Romans. This experience and knowledge reinforces our relationship and deepens our ability to understand him and follow him.

Romans 8:28

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

We are able to learn the will of God because we pursue the will of God. It is in the pursuit that we discover what God is saying, and in that process comes the peace of God. If you love God pursue him. If you pursue him the Holy Spirit will speak the will of the Father and you will grow deeper and deeper in the relationship. The more we understand the will of God the more the power and presence of God becomes part of our everyday life, and we grow in our faith, not just our knowledge of God.

Being patient in your learning process is key to hanging in there to the place of discovery. I have met so many believers who give up learning how to perceive when the Lord is speaking. Consequently they live a frustrated Christian life rather than one God intended. Spend the time to learn how God wants to speak to you and grow in the knowledge and love of God.

Questions:

1) What was the last major thing God spoke to you about?  If you don’t pay attention you may be missing valuable things.  (Job 33:14) “God is speaking in different ways though man does not notice or perceive it.

2) Have you followed through with the last thing God spoke to you about? Remember what the book of James says (James 2:14-17) If you have no action in your faith you have no faith.

Send your distress call to the Lord and he will answer you,

Pastor Dale