Principles to Live By: The Will of God, Pt. 5

God is not under any obligation to show us why; His obligation is to show us His will. Our obligation is to obey even if it seems to be unreasonable.

Principles to Live By: The Will of God, Pt. 5

"Teach me to do Your will, For You are my God; Your Spirit is good. Lead me in the land of uprightness."

(Psalm 143:10)

One of my favorite parts of Dr. Stanley's message on the will of God was when he shared examples in his own life of how God's will on the surface did not make sense, but he obeyed the Lord and found out that God's will made perfect sense after all.

After Stanley's third year of seminary, he and his wife Anna planned to go serve the Lord in Fresno, California for the summer. Before they left, he felt very burdened. He prayed all day and felt that God was telling him not to go to California. They decided to go and stay at his wife's parents' lake house in North Carolina. He met a man who told him that their pastor was out and invited him to preach on Sunday. Stanley preached and did so again the following week. The church informed Stanley that they wanted to call him as their pastor. The pastor of the church had been there for 47 years, and he told Stanley that they would be happy to wait until he finished seminary and then build him a brand-new house. The president of a local Bible college in the same area called him as well. He asked Stanley after he finished his final year of seminary if he would teach preaching, homiletics, and evangelism at the Bible college. Stanley said yes to it all. Had he gone to Fresno, he would have missed all these opportunities that were the will of God for his life.

Dr. Stanley said that God is not under any obligation to show us why; His obligation is to show us His will. Our obligation is to obey even if it seems to be unreasonable. Whenever God says no to what you want, what He is doing is protecting you. (Stanley repeated this statement three times in his sermon.) People will not understand because they have common sense, but God has omniscience. You can argue with God and say no, but you will pay the consequences. The right answer every time is, "Yes, God; I will do it." It is simple until you start to rationalize. Do not think you do not matter. God loves you completely. Do not compare. Peter could have said "not today," and look what he would have missed.

How do you find the will of God? Dr. Stanley offers this timely advice:

Get in the Bible
Ask Him until you get the answer. Prayer is a must.
Seek Godly counsel: listen to what others tell you.
It does not come quickly because God is working it out. Do not make snap decisions. If God knows His will for you now and He has not told you now, then you do not need to know now.

Obeying God is our best response. Partial obedience is still disobedience. He doesn't expect us to understand but to obey.

You may be in the place where you are genuinely seeking the will of God for some major decisions in your life. I pray for you now that God would bless you and reveal His will for you and that you would have faith, trust God, and even though it may seem unreasonable or not make sense to you now, that you would trust God, move forward, and obey Him.