Following God's Will

Are you struggling to know God's will for your life? This week, we will discuss the parts of God's will for you that you can be absolutely certain of and how that can guide you in less certain areas.

Following God's Will

This week's devotions are written by my friend Jessica Hermann, former director of our college ministry at Great Hills Baptist Church.

- Pastor Danny

"Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will."

(Romans 12:2)

I disciple a lot of teenage girls, and my sweet husband regularly meets with many of the youth boys in our church as well. When you interact with young people and conversations go deeper into their walks with the Lord, questions about the will of God will very often arise, such as: What is the will of God for my life? How can I know that I am following God's will for my life? What happens if I don't follow God's will? These are big questions and are certainly not unique to teenagers. However, lately, these conversations about following God's will for our lives have mostly centered around three questions: 1. What job should I have? 2. Who should I marry? 3. Where should I live? These are incredibly important and life-changing questions that God can absolutely direct us in. However, when the Bible talks about God's will for our lives, these types of questions are rarely discussed. That doesn't mean that God is indifferent to these three questions. Quite the opposite! But perhaps we ought to give more attention to the things that the Lord has already told us clearly are His will for us, and as we seek after Him and do His will in these areas, we can have confidence that He will lead us in these more personal questions of His will.

I can't know what God's will for your life is when it comes to jobs and spouses and cities. I can encourage you to seek God in prayer and to study His Word so you know His voice. But ultimately I can't be 100% sure what God's will is for someone in these specific and personal questions. There are some verses in the Bible, however, that clearly tell us some things that are God's will for all of our lives.

When we talk about the will of God, there are two components we need to separate: 1. God's hidden will, and 2. God's revealed will. God's hidden will is His sovereign plan and purpose for all things. Since we don't know exactly what all God will do and how He will do it, it is hidden. However we also have God's revealed will. These are the things that God has revealed to us clearly in His Word. In fact, any time that we are commanded to do something in the Scriptures, we can be sure that this is the will of God for us. When I read the Bible, I mark all commands for Christians to follow in a particular color so that I can easily come back and find them. If you are a Christian and you want to follow God's will for your life, start with the commands of Scripture.

This reminds me of Psalm 1:1-2, which tells us that the blessed man delights in the law of the Lord. One reason that we delight in the law is because it reveals the will of God to us. Our verse for the day also reveals a few things about the revealed will of God for our lives. Take a moment to reread it. God's will is good. It is pleasing. It is perfect. It is knowable.

This week, I want to explore some of these things that the Bible clearly and literally states: "This is the will of God for you..." This is not meant to diminish other personal questions concerning God's specific will for you individually; He cares, and He will direct you as you seek Him. But if today you just aren't sure what God's specific will is for the direction of your life, take comfort that you can commit to living out the things that He has clearly revealed as His will for all Christians to do, and as we walk with the Lord in obedience to His revealed will, we can be sure that He is guiding us in His plan for our lives.

Are you struggling to know God's will for your life? Take comfort in knowing that God has revealed Himself in His Word and you can get to know Him so that you will be a sheep who knows the voice of your Shepherd when He speaks. Walk closely with the Lord as He guides your every step. The rest of this week, we will look at some of these commands from God's revealed will that clearly tell us what His will is for our lives.