For the Christian who loves God and desires to serve him, there is probably no more significant question than "What is God's will for my life?" or, more appropriately, "What is God's specific will or calling for my life?" I see people struggling with this all the time. In this article, I am going to share with you how to find the answer to this question.
Let me start by saying that knowing God's will for your life is certainly knowable. It is not as elusive as many find it to be. Let's begin with the easy part:
The General Will of God
Knowing the general will of God can be understood by reading the scriptures. Every time one reads the scriptures, we should always begin with prayer and ask the Holy Spirit to speak to us, guide us, and teach us.
John 16:13a NIV
There are lots of things we can know about the general will of God. For instance, we know that God wants us to:
- Love one another (John 13:34)
- rejoice at all times, pray without ceasing, and give thanks in every circumstance (1 Thess. 5:16-18)
- take care of the poor and the disabled (Luke 14:13)
- love God with all our heart (Mark 12:30)
- to show mercy to others (Luke 10:37)
The list of things that are the general will of God is very long. It's not a list of rules but a list of qualities and characteristics that the Holy Spirit will produce in us when we yield our will to his.
The general will of God is a vital part of our Christian life; however, it does not answer the critical question, "What is God's specific will or calling for my life?" It does help with the answer, however.
God would never want us to take revenge for a past offense. God's will would never lead us to have unmarried sex, lie, cheat, steal, murder, punish, slander, gossip, or disobey our parents.
Prayer
Knowing God's will for your life is entirely dependent upon how close you are to God. I am not talking about winning God's favor. All of us have God's favor, thanks to Jesus Christ. God knows each of us better than we know ourselves. The point I am making here is, "How well do YOU know God?"
The most intimate activity that we can perform to know God is in prayer. Prayer is more important than any other Christian activity. It's more important than attending church, reading the Bible, or having fellowship with other Christians. I'm talking about spending time with God every day, in the presence of his power and holiness.
What kind of a relationship would you have with your spouse if you only talked with them for 5 minutes once a week? What type of relationship would you have with your children if you only saw them once a month? When Christians pray, we go into the very presence of God (Hebrews 4:16). We enter into the presence of love, grace, mercy, power, and holiness. We cannot walk away from such a venue without experiencing a profound change in our lives!
To know the specific will of God, we must be intimate with God. We must know him from the point of view of an active, personal relationship. In the scope of that relationship, God reveals his plans for us. He may not tell the whole story, but he will reveal, at least, the next part of the story. By knowing the will of God, we know what to do and how to pray.
Once we know the specific will of God, then we need to expect God to be working in our lives according to the plan he has revealed. With God's calling comes God's anointing. We need to trust God to provide us with the people, circumstances, finances, and all the resources necessary to fulfill the purpose he has given us. We must also trust God's timing and execution.
Is it God?
One of the dangers of listening to God speak to us is distinguishing between God's will and our own will. Are we trying to tell God what we want him to do with our lives, or are we submitting our body to God to be used as he sees to use it?
Knowing God's specific will for our life requires not only intimacy but also humility and submission. The God of the universe is going to talk to you through his Spirit to your spirit. We should not take this lightly.
What if God called us to do something that we don't want to do? What if God calls us to do something that's not part of our overall plan? Be ready, willing, and able to submit to whatever God wants us to do.
Romans 12:1-2 NLT
Jesus tells us that it is to our benefit to submit:
Luke 18:29-30 NLT
John tells us to test the spirits - test the things we are hearing. This testing applies to things we hear from others and the things we hear from the Holy Spirit through our own spirit - that inner voice within us.
I John 4:1-3 NIV
The whole 4th chapter of the book of 1 John deals with this subject; however, it mainly refers back to the general will of God.
Confirmation
The Rosetta Stone for testing the words from our inner voice is "Confirmation." Confirmation is straightforward: within a week of receiving your understanding of God's specific will, you will receive multiple forms of confirmation from various sources. These confirmations are clear and concise. They are never elusive or vague. These sources can be from just about anywhere. They include spiritual sources such as reading scripture and hearing sermons and from any other source such as conversations, television, social media, or junk mail.
In 2016, I lived in North Carolina, getting ready to move to Belize, Central America. The Holy Spirit spoke to me through scripture:
Genesis 31:3 NIV
The word of the Lord struck me so intensely that I fell out of my chair onto my knees on the floor. I realized that the Lord was speaking directly to me. For me, this meant moving to Ohio, where I am from - the land of my fathers and of my relatives.
In the coming days, I received several confirmations of this, but still, I was reluctant. A few days later, I was in a laundry mat doing my laundry. I called my sister on the phone, who lived in Ohio. I told her that I thought the Lord was telling me to move to Ohio, but I still wasn't sure. At that exact moment, on the television in the laundry mat, the newscaster yelled three times, "Ohio! Ohio! Ohio!" I told my sister, well, I guess I am moving to Ohio.
If you don't have these clear, concise confirmations, then what you hear is probably not from God.
I don't hear anything!
It may be that you don't hear anything, then what do you do? This is almost certainly a sign that you want God to conform to your plan, to your ideas for your life.
James 4:7-10 NIV
If you are not hearing from God, it is most likely caused by a pride issue.
I heard, but it's not possible
These are the best kind. God is telling you that you are going to do something that is not possible. In other words, when it happens, there is no doubt that it was by the power of God. A "Joseph Moment!" Joseph went from being an ordinary person to the second most powerful person in the world through the works of God's hands. Using Joseph, God saved and blessed the Israelites.
Final Thoughts
God rarely reveals the whole picture to us. To God, our journey is far more important than our destination. It is the journey that teaches us to trust in and to believe God's words. The journey builds our relationship with Jesus and binds us to his eternal love and mercy.
God speaks to us all the time. He is guiding, molding, and shaping our lives. The more we yield to this influence, the more service we will be to him.
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