Imanuel G. Christian
July 2011
One of the major questions in life that the people of God face is: How can we know the will of God for the major aspects of life and how do we receive confirmation about the decisions that we make, whether they are in the will of God or not. The past two months we examined two methods used in the Old Testament to determine the will of God, putting out a fleece and casting lots. The second method, casting lots, is also used in the New Testament, as we noted last month. However, we noted that neither of these two methods is always helpful in knowing the will of God as we make major decisions in life. How shall we, then, know the will of God regarding complicated issues of life which require thoughtful consideration, weighing between good and bad choices or between more acceptable and not so acceptable choices?
The first and foremost principle of knowing the will of God is to be doing the will of God! If we really want to know the will of God we have to live by the will of God that we already know. If we do not follow the will of God that He has already revealed to us, why would He want to reveal His will to us at all?
Mark Twain (1835-1910) used to say, “I am not bothered by the things of the Bible I do not understand. What bother me most are the things I do understand”. What he meant was that we do not have to follow the things that we do not understand. But we are responsible to follow the things we do understand! It is the same about knowing the will of God. It is easy to know the will of God in major aspects of life, since He has already clearly expressed it in His Word. But to do the will of God is another thing. Moses said, “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law” (Deuteronomy 29:29).
God has already revealed His will for the major aspects of human life. First of all, it is the will of God that everyone comes to know the Lord and receive eternal life through Jesus. Jesus said, “For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day” (John 6:40). And, “Your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost” (Matthew 18:14). God “wants all man to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4). This was the purpose of Christ’s first coming; He came to seek and to save the lost (Luke 19:10; Matthew 18:14).
This is the first and foremost will of God for any human being. Not only that, but this is also the first and foremost condition for knowing the will of God. Only those who have fulfilled this condition will desire to know, and will also be enabled to know, the will of God through the leading of the Holy Spirit who indwells every believer.
Of those who have already fulfilled the first condition, the second clearly expressed will of God for their life is their sanctification, a life that is morally pure and pleasing to God in every aspect. “It is the will of God that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the heathen” (1 Thess. 4:3-4). For a believer there is no ambiguity about the will of God concerning any sin in his life. The clear and expressed will of God is, “Be holy in all you do” (1 Peter 1:15). Job manifested this ideal in his life, and God Himself commended him for that, “He is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil” (Job 1:8; 2:3). That is the evaluation that we desire from God, because that is the expressed will of God.
The third clearly expressed will of God is, “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thess. 5:16-18). Being joyful, praying continually and giving thanks in all circumstances, all three go together as we trust God even in difficult situations and commit these situations to Him in prayer, rejoicing that the outcome will be according to His will and plan for our life. Paul makes this explicit in Philippians 4:4-7. It is the will of God that His people live a thankful life “in all circumstances” and “in everything”, as Job told his wife, “Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” (Job 2:10).
The fourth area where God’s will is explicitly expressed is, Live a life of submission. “Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every authority initiated among men… For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men” (1 Peter 2:13-17). Submission is not only toward the civil authorities, but Paul speaks of submission in every human relationship—husband and wife, child and parent, slave and master—with an attitude of submission and reverence for the sake of Christ (Ephesians 5:21-6:9).
The fifth matter where God explicitly declared His will is, Be ready to suffer for the sake of Christ. “It is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil” (1 Peter 3:17). And, “Those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good” (1 Peter 4:19). “If it is God’s will” suggests that not every believer will have to suffer, but every believer has to be prepared to suffer for the name of Christ; and there should never be an occasion that a believer has to suffer for doing evil.
These are the five areas where “this is the will of God” or similar words are used clearly and explicitly showing the will of God. But even where these words are not used, the Bible presents the will of God in many straightforward commands. We have to live by the commandments and the standard set by the Word. We have to live with an eternal and not temporal perspective in focus. We have to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul and mind, etc. There is no ambiguity in knowing the will of God in major areas of our life. God has clearly expressed that. As Mark Twain said, the problem is not about knowing the will of God, but in doing the will of God.
And yet, the question still remains: How do I know God’s will in specific situations in life? How do I know God’s will, for example, in choosing the right person to marry, or, deciding what occupation I should pursue, or, what line of study program I should choose? There is no clear and specific guidance in knowing the will of God for every specific and individual situation in life. But the Bible does provide some clear guidelines and principles that we can follow in order to know the will of God in each situation. We will note these next month.
