God’s Will 8.14.22
Jerry Beebe

 

One of the questions I’m asked most often from people is how they can know God’s will for their lives.  It’s sad that many live in constant “uncertainty,” worried about if they have made the right decision or if they are doing the “right” thing.   Years ago, a book entitled “Decision Making & the Will of God” by Garry Friesen really helped me understand that God’s will is actually quite simple.   Unfortunately, we have often made it into a complex and paralyzing process where we think if we miss the “bull’s eye” we will be in disobedience to the Lord and not have His favor.  It’s really kind of sad but this whole thing about God’s will is really quite simple.  Let me share two fundamental truths about God’s will.

  1.  God’s will for  your life is mostly moral.  We often want God to tell us specifically what to do in a situation; kind of like a GPS.  What God has given us is a moral compass to direct us toward a sense of true North.  Many anguish over God’s will in specific area because they aren’t look for God’s moral will in the matter.  You see, it’s  not what car you buy, it’s whether you can afford it.    The Shepherd never directs a sheep to eat a certain blade of grass but rather keeps the sheep in the field, safe from dangers.   As long as we are operating in the safety of “God’s moral field” we are free to roam and choose for ourselves.
  2.  There is great freedom within God’s will.   As I mentioned, if we are within the parameters of the Scriptures, we are free to make our own choices.   As we mature, God expects us to take more responsibility for our choices.  A new believer, like a newborn, will need more care and direction.  As you child grows, however, you want them to make decisions based upon what you have taught them.  Who want to dress a teenager?   Sometimes, however, we want the Father to do it all for us, instead of using what we have learned and what He says in His word, to make our own chooses.

So does this mean that God never reveals a more specific act of His will for our lives?  No.  God can and does guide as He wants.  The point is that such specific directives are the exceptions not the rule.  The norm is following His moral will, as He has already give us in His Word, and then exercising our responsibility and freedom within that moral will.