Exactly What Is The Will Of God For My Life?
Questioning God’s will or purpose for yourself is…well…human.
People of all ages and backgrounds usually ask the question at least once in their lives. Most people ask it over and over again. What is the will of God? What does God want from me? Am I here for a specific purpose, or am I just random matter in a random existence.
If you are not a Christian, you might be asking the question as a feeler…to figure out if there is actually a God with a plan; or if pain and struggle are the real gods of the universe. If there is no divine plan; how does that change the way you live your life?
If you are a Christian; it might be a question of refining your faith or a question that rises from the times of deepest hurts or doubts. You might be trying to figure out why things are so difficult or how you might have strayed far from God.
Whatever your reasons for asking, the question is usually born out of an emotional or philosophical extreme. It comes from place of needing to know how to move forward in your life. Trying to figure out the will of God is daunting, but it is healthy.
As impossible as it is to give a guide to learning God’s will that caters to each individual human being, there are a few things that anyone can do to start the journey. So without further ado; here are 5 steps you might find illuminating in your search for God’s will.
Step 1: Ask God about the will of God
This seems too simple; especially if you are a born skeptic (and these days, who isn’t really…it’s almost a sign of a healthy individual to have a degree of skepticism). If you want to know someone’s goals for life; the quickest way to discover them is to ask them. Directly. It would make sense that the same would be true of God. That said, take note of a few things:
Be brave
This might be hard if you are not a person of faith. Let’s be real. If you do this, you are kind of praying to a God you don’t really trust…in a way that you probably have never done before. If He answers you, it will change your life, and if He doesn’t you still might not really know for sure if He is out there or not. Your Christian friends have probably told you how easy this is; but you know that it is the opposite. Talking to God is not easy for someone who hasn’t been doing it. But if you need to have the answer; you need to be willing to ask the question.
Be Patient
It is critical that you don’t “lead the question”. Here is what this means: don’t ask God what his will is by trying to tell God what His will is. Don’t say, “God, is it your will that I move to Idaho and grow potatoes with the girl I met at the Starbucks last week?” It’s a fine…albeit strange question to ask God, but it doesn’t seem to be asking God what His will is, but rather whether or not He is okay with your will. If you really want to know what God’s will is, you need to let Him tell you, not pigeonhole Him with specific scenarios.
Be observant
Don’t go looking for the overly spiritual, nearly drug-induced vision answer that you might be picturing. God may give you some crazy experience but He will probably just say things the way you need to hear them. Maybe He will speak to you through a friend, or a circumstance in your life will change. A job offer might come your way or something will just seem to fall into place. God truly does work in ways that mankind often does not understand. You can read more about that here.
Step 2: Read God’s words
If you are truly considering taking the journey of discovering God’s will, then there is no better place to start than reading God’s word. Are you a hard-copy sort of person? Maybe give this a shot. It is easy to read, has helpful guides; and it won’t cost you an arm and a leg.
Don’t need the old paper and board version? There are tons of online options that are free and easy to access. Bible Gateway is a popular choice. It is easy to find scriptures, and it provides a different verse to read each day. You can also search for topics that interest you and begin reading that way. You could even start with a few key chapters that might spark your interest.
Reading the Bible can show you how God interacted with people in the past, revealing His nature, as well as His intended outcome for mankind. You may feel like God’s attitudes changed throughout scripture; or that He is easier to relate to in certain passages; but the more you read, especially in the second half of the Bible, the more unified His will seems to become. This might just give you insight into God’s specific plan for your life.
Step 3: Discover the will of God with a friend
If you are new to this journey; maybe find someone a little further down the path to network with. Two people who are trying to discover the will of God will be far more encouraged to “stick with it” and stay on the path. Share resources, express frustrations, share victories and work through it together.
Often, people who have been searching for God’s will the longest, are the people who grow increasingly isolated. It’s simple to chalk this up as being an introvert or just thinking that this question is of a more personal nature than others; but most Christian thought agrees – God’s will typically moves towards community; not away from it.
You can even use this knowledge as a sort of signpost to tell if you are moving in the right direction on the journey. If you are moving towards people; you are probably moving somewhat in the right direction. God’s will has always included building a better community; you can’t do that in isolation.
Step 4: Once you discover a small part of the will of God, live accordingly
This is where many people get tripped up. As human beings, we want to know the big picture – We want to know if God wants us to be the next CEO of Amazon, or be the best custodian at the school. We want to know the big stuff! God, however, seems to like to start small, and sometimes the small stuff is the hard stuff.
In Matthew 22:37, Jesus says that the two greatest commandments are to love God and to love one another. Now, if Jesus knew these to be commandments (i.e. important to God), then we can certainly assume that they are part of God’s will.
Since we know that, we should put that into practice. That’s not easy is it? But if we can’t get that part done, why would God show us more of His will? If we can’t deal with a tiny chunk of God’s will, how could we ever live the big picture? The more you can get the little parts of God’s will correct, the clearer the big parts will become.
Step 5: Keep looking for the will of God
The will of God is a never ending quest. You don’t ever “arrive – you don’t get there and retire. Just when you think you understand God’s purposes for your life; He puts a new opportunity in front of you – the rules change and you are back to asking the question again. Different seasons of life will present new challenges, and you might find that you have actually changed. Things that you once found compelling or fulfilling might now be sidebars instead of a driving force.
It may be discouraging to think that God’s will isn’t some simple algorithm that you can plug into life and solve; but it should be encouraging that God sees value in you, no matter how much you change or what circumstances you find yourself in. You have great worth, and God wants you to be part of what He is doing.
Often, Christians and non-Christians ask a very fair question: If there is a loving God, why is there so much pain and suffering in the world? Often, there is no answer that will satisfy that question…there are simply answers you can accept, or answers you cannot accept. There are however, two other questions we should ask. If there is no loving God why do good things still happen, even when we don’t serve them? and Would there be less pain and suffering if more people believed in a loving God? Just some food for thought!
