The Search For God’s Will

The Search for God’s Will

God’s will is for you to be holy, so stay away from all sexual sin.

1 Thessalonians 4:3

Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

1 Thessalonians 5:18

Let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you.

Romans 12:2

Some people think figuring out God’s will for their lives is like a spiritual game of hide-and-seek. They think God has something specific he wants them to do that is hidden from view and that they have to try to find it. It’s like a cat and mouse game of guidance, and they have to look for hidden clues to figure out what God wants.

But God’s will isn’t like that. Certainly God knows the next step in our lives, but there is no place in Scripture that says we’re supposed to try to figure that out and follow it. God’s will for our lives has been made clear in the Bible. And while it takes some effort on our part to understand and absorb what God wants, his will is not hidden.

The Bible doesn’t tell us which person to marry, which car to drive, where to go to college, or what job to take. But as we saturate our minds in the revealed will of God spelled out for us in the Bible, we begin to think more like God and we’re better able to discern what God wants for us. So rather than asking God to give us some sort of special sign that will show us what to do, we are to ask God to renew our minds. Our goal is to build our lives on the foundation of what God has clearly told us to do in the Bible. Good students of Scripture become wise decision makers over a lifetime of following God’s clear instructions. Our job is not to hunt for the secret will of God, but to do what God has clearly told us to do.

DISCUSSION STARTERS

What are some things you know are God’s will for your life, based on the clear instructions in the Bible?

Does the success or failure, difficulty or ease of something indicate if it is in God’s will?

In what area are you seeking to know the will of God?