Finding The Will Of God

Finding The Will Of God

“Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me;
nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.”

Luke 22:42

As the shadows fall upon Gethsemane, we find our Lord so anguished in prayer that He began to literally sweat drops of blood. His passion was to accomplish the Father’s will for His life. Earlier, He had pointedly addressed this with His disciples by saying, “I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me” (John 6:38). Now, on the evening before He would hang on a Roman cross bearing the weight of the sins of the world—it was this desire that consumed Him. That is, “Not My will, but Yours, be done.”

God has a purpose and a plan for each of His children. King David revealed his confidence that God would not conceal His will when he declared, “You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Psalm 16:11). The Lord Jesus is more interested in us finding His will for our lives than we ourselves are.

On certain issues God’s will is quite straightforward. For example, Jesus said, “This is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life” (John 6:40). There is no doubt that those who believe in Christ will have everlasting life. This is the explicit will of the Father. But what about other issues of life, other crossroads that come our way, demanding our attention and an eventual decision? How do we go about the business of finding out what is really God’s will for us instead of what may simply be a selfish, personal desire? There are some important steps we can take along the way toward finding God’s will.

BE SURE YOU KNOW THE SAVIOR

It stands to reason that if we are on a pursuit to find God’s will in a certain area, first of all we have to come to know Him as our very own personal Savior. Paul made this crystal clear in his first letter to his apprentice Timothy, “For [leading a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence] is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:3–4).

The initial step in finding God’s will is to be sure you know the Savior. Without a saving knowledge of Christ and His abiding life within, a person cannot discern the things of God. These things are, as Scripture says, “spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:14).

BE SURE YOU KNOW THE SPIRIT

Once we place our trust in Christ, the Holy Spirit comes to take up residency within us, empowering us for service, helping us “bear witness” with the Spirit of God. Paul admonished us to “not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not be drunk with wine . . . but be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:17–18). When we know Christ as Savior and are being controlled by His Spirit, He becomes our Teacher and will “guide [us] into all truth” (John 16:13). Being sensitive to the Spirit’s leading in our lives is a key factor in discerning God’s will for us.

BE SURE YOU KNOW THE SCRIPTURE

When we want to find God’s will, it is essential that we have knowledge of biblical truth. God will never lead one of His followers to do anything that is contrary to the Scriptures. Paul’s challenge to us was therefore to “let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom” (Colossians 3:16). When we know Christ, when we are being controlled by His Spirit, and when we are abiding in His Word, He “will make known to [us] the path of life” (Psalm 16:11 NASB).

Along with these three supernatural phenomena, there are three practical ways to find God’s will. The first key word is desire. God will not call you to a certain endeavor without first planting a desire within your heart to do that very thing (see Psalm 37:4). For the person who is abiding in the Spirit and in the Scripture, the desires of the heart are implanted by God Himself. He gives the desires that are in our hearts. The second operative word is opportunity. Just because we have a desire does not necessarily mean it is God’s will for us. If it is God’s will, the desire will be accompanied by an opportunity. Third, we are to keep walking and trust that, if this path or our destination is not God’s will, He will shut the door.

This is exactly what happened on Paul’s second missionary journey. He had a desire and opportunity to go to Asia and Bithynia. But on each occasion God shut the door: “the Spirit did not permit” Paul to go in (Acts 16:7). There was no rebuke. It was simply not God’s will at the moment. Immediately after this, Paul heard God call him to Macedonia, and he went straight there, totally in the middle of the will of God. The Bible says, “After he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us” (Acts 16:10). The word concluding means that it all came together. Paul sought and found the will of God, and the great revival at Philippi broke out as a result.

God does not want to veil His will from you. He is more desirous of your finding it and walking in it than you are yourself. Yes, He has a wonderful plan for your life, and He longs to make His will known to you.

As you memorize this verse, meditate on what knowing Christ means to you personally. Recall the day when you first placed your trust in Him and were born again. Meditate on what knowing the Spirit means as you yield to Him. And make time to meditate on the Scriptures for here we find His will so often written for us in black and white. Finally, join Jesus in praying, “Not my will . . . but Yours be done.”