Understanding the Will of God  

Part I of a 2 part series 

Do not be foolish but understand what the Lord's will is.  Ephesians 5:17   

We as believers have done some pretty foolish things to understand or find out what God's will or plan is for our lives.  

Example #1- A man is praying about what God's will is for him in terms of where to serve on the mission field. He is quite confused and tormented about the decision process, until...he is driving downtown in a large metropolitan city and runs out of gas in front of the Philippine Embassy. His conclusion; it must be God's will to go to the Philippines.

Example #2- A woman is trying to decide if she should fly to Hawaii for her vacation. It's a pretty ambitious and costly commitment for her and she wants to know if God is leading her to do this. She woke one morning after praying through the night about the decision and the digital clock read 7:47. Her conclusion; certainly it must be God's will to take a 747 to Hawaii!

Example #3- A student is praying and asking God to direct him to buy the right car. His funds are limited and he wants to get it right the first time. That night everything in his dream was yellow. His conclusion; It must be God's will to buy a yellow car. He went out and bought the first yellow car he could find and it ended up being a lemon. Ha!

I think my point is clear. God direct us with much more clarity and substance than using these silly tactics (which we have all done from time to time). It is pretty risky to trust our wild dreams to determine God's providential purpose for our lives. It's also not very prudent or wise to misread God's direction through whatever circumstance we can squeeze Him into.

Scripture tells us that "the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord." (Psalm 37:23) and that we should "trust in the Lord with all our heart and lean not on our own understanding but in all of our ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct our path" (Proverbs 3:5,6 ). So God doesn't play games with us or jerk us around when it comes to His will.

God's specific plan for our lives should not be as complicated as we make it. Perhaps we shouldn't always ask if He should open the right door (although that is biblical) as much as we should ask Him to close the wrong one. Sometimes I feel the Lord wants us to use our common sense and prayerfully make a decision, trusting that if for some reason we've missed His leading, He will close the door!

Whether we need His direction on whom to marry, what church to attend, how much to invest, how to specifically resolve a conflict, what college to attend or when to retire, He promises us "He will direct and lead us in the way we should go". Psalm 32:8. Paul tells us in Ephesians 5:17, "not to be foolish but to understand what God's will is." A good Biblical principle to start with is this:

Principle #1: God would never lead you to do or not do what He has already said to do or not in His written word. He doesn't contradict what He has already said or talk out of both sides of His mouth.

Next week we will look at a few more Biblical principles in order to clarify and simply the way God directs and leads us so that we wisely better understand His precious direction in our life!

We'll conclude this teaching next week,

Pastor Bill

Feel free to contact Pastor Bill with any questions or comments:

billg@trail.org 

Our next Baptism will be held Sunday, August 30. If you'd like to be Baptized, pick up a Baptism loaner CD at the Willingheart Window or listen at trail.org (click HERE) before speaking with a Pastor. The evening will begin with a potluck dinner at 6:00 p.m. in the Pavilion. At 7:00 p.m. we'll have the Baptism at the Baptismal (behind the Church Offices) followed by Communion. Bring a dish to serve 8-10 people.Questions? Contact Jacki in the Church Office: 541.878.3501.