God's will for us

I think Jesus is a good place to start (and end, even). He saught The Father's will over His own...

Mat 26:39 And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, "My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will."

 

Emily, I would say that God is very active in our daily lives. He is active in every area of our lives. In fact, I believe that it would surprise us just how active God is around us if we could truly see things through His eyes.

The fact that He is completely sovereigh gives Him that power, ability and right to interact in our lives and show us His will in every situation of life. There are so many places to see this throughout Scripture that is basically jumps off of every page of God's Word. Choose any major character in God's Word and look at their lives. How did they know where to go? What to do?

I would encourage you to read through the book of Acts noting carefully how the early church and the early believers carried themselves in just about every situation they encountered.

Then turn your attention the Psalms. Note how the authors pray and what they desire in their relationship with the Lord. I think you will find them seeking the Lord's guidance in many different ways.

You also have many verses in Proverbs that speak to this activity...

Prov. 3:6 "In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight"

Prov. 19:21 "Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails."

Prov. 20:24 "A man's steps are directed by the Lord. How then can anyone understand his own way?"

Prov. 21:1 "The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases."

 

...or when they say things like...
"Well, if it happens, its God's will." Not necessarily so. He may allow bad things to happen to good people, but His "plan A" could not be that children and other innocents suffer horrible things like rape, terminal illness, etc.

I do believe also that God wants to be a part of every thing in His childrens lives, even down to where we live, Emily, and I think I hear you saying that you agree. However, there are some who take things to extremes.

 

Emily, I got caught up in trying to always ascertain the Lord's will for me all the time and it didn't work. This seems to be something that's coming out of the Pentecostal churches. I think it's much healthier to live godly lives, believing in God's promises, and trust that He is guiding us. To be continually looking to see where His will is, that is introspection and not faith. II Peter 1 helped me with this. Somehow or other Colossians does also.

Excellent question!

 

You should be leary. James teaches us to never count on tomorrow (James 4:13-15). However, as PastorSBC1303 aptly pointed out, many in the Bible sought God's will daily, and we should too. I should be seeking to do what God's will is for me today, and tomorrow God will take care of me. My favorite verse along this line is Matt. 6:33, "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you."

Another good passage is Ps. 32:8-11, where we learn that the horse has to be guided everywhere, but someone who trusts in the Lord with all his heart will react and obey the slightest urging of the Lord.

Having said all of that, it is interesting that the majority of verses about the will of God in the Bible are referring to His moral will--the things He commands us to do. (Example: 1 Thess. 4:3.) We know that right now we are to love God, do right, witness for the Lord Jesus and be faithful to Him in all we do. Other than that, I have found that the decisions that truly need long and serious prayer and maybe even fasting are fairly rare.

 

I agree with webdog. :thumbs:

Jesus is our example in this matter, as in everything (John 13:15, Rom. 15:5, 1 Pet. 2:21). Remember that Jesus prayed all night before choosing His 12 disciples (Luke 6:12-13). But many of us make major decisions about a mate, a profession, a place to live, and never pray a single hour.raying:

 

Actually, maybe Pentecostals do this, but my Dad told me about a similar movement when he was at Wheaton College in the 1940's, where students prayed about God's will for absolutely everything, including which side of the street to walk on!

I believe that in most cases I can walk on whichever side of the street I want to and it's okay with the Lord. :smilewinkgrin: However, sometimes the Holy Spirit will nudge me to walk a certain path because He has a plan! Recently I did dendo (evangelism) in my own neighborhood at a certain time of the day and met Mrs. Fujii right when she was coming back from shopping. I believe God led! She has come to church twice now and heard the Gospel for the very first time in her life. She's not saved yet, and isn't even sure Jesus ever existed, but she is seeking and the Lord is drawing her.:jesus:

Remember that the Holy Spirit has a still, small voice, and we can easily quench Him. We don't need to be praying about the Holy Spirit's will in every single little thing--but we do need to be listening to Him.

 

Emily, as others have stated well you should be leary of things at times, nothing wrong with that. I think that some people often place the term "God's Will" on whatever they want or do not want to do with no real or sincere thought to what God truly wants.

Yet that does not mean we should not be interested in God's will for our lives. I believe, and I believe Scripture supports this, that God has a purpose and plan for each of our lives. We should be seeking to know that plan and follow Him completely.

So there seem to be 2 extremes to avoid. The first is just doing whatever we want with no care at all to God's will. The second is taking it so far as to seeking to determine what side of the road God wants us to walk. Although as John of Japan has pointed out there will be times that God lays upon our heart a certain way to go for a reason. Philip in Acts comes to mind as he encountered the Ethiopian Enuch on a backroad that he would more than likely not have taken without the leadership of the Holy Spirit.

Also as John pointed out, if you don't know what God's Will is for your lives there are things according to Scripture that we never ever have to worry or question if they are the Lord's Will.....praying, reading God's Word, being thankful, joyful, loving, etc, etc. As we do those things and seek the Lord He will lead us in His purpose and plan.

Good question and discussion!

 

2Cor 10: Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;


It's not easy to put all our thoughts into captivity to the obedience of Christ....but if God's word says that, why wouldn't we want to find His will in everything we do and say?

There are some people who are very much walking with God and can know when God is working and moving them to do things. The way you'll know the difference between them, and people who act like they're walking with God is that they will constantly say "The Lord lead me to do this, or that, or this was God's will, etc" They try to be a "spritual leader". Truth is, we don't always know God's will, because we can't always understand it. But from reading God's word I've come to the understanding that every thought should be thought about if it's God's will. That's between you and God.

An interesting thing happened after I got saved just recently. Before, I would argue with my husband, saying I was not going to get baptised again just because I changed churches and may have not been scripturally baptised before - I felt that I was saved so I didn't need to get baptised again. There were many other instances where I would not agree with what God's word says about church membership, etc.

The difference now is now that I am saved, I want to OBEY God. I want to do anything He says. Reguardless if I was baptised before, I was lost and am doing it scripturally this time. But I'm doing it now because I want to obey him. Before my own view of what's right was more important than what God said.

On another note, God does care about the little things. He wants us to seek His will. 1Pet5:7 "Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you." Matt 10:30 "But the very hairs of your head are all numbered." Ofcourse, in order to seek His will, we all have to start with Salvation.

I'm so glad I'm saved!!!!!

Kara

http://www.geocities.com/bornagain12606/Godsaves.html

 

I believe that if a person wants to know Gods will for their life they have to make sure they are in His will. In other words we need to ask: What is Gods will? Answer: That none perish and that all would come to the saving grace of Christ.

So. To be in His will we must witness to people as a focal point. By doing that we are in His will. When in His will we are in a place that we can know His will for our lives. Just a thought.

 

I believe that He is interested in the little things, even down to which side of the street we walk on, both literally and figuratively. And I believe that we make many mistakes in not seeking God's will in the little things.

Abraham did not seek God's will before he went to Egypt and look at the pain it caused him. He took God's promise of being a father to many nations into his own hands and look at the pain that decision has caused to the present day.

God is soveriegn and even uses our disobedience and willfulness for his glory. Jonah is a great example of this. There is no doubt that he disobeyed God when he got on board ship at Joppa, but look at the little revival meeting at the end of Jonah chapter one, and the little congregation of God-fearing sailor that was left on the boat.

Our problem is that we get so interested in our own counsel that we forget to listen for God's.