James Is Your Friend

Many of us ask the question, “What is God’s Will for my life?”  This is a good question and we all struggle with this.  We sometimes wish that God would just lay out a roadmap before us detailing His plan in our life.  I constantly hear people say, “I just wish I knew God’s Will for me.”  Is it possible to know God’s Will for your life, right now?

Well, first of all, we must remember exactly what it means to know God’s Will for our lives: God’s Will is what is in His Word.  A lot of times, we think that we have to have this “revealing” moment where we know exactly what God wants us to do.  Of course, that can happen sometimes, but most of the time it is simply living God’s Word.  Basically, we can do whatever we want and still be in His Will as long as we are living according to His Word.  Also, in order to truly know how God’s Word applies in our lives specifically, we have to follow Romans 12:1-2:

“I urge you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.  And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

This verse basically tells us a few things about understanding God’s Will: 

1) We need to be living completely surrendered to Him by sacrificing ourselves (our desires, our selfishness) to Him.  This sacrifice to Him is “living” and “holy.” We need to be actively pursuing Christ and His love.  We need to be “alive” with complete satisfaction and fulfillment in Christ.  We need to get our joy, strength, identity, and security from Christ.  We need to be “holy” in that we are set apart from the world - we live, feel, think, speak, and act differently. 

2) We need to be being transformed into Christ and not be conforming to the world.  That means that we have different values, beliefs, behavior, and worldview from the world.  We don’t listen to the messages that they send our way because their messages just cloud our understanding of God’s Will and His Word. 

3) We need “renewed minds.”  We need to allow God to completely control our thoughts and attitudes.  We need to use our minds to guard our hearts.  That means that we have to not fill our minds with all the useless crap that the world sends our way all the time (esp. through movies, TV, music, internet, etc).  We need to fill our minds with God’s Word.  

Now, the question is, what does all this mean for us specifically?  Well, it really means that God’s will is for us to glorify Him by knowing Him and making Him known.  If you are going to do something that follows that purpose, then that is God’s Will.  I usually tell anyone that if they are going to do something that is about the glory of God, I say, ”Go For It!”  Of course, there are some conditions to this:  1) If your heart is right with God.  2) If your motivations are pure.  3) If you are wisely thinking about the choice.

 Knowing God’s Will for your life is simple: Know His Word.  Now, it may be simple to know, but it sure is hard to live.  That’s why we must make our relationship with Christ the priority in our lives in order for Him to live His Word through us.  Stop worrying about God’s Will for your life, start living out God’s Word along with Christ.


Posted on 08/15/11 at 11:05pm