How to Know God's Will

Last week Pastor Bob and I were having lunch at the In 'N Out burger. We got to talking about how a person goes about discerning God's will for their lives. A lot of people imagine that the circumstances they find themselves in are a sign that God is blessing or not blessing them, opening or closing doors, etc. In fact, our circumstances are a notoriously sketchy guide to God's will. In Nicky Gumbel's excellent ALPHA Course, he outlines five specific ways God guides us. I list them below in their order of importance.

(1) Commanding Scripture: Nicky is, of course, not talking about the "flip and dip" method of opening the Bible randomly and assuming that the verse you land on contains a message from God (see #3 below). It means that believers are to be informed by the worldview and values contained in God's Word. God will never guide us to do things that contradict His Word.

(2) Compelling Spirit: This implies that we have sufficient spiritual maturity to be able to discern the difference between the guidance or prompting of God's Holy Spirit and our personal feelings. Just because we feel something doesn't mean that God is behind it or in it.

(3) Common Sense: a reminder of the important difference between authentic faith and naive credulity. God gaves us common sense for a reason. It's important that we make good use of it. How's that for a refreshing perspective!

(4) Counsel of the Saints: Like it says in Proverbs 15.22, "Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed." It's never a bad idea to seek the wisdom of mature believers when we're considering a course of action.

(5) Circumstantial Signs: I can hear American Idol's Randy Jackson saying, "Yo, dawg, check it out." A lot of folks seem to think that the main way God speaks to us is through circumstantial signs. In fact, it's number five, at the bottom of the list, for a reason. Our circumstances can sometimes flat out contradict God's will for our lives. Remember how in the psalms David wonders why the wicked prosper, while Job wonders why he's suffering despite his having lived an upright life? We live in a fallen world and life isn't always fair. So while circumstantial signs sometimes may be be a way God guides us, they are not necessarily the chief or most important way. Rather than focusing on signs, really get to know your Bible, be open to the guidance of God's Holy Spirit, use your common sense, and seek the counsel of the saints.

One last thought. A lot of folks seem to believe that God's will always comes in the form of a single option. In fact, there may be many things that might be God's permissive will for your life. God, in His mercy and grace, may have given you the option of choosing among a number of perfectly acceptable possibilities. Among those good things, you get to choose. I think back to the story of the Garden of Eden where God says, "You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.” (Genesis 2.16-17) There are innumerable options, all of which fall within God's will ("You may freely eat of every tree of the garden," God says). What a great God, to give us the freedom to choose among any number of good things He has created for our blessings and enjoyment. And what a great God, to warn us away from those things that would harm us, injure others, and break our fellowship with Him.