If you answered yes to that question, you are certainly not alone. As I mentioned in my previous post, the next step in God's plan, I believe understanding God's plan for your life is a lifelong pursuit.
Have you ever heard someone say, "God spoke to me" or "God told me to do this"? That sounds awesome. Unfortunately, that has never happened to me. God has never spoken to me directly in an audible voice. Is he capable of speaking to us that way? Absolutely. You don't have to read too far into the Old Testament to see God speaking directly to his people. Does he do that today? I don't have a concrete answer. Like I said, it has never happened to me. I am not going to rule it out because my God is capable of anything. (If you need proof of that, read Mark 4:35-41 or John 11 to start.)
So, let's assume you are like me, and God has never spoken to you directly in an audible voice. How can you know God's will? What I want to do, is go through five steps I believe help us in determining God's will in our lives. I believe this is a fluid process, meaning these steps are not something we check off and move on to the next step. I think we must continually engage in each of these steps in order to better understand how God communicates with us and leads us.
1. Obey God's Will - Okay, I realize that sounds like something we would do after we determine God's will for us. And, yes that is true. However, most of what God wants from you is spelled out in his word. God is very clear about many aspects of his will.
Two summers ago, my youngest nephew Colby was just learning to swim at the age of six. He was wearing his floaties when the water was over his head, but he was starting to get the hang of being in the water. Now, in the deep end of my pool, there is a slide. Colby’s older brothers loved it. They took turns going down backwards and forwards and any which way they could think of. But, Colby wasn’t ready. We tried to convince him to check it out. “Colby,” I said, “you really need to go down that slide. It is awesome!”
Colby at 6-years-old (not my pool)
For whatever reason, Colby wasn’t ready. I told him, “just
to go sit up at the top and when you’re ready, just slide down.” So, he climbs
up the ladder and sits down. “Go!” we tell him. “It is awesome!” But, what does
he do? He climbs right back down. We would tell him, look how much fun your
brothers are having. I even got up there and slid down. As the slide was
wobbling on the way down I told Colby, “This is awesome!” Still, nothing. This process went on for
weeks, but Colby just wasn’t ready.
I feel like this is what God is trying to do for us. "This way. This way to joy. This way to depth. This way to meaning. This way to peace." That’s what the “thou shalts” and the “thou shalt nots” are trying to accomplish. It’s God calling us into the life he designed.
A lot of times we look at what we think of as rules from God and it doesn't seem very fun. God’s not trying to rob you of anything! This is important, so I am going to say it again. God’s not trying to rob you of anything! How would God be glorified if his big plan was begrudging submission on your part? No! The author of life is trying to lead you into something that’s going to bring you much greater joy than your idea of what’s going to bring you joy will bring you.
In the process living out this life the way God has intended, we will have 98% of our questions answered on what we should do in specific situations.
Don’t you know, later on in that summer, Colby finally did go
down that slide. You know what he said? “This is awesome!” Then, we couldn’t
keep him off the slide for the rest of the summer.
2. Walk with God - "God created man for the enjoyment of a walking relationship that involved companionship, dialogue, intimacy, joint decision-making, mutual delight, and shared dominion." (Bob Sorge, Christianity Today)
There is something about walking with someone that brings you into deeper relationship. Walking with someone is more than just putting one foot in front of another, it is a conversation, an ongoing dialogue that allows us to understand more about the person we are walking with.
Walking with God means growing and developing a deeper relationship with him. That is what Christianity is all about. It's not meant to be merely religion. It's relationship. We cultivate that relationship with God through spending time in his Word, talking to him through prayer, and getting involved with a church family. The goal is to know him and not just know about him.
Every now and then, when I was anchoring the news, I would have someone come up to me and say they recognized me from TV. Probably the funniest experience like that happened about two years ago while I was standing in line at Ted's Bar-B-Q in Five Points. I was standing next to my meteorologist, Ari Sarsalari, when a lady behind us was talking to someone she was with. Referencing Ari and me, she said, "I go to bed with those two every night." Wait... what? haha. She was referring to our nine o'clock news cast on FOX54.
It's funny how we think we know people just because we see them on TV. Once again, this did not happen to me a lot. There were not a ton of people that watched my newscast. But, when it did, the person would know my name and reference something about me. I mention this because I think it represents the difference between knowing about someone and knowing someone. I can get on the internet and look up a bunch of facts about my favorite actor or my favorite band. Does that mean I know them? No. That's impersonal information. Someone I know, I have had personal conversation with, an active element of relationship that makes knowing someone meaningful. That is what we must seek with God.
Sometimes, we place a higher priority in getting to know about God than we do in getting to know God. As we develop that relationship with him, we will better understand his will for our lives. Proverbs 3:5-6 says, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths."
3. Welcome Godly Advice - Over and over in the proverbs we find reference to the importance of wise counsel. It's pretty blunt in 12:15, "The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice."
As a youth minister, the importance of wise counsel is even more evident as I watch my teens try to navigate their day to day lives. One of the most successful programs at Monrovia is our guy's prayer group on Wednesday nights at 6:00. Kevin Smith runs this group each week as we share a meal and then discuss struggles and victories of the week past. Kevin does a great job offering godly advice to our teens. I have seen some major growth in their lives as a result of this group.
The reason prayer group works is because these young men are genuinely interested in seeking God and they welcome godly advice. Welcoming godly advice is more than just hearing. It means seeking and attempting to put it into practice.
However, godly advice is not just for teens. It is important for all of us, young and old. Proverbs 15:31 says, "The ear that listens to life-giving reproof will dwell among the wise."
Author, speaker, and business philosopher Jim Rohn says, "you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with." To me, that means you should surround yourself with godly advisers that will help you determine God's plan for your life. Find your advice from those who are headed the same direction you are.
A great place to find godly advisers is in the church. The more you are involved with a church family, the greater your opportunity to surround yourself with wise counsel.
4. Recognize your Gifts - In Romans 12 we read that not every member of the body has the same function.
For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them... -Romans 12:4-6That means God has wired us differently for a reason. Each one of us has been created to fulfill a specific role in this world. If you needed your transmission replaced, you wouldn't call a brain surgeon. So it is in the church. Each of us has certain gifts that God has given us.
Therefore, when you are seeking God's will, recognize your gifts. Chances are your special abilities will play a role in where God is calling you. Remember this is a fluid process. I don't think we always hit a home run the first time to the plate. For me, it took nearly seven years in TV before I realized I needed to be working for the church full-time. Perhaps, God is using where you are now to help prepare you and develop your gifts for the next step.
One more note on gifts: I believe kingdom work to not be limited to what happens in a church building or during worship service. Teaching a bible class or leading worship is certainly kingdom work, but so is tending to the sick in the hospital or repairing cars so people can get where they need to go. Recognizing your gifts means finding what you are good at and using those gifts to glorify God and further his kingdom.
5. Listen for God's Direction - Maybe a better way to write that would be "Pay attention to God's direction". At the beginning of this blog post, I wrote that God has never spoken to me directly. Let me clarify. While I may have never heard God's voice audibly, I have certainly heard indirectly. Check out this quote from Jesus himself from John 10: "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me."
I believe the more you are in tune with God, the more you recognize his direction. The more you seek him, the more his ways become your ways and the more your desires become his desires. That's why Jesus says, "...whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith” (Matthew 21:22). He was talking to men who walked with him, his followers. Their thoughts and prayers should be in line with his.
Bill Hybel wrote a book called Too Busy Not to Pray. First of all, the title of the book offers an important reminded of the necessity of prayer in our daily lives. In the book, Hybel introduces a concept that is foreign to many of our prayer lives: listening.
We look at prayer as a conversation with God, but when is the last time you did the listening? As in any conversation, sometimes it's better to just shut up. How do we do this in prayer? I will share with you a couple of practical concept I have found helpful, the first is simply meditation.
Meditation is almost a bad word when it comes to religion. We think of Eastern religions and sitting around crossed-legged while chanting. But meditation is so much more than that. Christian meditation is focused thinking on God.
In one of my classes this past semester, we practiced a form of meditation know as lectio divina. That means sacred reading. There are four stages: In the lectio (reading) stage, one finds a passage and reads it deliberately. The next stage, meditatio (discursive meditation), is where one ponders the text. In the oratio (effective prayer) stage, one talks to God about the reading, asking Him to reveal the truth. In the final, contemplatio (contemplation) stage, one simply rests in the Lord's presence.
I have found this practice very beneficial in my own prayer life. This can also be translated into life questions. Try beginning your prayer time with a question, like "What is your plan for my career?" or "What is the next step in my finances?" Take time to meditate on those questions during your prayer time while you focus on God.
Another place we find God's direction is in our hearts. Psalm 37:4-5 says, "Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act."
I will close with a word of encouragement from Jeremiah 29:11, " For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope."
My prayer is for you to better comprehend God's will for your life. His plan is ultimately for your salvation through his mercy and grace only found in Jesus Christ.
Source: 8 Keys to Knowing God’s Will For Your Life
