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How to Know God's Will, blog series overview:

Part 1: Introduction

Part 2: The Bible

Part 3: Your Own Perspective

Part 4: The Perspective of Trusted Others

Part 5: Circumstances

Part 6: Conclusion

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"What is God's will for my life?" is one of the most often asked questions that comes up when a person considers whether to be a GOER to the nations for the sake of the Gospel. This blog series will help you identify how God wants you to invest in the nations - whether that be as a GOER, SENDER, or a MOBILIZER. 

Photo by Roy Lathwell

God is absolutely in control of all circumstances. Therefore, circumstances often provide clear windows into the work of God in our lives. In Christian lingo, we often talk about God “opening a door” or “closing a door” for us. What we really mean when we use these terms is that the opportunity has arisen or has passed away to do something. If I say, “God has opened the door for me to get a job working at this new company,” what I most likely mean is that I got hired at the company. If I say that “God has closed the door for me to move to this other city,” I most likely mean that there are extenuating circumstances that will keep me from moving.

The Bible is crystal clear that God determines the circumstances of our lives. For instance, God Himself determines our address and our birthday:

“And he [God] made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us.” (Acts 17:26-27)

In 1881, A.T. Pierson wrote a landmark book, The Crisis of Mission. In this book, he duly said, “Facts are the fingers of God”. Pierson is right: the facts of our lives, or the circumstances upon us, help express the actual work of God in our life.

When I decided to go to graduate school, I applied for 11 different graduate programs in 9 different schools all over the country. I worked a lot to finish those applications. Finally, the letters of acceptance and rejection started coming in to my mailbox. How was I supposed to know in which school God was leading me to enroll? I prayed a lot and discussed my options with Christians in my life. There were 2 schools which I really wanted to go to. Which school did God want me to accept? Ultimately, though, God’s desire for me became clear for me because I did not have the money to go to one of them! I rested in God’s will as it was expressed through the circumstances upon me (i.e., my financial situation).

ASK YOURSELF: Are there any circumstances that lead me to make one decision or another?

Are there opportunities (“open doors”) that I need to consider? 

[View Series]

"What is God's will for my life?" is one of the most often asked questions that comes up when a person considers whether to be a GOER to the nations for the sake of the Gospel. This blog series will help you identify how God wants you to invest in the nations - whether that be as a GOER, SENDER, or a MOBILIZER. 

You need to care about the insights of other mature Christians in your life. Their spiritual insights matter because God often speaks in the context of community, not just to an individual.

The only zoomed in anecdote of a local church sending out missionaries in the New Testament is found in Acts 13:1-3:

“Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a member of the court of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.’ Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.”

There are four main things to notice in this passage. First, God speaks through His Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit still speaks today and calls people to mission! Secondly, The Holy Spirit spoke to the church in the context of their spiritual community. Notice the text says, “While they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said…” In the New Testament, God typically speaks to people in the context of their spiritual community. This is one reason why it is so vitally crucial for a believer to prioritize living in community with other believers... if you do not, you may miss what God is calling you to do! Thirdly, the Holy Spirit calls the church to set apart Paul and Barnabas. The church took this calling seriously; so seriously that they fasted and prayed about this calling. When God calls people to go and serve cross culturally as missionaries, they should be set apart and prayed and fasted for by their church community. Fourth, the church commissioned Paul and Barnabas with the laying on of hands and by prayer. The laying on of hands is a ritual that helps us to affirm back to the Holy Spirit that we agree with God’s work and calling. 

Therefore, as you discern God’s calling on your life, you should go and seek the counsel of your spiritual community as well as other respected Christian mentors and pastors. God speaks most typically in the context of Christian community. Don’t just go and ask your friends. They will just tell you what you want to hear. Mentors, pastors, and the trusted Christian community that you are “doing life” with will help affirm or deny your potential calling from God. This will be a profound demonstration of your humility. This humility admits that God’s Spirit has been poured out fully on the church..

ASK YOURSELF: Have I shared God’s potential calling for me with my missional community?         

Have I asked my missional community what they think I should do… have they prayed with me and for me about this decision?

Have I shared the potential calling on my life with my respected mentors, pastors, or other leaders? What do they think God is calling me to do? 

If the perspective of other trusted Christians is contrary to what I think, am I willing to admit that I might be wrong? 

[View Series]

"What is God's will for my life?" is one of the most often asked questions that comes up when a person considers whether to be a GOER to the nations for the sake of the Gospel. This blog series will help you identify how God wants you to invest in the nations - whether that be as a GOER, SENDER, or a MOBILIZER. 

Photo by nicholas_t

As a Christian who has the indwelling Holy Spirit, what your “gut” says you should do matters. As you grow in maturity in Christ and as you grow in your prayer life, you will grow in your understanding of God’s character and His desires. Your desires will begin to align with His desires. This is not to say that your “gut” is a totally reliable guide, but it is certainly not to be disregarded. The Holy Spirit speaks within us… we should expect to hear from him. 1 Cor. 2:12, “Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God.” Often, the Holy Spirit reminds us deep within us of something from the Bible. John 14:26, “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”

In Christian cultural lingo, your own perspective is often referred to as your “peace”. Christians often say that they do or do not have “a peace” about a certain matter. This internal “peace” matters in our decision making because the Spirit of God indwells His people and aligns their consciences and feelings closer and closer with God’s will.

The apostle Paul made decisions by considering his internal feelings.2 Cor. 2:12-13“When I came to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ, even though a door was opened for me in the Lord, my spirit was not at rest because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I took leave of them and went on to Macedonia.”

Now pay close attention to Paul’s decision making rationale in this text. Paul recognizes that “a door was opened” by God for the preaching of the Gospel. This likely means that there was a chance to preach the Gospel effectively or that people were receptive to his Gospel message. But Paul does not walk through this God-given open door! Paul did not have “a peace” about staying in Troas because Titus was there, and Titus bore a news update about the condition of the Corinthian church.

At first glance, it would seem that Paul is disobeying God by not walking through the open door in Troas. But I do not think that Paul was disobedient for two reasons. First, there is no negative commentary within the Scripture about Paul’s decision. In fact, there only seems to be positive commentary. Paul follow up the Troas narrative with a doxological exclamation: “Thanks be to God who always leads us in Christ!” Paul tells “the rest of the story” in 2 Cor. 7:5-7: Paul left Troas for Macedonia, meets Titus, and God comforts Paul with the coming of Titus and the news about the repentance of the Corinthian church. The second reason that I do not think that Paul was disobedient in leaving Troas and heading off to Macedonia is that Paul’s decision was influenced by his maturity in obedience to God’s Word. Paul’s “gut” feeling came under the leadership of the supreme authority of God’s word. Paul was concerned about the church in Corinth (7:5-7) and about Titus, his brother and co-laborer in the Gospel. Paul’s maturity in Christ led him to make a “on the spot” decision based on what he knew about God (God loves His church) and what he knew about the church (the church is like a Body, when one part suffers, all suffer). 2 Cor. 2:12-13 is, thus, an anecdote of Romans 12:1-3 working itself out in Paul. Years of renewing his mind in God’s Word and listening to the Holy Spirit influenced Paul’s decision and, thus, he was able to “discern what is the will of God” (Romans 12:2) in a very real, daily situation.

Therefore, if you have sincere rest or unrest in your “gut feelings” about a certain decision then these may in fact be indicators of the Holy Spirit speaking and telling you what you should or should not do.

ASK YOURSELF:    What does my “gut” tell me that I should do? 

What do I feel like doing? 

Do I have any unrest about the options before me? 

Do I have “a peace” about any of the options before me? 

Does my "gut" feeling fall in line with the teaching of the Bible?

[View Series]

"What is God's will for my life?" is one of the most often asked questions that comes up when a person considers whether to be a GOER to the nations for the sake of the Gospel. This blog series will help you identify how God wants you to invest in the nations - whether that be as a GOER, SENDER, or a MOBILIZER. 

Photo by khrawlings

The Bible is the first and last element to consider when you are trying to grasp the specific will of God for you. The Bible has absolute authority over all the other elements to consider (your own perspective, circumstances, the counsel of others).

Because the Bible is the only written text that we can be absolutely sure is the revealed Word of God, the only way that you will know for sure that you are hearing God and obeying God’s desires for you is through the intake and faithful application of God’s Word.

The way that sheep learn to recognize the voice of the Shepherd is through sustained meditation on His Word. In the Kingdom of God the cliché holds true that “practice makes perfect”. Consistent practice listening to God’s voice through His revealed Word fine tunes a person, over time, into greater and greater ability to hear God. This is the message of Romans 12:2:

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

In this passage we are commanded to be transformed as Christians by the renewing of our mind. This is one of the awesome benefits of having the Scripture in our language – we can study it as a written text! And it is in this consistent, often laborious, meditation on the text of God’s word that we learn to hear God’s desires for our lives. We “discern what is the will of God” through the renewing of our mind in the meditation on the written word of God.

Notice, though, that learning to discern the will of God takes many attempts. “That by testing” implies that we must over and over bring our questions, issues, and life decisions to God. This repetitive returning to God’s Word through study helps us to fine tune our ability to discern God’s will. 

Therefore, when you are faced with a practical or weighty decision in life, the first and most productive use of your time will be the study and faithful application of God’s Word. If the Bible specifically speaks to your situation, then study those texts. Learn what they mean and what they do not mean.

If the Bible does not speak specifically to your situation, then try to discover Biblical principles and wisdom that may speak to your situation. Interpret your ambiguous situation or questions as much as you can through what is clearly stated in the Bible. The Bible sets general paradigms that help us work out the specific questions that face us every day. As an illustration, perhaps you are faced with the question whether to start dating so and so. Let’s say that this person you are considering dating is not a Christian. The Bible never clearly and specifically gives advice on dating. But, the Bible does give clear counsel on marriage: “Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers” (2 Cor. 6:14). Since dating is a formal initiation into a process leading directly to marriage, the counsel of Scripture is that you should not date a non-Christian.

ASK YOURSELF:    Am I investing the time and energy in studying the Bible so that “by testing” I might learn how to discern God’s will? 

Does the Bible speak clearly to my situation or decision?

If the Bible does not speak specifically to your situation or decision, what is the general counsel of the Bible that might guide your decision making? 

[View Series]

"What is God's will for my life?" is one of the most often asked questions that comes up when a person considers whether to be a GOER to the nations for the sake of the Gospel. This blog series will help you identify how God wants you to invest in the nations - whether that be as a GOER, SENDER, or a MOBILIZER. 

Is God calling me to be an international missionary? Where does God want me to go to college? Is God calling our family to move to another location? Does God want me to take this job offer? What school does God want our child to go to? These are the kinds of practical questions that plague our daily lives.

Sometimes, though, it is difficult to discern what God is saying. As maturing sheep within the Shepherd’s Kingdom, we are continually learning how to recognize God’s voice. Therefore, when we faced with weighty decisions in our lives, we are often prone to confusion, worry, discouragement, and inertia.

Photo by Andrew Mason

The good news is that God wants you to come to Him with these questions. He wants you to follow His leadership in the weighty matters of life as well as the countless mundane decisions that you make every day.

There are four main elements to consider in order to faithfully discern God’s will. First, and most important, is the Bible. The only way to be absolutely sure that you are hearing God speak accurately is through faithful interpretation of the Bible. Second, God’s Spirit speaks through the internal feelings, or the “gut feeling”, of believers. Third, God speaks through the church community around a believer. In fact, God most typically speaks to us in the context of community with others who are following Christ. Fourth, because God is sovereign over all things, God speaks through the circumstances upon us.

These four elements are not weighted equally. In fact, the teaching of God in the Bible is the absolute and primary element to consider. God will never lead us to do or not do anything that is in contradiction to the teaching of the Bible. When you want to discern God’s will, the first and last place to look and pray about is the Bible. The other three elements (your internal feeling, the perspective of others, and circumstances) are not mutually exclusive but they often work together.

The following series of blog posts will cover in detail each of these elements. If we understand how God speaks through each of these elements and practice discerning them faithfully, then we will grow in our ability to follow our Master as He guides us.