God’s Will

 February 19, 2021

When I was much younger and still single, one of the burning issues for us was how to find “God’s perfect will for our lives.” It was particularly pertinent when it came to dating and marriage. “What if we missed God’s will and married the wrong person?” The problem with this approach is that it’s unsustainable. If it weren’t God’s will for me to marry Linda, then she too, missed God’s will, as did the persons we were supposed to have married. The domino effect never ends. I know people who are so afraid of missing God’s will that they are almost completely paralyzed when it comes to making life decisions. And Satan smiles.

In Colossians 1:9, Paul prays that the Colossian Christians know God’s will “in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.” Interestingly, he doesn’t follow that statement with any talk of specific actions they ought to take or avoid. instead, he speaks of “walking worthy of the Lord, pleasing him, being fruitful in good works, increasing in the knowledge of God, strengthened to suffer with joy, (something about which we know little), and giving thanks.” Not one of the consequences of knowing God’s will has anything to do with specific life choices; they are all concerned with our mindset, attitudes, and overall Christian behavior. Knowing God’s will has much more to do with how we respond to criticism, or whether we get caught up in the negativity and complaining that is so prevalent, then it does with deciding which job to take or which person to marry. 

As long as we do not violate the clear moral and ethical standards of Scripture, God gives us freedom to make our choices, blessing us in them.

For me, I need to learn what it means to endure with joy instead of with complaint, even in my prayers. Just this morning I had a conversation with someone that turned political. He spoke disparagingly about some of the things happening, and I fell right in line instead of countering with the hope of the Gospel. My words were not fruitful or worthy of the Lord. They weren’t bad; they just weren’t good. I don’t need God to decide what I have for breakfast tomorrow. I do need him to guide my thoughts, motives, words, and actions so that whatever I do, I am doing it with him and his character in mind.