God's Will For Your Life - Pt. 1

Sunday Service

Selected Scriptures

One of the questions most frequently asked by Christians is “How can I know the will of God for my life?” However, many of us expect God to reveal His will to us in ways He never told us He never told us He would and that’s why we so often experience confusion, fear, and frustration when faced with a major decision in our life. Today we are going to consider SEVEN WRONG WAYS to discern God’s will.

1. IMPROPER INTERPRETATION AND APPLICATION OF SCRIPTURE
Even though there are many parts of Scripture that are clear and easily interpreted in terms of our particular situation, there are many decisions that are not clearly addressed by Scripture. In these areas, it becomes easy for us to read into its meaning things that don’t really apply to our situation (i.e., interpreting Jeremiah 29:10-11). But Scripture should never be taken out of context in an effort to seek God’s will because it may not be applicable.

2. CIRCUMSTANCES
We often refer to our circumstances in terms of ‘open doors’ and ‘closed doors’, but these terms in Scripture most often refer to sharing of the gospel message. Moreover, the ‘doors’ that seem open are often not meant to be passed through (i.e., Paul’s stop in Troaz in 2 Corinthians 2). We must accurately assess our circumstances and be cognizant of the fact that what God intends may not be the same as the way we are thinking (cf. Joshua 9).

3. FEELINGS AND IMPRESSIONS
Our feelings and impressions can easily be influenced by our physical and mental states, so these are often not reliable indicators of God’s will. At worst, our peace or inner promptings may well be the deceptive work of demons or Satan.

4. SIGNS AND DREAMS
Human nature tends to misinterpret circumstances or occurrences to be signs from God that indicate His will for us. But again, human reasoning is often fallible and efforts to discern God’s will apart from the clear teaching of Scripture is often errant (i.e., Judges 6:36). And, we should also bear in mind that God provides in very practical ways.

5. PRAYER
Even though prayer is a two-way communication between us and God, God speaks to us when we read His Word. Prayer is more accurately characterized as the means by which we address God.

6. COUNSEL
We should not expect God to speak through the couple of others. This is because often the counsel of others is based on human experience, rather than wisdom drawn from the teaching of God’s Word. We should be careful about what kind of council we receive.

7. PERSONAL DESIRES
Often we assume that God wants us to be happy and so we pursue things that we think will make us happy. But things that make us happy may not be what God desires for us. In fact, happiness often does not involve circumstances that cause us to grow spiritually and often do not involve obedience to God (Jeremiah 7:9). Moreover, the motives of our heart are often impure (Proverbs 16:2).

Thank God for giving you His sure, sufficient Word which serves as the final authority for discerning His will for your life and helping you make wise, God-honoring decisions.