How You Can Find God’s Will for Your Life
What is God’s will for you? Where does he want you to serve in his kingdom? Can you be sure that you know what he wants you to do?
God’s word gives us a lot of things we can do in the kingdom. It also provides helpful guidance into how to discover what we ought to do for the kingdom. This passage from 2 Samuel 7 opens a door into discovering God’s will.
Now when the king lived in his house and the LORD had given him rest from all his surrounding enemies, the king said to Nathan the prophet, “See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells in a tent.” And Nathan said to the king, “Go, do all that is in your heart, for the LORD is with you.” (vv. 1-3, ESV)
David’s intention was to build a temple to glorify and honor God. After all, he was living in a palace while the ark of the covenant was in a tent!
He shared his plan with the prophet Nathan, who could clearly see that it would be a good thing. To have a central and permanent location for the people to worship would promote unity and provide spiritual encouragement.
However, when we read the rest of the passage, we find that God says no!
God communicated to Nathan that is was his intention to first establish his people, then the house of David and through David to establish his eternal plan of having a son of David on the throne forever, which was fulfilled in Jesus. He told Nathan to let David know that it was his son who would build the temple.
Finding God’s will
Following the pattern we see here, we can move forward with simple steps.
One – Establish what you can do for God. See a need and think how you can fulfill that need.
Two – Pray and seek his face. Tell God what you want to do and how you will do it. And then, submit to his will and plans.
Pray boldly.
If you have the resources and ability to carry out what you want to do, much like David did, you might pray like this: “I will not do this unless you confirm it.” That allows us to wait on God and discover whether this was placed on our hearts by him or if it was our own desire. You would pray this way only if the thing is not clearly stated in God’s Word.
When something is in accordance with God’s known will you might pray like this: “I will do this unless you stop me.” For example, we are told to care for the sick and you feel God wants you to start visiting people in the hospital. In that case you would pray that prayer.
Three – Move forward consistent with what you prayed. In other words, you would either wait for God to confirm or start doing what you proposed.
Why would God say no?
Sometimes, God says no to something good, just as he did to David. Here are three reasons he might say no.
- You’re not the one to do it. There is someone else better equipped or simply chosen by God to do the task.
- This isn’t the time to do it. God’s timing must be respected.
- He has something else for you. There is something that he wants you to do that you couldn’t do if you were engaged in another activity.
Why do we miss it?
Why do we go through life unable to discern God’s will for our lives?
One – We are hard of hearing and nearly blind! We haven’t made the effort to hear God’s voice or see his work in the kingdom. We can improve. There are three important ways we can enable ourselves to hear and see better.
Spiritual reading. Pick up some good Christian books and read what God is doing in the world. There are hundreds of books written that are reporting God’s work and encouraging involvement in his work.
Reading God’s Word. For every hour you spend in spiritual reading, spend ten hours in the Bible! That seems extreme but it’s easy to get so enthused by a good book, we may feel the call of the author instead of the call of God!
Prayer. With prayer as well, you will spend more time in prayer than in spiritual reading. Ask God to open your ears and eyes to discern his leading in your life.
Two – We overestimate ourselves. We tend to evaluate ourselves through our own perceptions. Therefore, we sometimes take on more than we are equipped to do. We can improve in this area again through prayer, Bible reading and spiritual reading. We also can greatly improve in this area by spending time with godly people. Someone said, “we must listen to men (or women) who listen to God.” That is good counsel and can help us immensely. Notice in the scripture today that David spoke not to his lead counsellors, wisemen or the commander of his army but to Nathan – a man who listened to God.
Three – More often, though, we underestimate ourselves! We tend to think we cannot do something. We think we aren’t ready, or haven’t got enough training or simply couldn’t do it. When God called him, Moses had all kinds of excuses why he couldn’t do the job. Finally, he said, “Please send someone else.” We know he finally went and God did great things through him. Please, let God do what he wants in your life!
Four – Our good intentions do not align with God’s plans. We read today about David and the temple. Later in Israel’s history, we see Josiah facing the Egyptians with disastrous results. In the New Testament, Paul wanted to go Bythinia but God wouldn’t let him, instead calling him to Macedonia. The key is to not get discouraged but to continue to seek God’s leadership.
What can you do today?
What Jesus did. Imitate his life. As he showed compassion, show compassion. As he shared about the kingdom of heaven, share about the kingdom of heaven! Simple!
Pray. Ask God for direction or propose your desire to God. Listen for his response directly, through the Bible or through other followers of Jesus.
Wait. This is especially important if you tend to dive right in and do something. Don’t be so excited that you move ahead without his guidance. But don’t wait forever!
Don’t wait. If you are one who wants to make double-triple sure you may be guilty of ‘over-waiting.’ When you get a strong prompt, respond and do it! Start and experience God’s equipping and leadership as you serve!
Embrace action and service. The Kingdom of God is not about talk but about power. Power moves us to action and changes things. This is what the Kingdom of God is all about.
And, if this has been helpful to you, pass it on and help someone else out, too!
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