Knowing God's Will, Pt. 2

Sunday morning, we discussed the meaning of wisdom. I gave you the following definition for wisdom: the ability to understand God’s will for your life. This definition is based on Ephesians 5.15-17. “Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil. So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” To be unwise is to be foolish; the Greek word translated foolish means to not think. So, to be unwise is to be a non-thinker. To be unwise is to fail to understand God’s will.

Perceiving God’s will, though, requires some effort on our part. God does not pour wisdom magically into our heads. He expects us to think through the biblical issues involved in a circumstance so we will be able to choose rightly what we will do. To be able to sift through scriptural truth means we must be familiar with what the Bible says.

God does not want us to walk in darkness but in light. In Ephesians 5, Paul made a statement about light. He wrote, “Awake, o sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.” (Eph. 5.14). That declaration is called a baptismal pronouncement. After someone was baptized in the early church, this statement would be made when they came out of the water. What the formula means is when we come to new life in Christ, he enables us to know right from wrong as we walk with him .

This ongoing process of growth in discipleship takes a lifetime. We do not arrive at full enlightenment in a few short steps. We grow daily, becoming, over time, better able to see what God’s plan is for us and how that plan will be realized in our lives. As I have already stated, coming to understand God’s purpose for our lives requires prayer and thoughtful, diligent Bible study.

Yet, more is required of us. We also must interpret our life situations. As the Holy Spirit leads us, and as we choose to follow his guidance, we will be directed towards what we Christians call “doors” of opportunity. We might see a door ahead of us and not understand how things will work if we head in that direction. The Lord just might put before us what seems to be unworkable circumstances. When he does, he is challenging us to follow him even though we are unable to understand how things will work out for our benefit.

Further, we might not really like what we see. What would we do if God put before us an opportunity requiring us to leave family and familiar surroundings and go somewhere foreign to us? Would we say, “God, I don’t understand this, I don’t agree with it, and I don’t like what I see”? Or, would we be obedient and head out in the direction God is pointing us?

When we find ourselves at such a place in life, we must decide to follow God as he leads us. If we trust him, and show our faith by following, God will lead us to the best possible circumstance; he never leads us to misery and unhappiness. God will always take us to where we can be used best by him. He will always put us in a place and circumstance where our gifts and talents can be used best.

We need to understand, though, what James wanted his readers to know. God is more interested in who we are than what we do. If we are people of faith, we will obey God and follow him wherever he leads us because we want to be pleasing to him. If we are people of faith, if we trust God with our lives and futures, we will do what he calls us to do. When we are concerned more with our own welfare than God’s glory, we will be disobedient. James started his letter with the statement, “Consider your encounters with various tests to be a source of joy, because you know the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”

God’s ultimate plan for you life and for mine is for us to be mature and complete. He wants us to be fully prepared for whatever he calls us to do, for whatever difficult test we might face. God’s plan for our lives is for us to be successful in following him. He does not want us to fail. Success in following Jesus requires us to trust him completely with our lives, with our futures, with all we are.