Understanding God's WillSample

Ever been in a place where you've been confused about what god's will is for your life? Maybe you've wanted to know if God wants you to take up a certain job, apply to a certain college, or if you should be moving cities or not.

Or if you should be making this decision or that decision.

And with so many choices in front of you, you just want to know which is the best path to take. You turn to God and hope that He will direct you to make the right choice and reveal His will.

We've all been there. We've all wanted to know what God wants of us and we've all wanted to make the right choice - the best choice.

So we've asked God for his will and we've waited for Him to respond and give us a sign.

Maybe we've even hoped that He would give us a message in the clouds in BIG BOLD LETTERS. Chances are though that's not going to happen.

God's will for our lives is pretty clear though. It's written in his Word - many times.

"Give thanks in all circumstances for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." - 1 Thessalonians 5:18

"It is God's will that you should be sanctified and that you should avoid immorality..." - 1 Thessalonians 4:3

"For it is God's will that by doing good, you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people" - 1 Peter 2:15

"He has shown you a mortal what is good, and what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." - Micah 6:8

"Do not conform to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - His good pleasing and perfect will." - Romans 12:2

Do all of these verses help you right now?

Maybe. Maybe not.

These verses seem to be quite general about how we're supposed to live our lives, and you may have a specific problem.

You want to know what God's will is to make the best choice in your specific situation.

Well, first things first.

God is much more concerned about our long-term character than our short-term happiness, and that's a good thing!

Because everything in this life will fade away except for how Christ-like we are.

Now if that bothers you and if you'd much rather get answers to what choice you need to make over knowing what God's will is for your life, then I hope you read this, knowing that we have written it out of our love for you -

Isn't that the problem?

Isn't the problem that we'd much rather get quick answers than be who God wants us to be?

Jesus said it Himself, "Seek first the kingdom of God and all these things will be added unto you."

All these things - all the answers to the questions we have about the choices that we need to make, or about what God's will is, and these things that we're so worried about - will be added unto us in His time.

The prayer is, "His kingdom come and His will be done."

Not "my kingdom come, or my will be done."

His will for us is to become more like Him, and there really is nothing better than that. We can trust Him on that, and we can trust that He'll take care of the rest.

Now you may have been looking for an answer to what God's specific will for your life is, and don't worry - we'll talk about that tomorrow.

But for now, just know this - that God loves you and that is an important truth. Because if God loves you, He really wants the best for you. And He wants you to be the best - not just the best that you can be, but the best that He's made you to be.