How to Know God's Will for Your LifeSample

God said it. I believe it. That settles it.

It is a fundamental rule of Christian living that God’s promises precede God’s precepts. Let me explain.

In most religions, it is the other way around. Precepts come first. If we work hard enough and do enough good deeds, we may, hopefully, please God.

The Bible says, in effect, ‘Forget it. You can never do enough.’

The problem is that our sins far outweigh our successes. But all is not lost. Jesus has come among us, taken our iniquities upon himself, died for our sins and made perfect atonement for sin. Further he has risen from the dead and lives to empower us by his Holy Spirit to do all the will of God.

There are many biblical promises to this effect.

·You make known to me the path of life (Psalm 16:11).

·Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it”
(Isaiah 30:21).

·The LORD will guide you continually (Isaiah 58:11).

·My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me (John 10:27).

·When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth (John 16:13).

·For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God (Romans 8:14).

Those who do the will of God live forever (1 John 2:17).

Putting all these (and many others) together, it is obvious that God is more interested in us doing his will than we are! Our part is simply to do what God wants us to do. And he has promised to enable us to do just that.

To live in God’s will is initially simply a matter of taking God at his Word.

You may say, ‘Hang on! There has to be more to it than that.’ Well, yes, in some ways you are right. But even so, God’s promise is the only safe foundation for our actions. And he promises that through Christ we can do it. There’s no other place to begin.

Think of it like this: if reading this Bible Plan is not the will of God for you, shouldn’t you stop reading and do something else? Are you still reading? Well, obviously, you believe you are doing what God wants. In other words, by faith, you believe you are in his will.

Putting it bluntly, unless you know you are deliberately being disobedient, don’t assume you are out of God’s will, trying to find a way in; just take God at his word and believe you are in his will, being careful not to wander out.

Jesus often told people not to doubt but simply to believe. So for the next few days let’s do it. Let’s trust God’s promise and believe that it is possible both to know and to do God’s will.

As an encouragement, we may heed the words of songwriter Sidney E. Cox:

My Lord knows the way through the wilderness,
And all I have to do is follow.

What Next?

·You may be confronted right now with a particular situation where you desperately want to know what line of action to take. Pray that God will show you the right path. God has promised to guide you and he will.

·Memorise one of the promises listed above (including the reference) and quote it to yourself as often as you can during the day (for example, on the hour).