How to be Confident in Knowing God’s Will

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God’s Will is Not a Secret to be Grappled With

My husband and I are currently serving in Costa Rica as Associates in Missions, which means we help the local churches and the appointed missionaries with anything they need. When we first felt God calling us to Costa Rica, we first prayed about it, then spoke to our pastor about it, and then the wheels started churning and things started happening very quickly. We spoke to our pastor in January and by November we were approved to go to Costa Rica. This was clearly God’s will!

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We visited the missionaries in Costa Rica in November. We had a wonderful time and quickly learned how well the four of us would work together. This was just more confirmation that God had called us to Costa Rica. In fact, I often describe the time between January and November of that year as “confirmation, confirmation, confirmation!” Then we returned home and immediately, and by that I mean the day after we arrived at home, opposition to us going to Costa Rica began. It started with news about a family member that would cause us to question whether we should go, then financial matters began going south on us, our house didn’t sell quickly like we expected it to, and on and on and on … opposition, opposition, opposition. There was enough opposition that would cause anyone to begin questioning if it was really God’s will for us to go to Costa Rica.

Do you often grapple with knowing God’s will? Do you stress and cry out, “Lord, please, show me what you want!” As Christians we all want to do His will. But we so often don’t feel like we know what He wants us to do.

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Even when we are at church and we feel an unction to pray for someone, what do we do? We often stay in our seats and ask, “Lord, is that you? Are you asking me to go and pray for that person or is that just me?” I heard a wise elder once ask, “Do you really think your flesh is giving you a desire to pray for someone?” What a great question! Without God’s urging we would have no desire to pray for someone. So, why do we struggle?

Today I want to help you quit grappling. But first we need to understand what “grappling” means. It means to engage in a struggle without weapons (https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/grapple, last accessed Mar. 26, 2020). That is what we are doing when we sit in our seats and ask God if we should go pray for someone, or we are crying out to Him, “Lord, please show me what you want!” We are engaged in a struggle without weapons. So, to help you today, I am going to arm you with the only weapon God provides us in the armour of God:  the “sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:1, King James Version (KJV)).

In Psalm 143:8, David cries out to the Lord, “Cause me to hear Your loving-kindness in the morning; for in You do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk: for I lift up my soul unto You.”

David is expressing three things to the Lord in this verse: 1) David wants to hear God’s loving-kindness in the morning, which means he wants to hear an expression of affection; 2) He wants to know God’s will; and 3) He is expressing his trust in the Lord.

We don’t cry out “cause me to know the way wherein I should walk,” but we say similar things. “Show me what you want me to do!” “What is your will, Lord?” And we don’t say “for to you I lift up my soul,” but we say “Lord, I trust you!” We have a desire to know God’s will because we trust that doing God’s will, submitting to that will, is what is best in our lives.

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So, let’s quit grappling, struggling without weapons. Let’s wield the sword of the Spirit when we are struggling, wrestling to know God’s will. We will start by looking at the scriptures that clearly tell us God’s will for how we are to walk. Then we will learn how we can know and walk in God’s will. Remember that not only is God’s word a weapon, but it is also a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our paths (Psalm 119:105, KJV). So even when the Bible does not address the specifics of our lives, such as where we should live, work, go to school, worship, we will find the specific way we should go, God’s will, when we stay in God’s word.

HOW WE ARE TO WALK

Walk in Newness of Life:  The first way we should walk is in the “newness of life” according to Romans 6:4. What does that mean? Well, the Amplified Version helps us understand this concept in 2 Corinthians 5:17. It says, “… if any person is [ingrafted] in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old [previous moral and spiritual condition] has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come!”

Once we are buried with Christ in baptism and rise up out of that water to new life, we are to walk in a new moral and spiritual condition. What does that look like?

Not long ago I had two different people in separate conversations with me ask the same question. Although the context was different, the question was the same. Should a Christian work for a manufacturer of alcoholic beverages?

The answer to that question is not pertinent to this discussion, but I share it as an example of walking in the newness of life. Before these two individuals began living for Jesus, they would never have asked the question. Their moral and spiritual code would not have even considered it an issue. Now, as they strive to walk according to God’s will, they are asking the question. This is an example of walking in newness of life as they try to apply a new moral and spiritual code to their lives.

Walk Worthy of the Calling:  We are also to walk “worthy of the calling.” In Ephesians 4:1-3, Paul asked the Ephesians to “walk (lead a life) worthy of the calling” by living in humility, unselfishness, gentleness, mildness, and patience (Ephesians 4:1-3, The Amplified Bible (AMP)).

When we put others before ourselves and do so with patience, we live a life that is a credit to the calling God has on our lives.

Walk in the Spirit:  Paul further instructs the church to walk in the Spirit, meaning to walk and live controlled and guided by the Holy Spirit, and be responsive to it (Galatians 5:16, AMP).  It is necessary to subject the flesh to the Spirit, in order to control cravings and desires of the flesh. Although fasting is a topic for another day, regular fasting is the best way to subject our flesh to the Spirit. If we are being controlled by our flesh, then we cannot be also controlled by the Holy Spirit because the flesh, the carnal mind, is hostile to God (Romans 8:7, AMP).

Walk by Faith:  And, of course, we are also called to walk by faith, not by sight according to 2 Corinthians 5:7.

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Does walking in newness of life, worthy of the calling, in the Spirit, and by faith, in other words “walking in the Light,” seem like some lofty goal and abstract concept with little instruction on how to do it? Well, don’t despair. We are going to discuss some concrete ways we can walk in God’s will.

HOW TO KNOW AND WALK IN GOD’S WILL

To have confidence that we know God’s will and can walk in it, we must first walk in the Light. How do we do that?

Learn What is Pleasing to the Lord:  The first thing that we need to do in order to walk in the Light and to know God’s will is to learn what is pleasing to the Lord (Ephesians 5:10, AMP).  According to the Amplified Bible, that learning comes from experience. However, it also comes from hearing the Word, studying the Word, being in prayer, and being cognizant of the things God is doing in our lives that we may take for granted.

Several years ago, I acquired a great appreciation for nature, God’s creation. My husband and I had started training for a 200-mile bike ride, which was a fund raiser for our church. Initially we rode our bikes on a trail that is part of the Rails-to-Trails system in the United States. Eventually we graduated to riding on country roads. Often during these training rides God blessed me by allowing me to see wildlife. I realize it isn’t unusual to see deer, rabbits, squirrels and the like on country roads. But I really began enjoying seeing the wildlife. Then one evening as we rode on our usual route, I saw a peacock within 2 feet of me. What a glorious sight! I had never before seen a peacock except at a zoo. And when I saw it in the wild, I actually laughed with the Lord, throwing one hand in the air, and thanking Him for that blessing. It pleased the Lord when I thanked Him for the experiences of observing wildlife and nature and laughed with Him about it. As a result, God continued to bless me with such sightings.

One fall I even rode into the middle of a flock of turkeys! I have learned that God is pleased when we enjoy His creation and thank Him for it. So, learning through our experiences what is pleasing to the Lord is one way we learn how to know and walk in His will.

Follow the Instructions We are Taught:  God has placed spiritual authorities in our lives who watch over our spiritual wellbeing and who are accountable to God for our spiritual welfare (Hebrews 13:17, AMP). They teach us how we ought to walk, what is God’s will. Paul admonishes us to learn from those spiritual authorities (1 Thessalonians 4:1, AMP).   Submitting to those authorities results in pleasing and gratifying God and learning and walking in God’s will.

Be Imitators of God:  We are also to be imitators of God, walking in love just as Christ loved us (Ephesians 5:1-2, AMP).

Acknowledge God in Every Part of Our Lives:  The surest way to know God’s will and walk in it is to trust Him with our whole being and acknowledge Him in every part of our lives (Proverbs 3:5-6, KJV). We can then be confident that God is directing our steps according to His will.

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So, in summary, how can we be confident in knowing God’s will? Like King David we can ask God to cause us to know His will when we trust Him and are submitted to Him. Scripture clearly states that it is God’s will that we walk in newness of life, worthy of the calling, in the Spirit, and by faith. We are able to walk in these ways by learning what is pleasing to the Lord through our experiences, following the instruction we are taught by spiritual authorities, being imitators of God, and acknowledging Him in every part of our lives. As we acknowledge Him in all our ways, He will direct our path, showing us His will. It is through these things that we can be confident that we know God’s will and can walk in it. You are now armed and can wield the sword of the Spirit in order to be confident about knowing God’s will.