How can I know what God’s will is for my life? This has always been a question burning in my mind, ever since as a young child I realized I would be doing something with my life, and I had to figure out what that would be.
I didn’t want to just do what I want to do, I wanted to do what God wanted. How could I know what that was?
I have thought about this a lot with past decisions I have made in my life. Even before coming to the Discipleship Program, I struggled to know if this year was the Lord’s will for me. Looking back now, I know it was, due to the amazing ways the Lord has worked through it. Prayer is one big thing I have grown in this year, as well as becoming more others-focused – learning what it means to serve, and becoming more of an outgoing person, willing to give of myself.
As the year slowly comes to an end, there is the question of what is next, not often spoken but often running through my mind.
Through a few things we have studied, conversations we’ve had, and the Lord helping me understand, I have come to realize God’s will for my life isn’t and doesn’t need to be as complicated as I always thought it was.
A picture in my head that would describe what I had thought about God’s will would be of a road stretched out in front of me, my life. In that road, there is a fork – a decision I must make – right or left, this or that. One way would be God’s will and the other wouldn’t. If I chose the wrong path, well, it wouldn’t be very good from there. I didn’t consider what would happen down that path, but I knew that it would be bad, and it was crucial to make the right choice.
I have come to see that the picture I had is wrong.
God’s will for me is to know Him more. If I am earnestly seeking Him with my heart, the choice I make will be what He desires as well.
Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Psalm 37:4
For this is the will of God, your sanctification.
1 Thessalonians 4:3a
He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
Micah 6:8
And what if I choose the things that are not of the Lord? It’s not the end of the world. Everybody slips off the path and stumbles at different points. The key is to get up again and get back on the right track.
I feel it is encouraging to know that God has a plan for my future. I am realizing that I will most likely not know all of it at once however. Each step I take of obedience will allow me to see one more step ahead, but I may not know (and don’t right now) what the next five years hold.
So, I don’t need to stress about what my life will look like. I simply need to trust the Lord and seek Him with all my heart. God’s call on my life is for me to know Him more and grow to be more like Him. Proverbs 3 seemed to make this all clearer to me. Verses 2-8 say:
Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart. So you will find favor and good success in the sight of God and man. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones.
Proverbs 3:2-8
I don’t know that I feel it in my bones, but this has been a great source of comfort and peace to me, knowing that if I am changing to be more like Him, I am fulfilling His call. I don’t know where that will all take me, but I take joy in knowing I can trust Him with my future.