DO GOD'S WILL TO FIND HIS WILL

“God can bless and use fully only those who seek fully to glorify him. When we serve any other purpose, we miss his best for our lives and our world. If we want to experience all of God’s best, we must give him all of ourselves.” Dr. Jim Denison

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"Christ says, ‘Give me All. I don’t want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much of your work: I want You. I have not come to torment your natural self, but to kill it. No half-measures are any good. I don’t want to cut off a branch here and a branch there, I want to have the whole tree down. I don’t want to drill the tooth, or crown it, or stop it, but to have it out. Hand over the whole natural self, all the desires which you think innocent as well as the ones you think wicked—the whole outfit. I will give you a new self instead. In fact, I will give you Myself: my own will shall become yours.’"  C. S. Lewis

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Find God’s will by seeking first His Kingdom and Righteousness.

 

That means becoming a lifelong disciple of Jesus and letting Him develop His character in you. That's God's will for every Christian and by doing God’s will, we find His will. Some say, “Lord, that’s hard work. Just tell me what to do and I’ll do it!” That may sound holy, but it circumvents the character development process God wants Jesus' image bearers to experience as they abide in Him. God wants the world to experience Jesus with our words and deeds! Remember, without holiness, no one will see God in us!

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SMALL CHOICES TODAY PREPARES US FOR BIG CHOICES TOMORROW

We tend to hyper-focus on God’s will in making the occasional big decision (school, marriage, work, investments, etc.)  With that as the focus, we grow anxious about making the ‘perfect’ choice, fearing we might forever forfeit being in God’s ‘perfect’ will.  However, we usually give little thought to the little things we see, say, and do every day.  The cumulative effect of everyday choices far exceeds the significance of infrequent big choices. 

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SERMON ON THE MOUNT and THE GREAT COMMISSION

Jesus began His public ministry by giving His classic discipleship message (the Sermon on the Mount) to His disciples.  Three years later, Jesus closed His public ministry by giving His classic disciple making message (the Great Commission) to His disciples. From beginning to end, Jesus revealed that God’s will for Christians is to be disciples and make disciples.  As we do this, we will become better disciples making better choices.  To the degree that's true, if we have a problem with making good choices, it’s not for lack of knowledge; it’s not using the knowledge we have. The Bible says precious little about God’s will for tomorrow compared to His will for today. Doing God’s will today shapes us to do God’s will tomorrow and thereby finding His will.  

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JOSEPH

However, sometimes when we make good choices, bad things happen, which makes it seem like we missed God’s will for our lives. That’s what Joseph probably thought after years in prison because he obeyed God and refused Potiphar’s wife. But when He finally gets out of prison, he discovered that prison had been God’s Master Class in character development preparing him to co-rule the most powerful country in the world. The moral of his story is to stay in your story by never giving up on God.

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ADAM AND EVE

Imagine a decision where every choice is correct, except for one that is clearly off limits.  That’s what happened to Adam and Eve. They could choose to eat from ANY tree in the garden - except for the one they knew was off limits. By not doing God’s will, finding God’s will became much more difficult.

   

CULL STUPID CHOICES AND SINFUL CHOICES

Becoming a better disciple gives more knowledge in culling stupid choices and sinful choices, so the story of Adam and Eve is cautionary.  Ask God for His power to do His will.  After culling the stupid and sinful choices, you may have more than one choice that’s not stupid or sinful.  If so, any choice is the ‘perfect’ choice in doing God’s will to find God’s will.  Better yet, pick the choice where you sense God’s pleasure the most. 

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IN CLOSING

If bad things result, remember Joseph’s story by staying in your story and never giving up on God. If you discover you made a sinful choice, confess it quickly to God and He will be faithful to forgive you. God will restore the years the locusts have eaten by blessing your journey as a disciple of Jesus....doing God’s will to find God’s will.

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NOTE: This article is based substantially on the presentation by Dave Lomas, Letting Go of Making the Perfect Decision, as we believe it relates to discipleship and doing God's will to find His will.