This sounds crazy, perhaps, but when you think about it you know it's true. We all have more than one sense of "will." There is "what I wish" and "what I want" and "what I need," for instance. In a general sense, all of those would be "my will." In a practical sense, we understand that we won't get all of those, and that's okay. In God, too, there are a variety of senses that are "God's will." We can say with absolute certainty, for instance, that it is not God's will that anyone should commit adultery. How do we know that? Well, He said it (Exo 20:14). So that is a statement of God's will. We also know, with equal certainty, that He doesn't always get that. The Bible is full of statements -- we call them "commands" -- of God's will. The Bible is equally full of clear statements that God's creation frequently violates His will in these areas. God gives us precepts -- commands -- and those are His will. Since we are all sinners, He frequently doesn't get His preceptive will. God also has preferences. Preferences are a form of will in humans, too. What I want. What I like. What I would prefer. We know we don't always get that, either, and neither does God. He says, for instance, "I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked." (Eze 18:23; Eze 33:11). Clear as day. Equally clear is the declaration from the beginning that the penalty of sin is death (Gen 2:16-17; Eze 18:4, 20; Rom 6:23). (Take note of that second reference. It was in the same context as the "I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked.") So we know that the death of the wicked is not God's preference ... but He still carries it out. That people not die for sin is God's preference -- God's will -- but this preferential will is not always achieved. So we come to a third version of "will." You see it referenced in Ephesians -- God "works all things according to the counsel of His will." (Eph 1:11) -- but Scripture is full of these references (2 Chron 20:6; Job 42:2; Psa 115:3; Psa 135:6; Dan 4:35; Isa 45:7; Isa 46:10; Prov 19:21; Prov 21:1; Rom 8:28). (There are many more, but that's a quick smattering.) This "will of God" is never in question. It never fails. It is absolute. It is God's Sovereign will and it always happens.
You can see, now, that my son's question isn't an easy one. "Which will of God are you asking about?" We know a lot of God's will simply by reading God's Word. All those commands. All those principles. "Is it God's will if I sleep with this person who is not my spouse?" is an easy question. No! For reasons that elude me, we (including me) seem to be hazy about "God's will" when so often it is offered in plain print in front of us. "How can I know the will of God?" Read and know His Word. What about events in life? Those are generally not in my Bible. Again, the first answer is easy. If God's absolute will is real (as Scripture contends), then whatever happened yesterday -- anything from present backward -- was God's will. Thus Joseph can tell his brothers, "You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good." (Gen 50:20) and we can have confidence because "we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose." (Rom 8:28) Thus, much of God's will is not unknown or even vague to us.
The remaining question, then, is the unknown. God doesn't say "Take this job" or "Marry that person" or "Move to this town." And, obviously, that was the question my son was asking. What about these things? Are they "guesses," mere "hunches"? I think Scripture offers something a better than that.
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Rom 12:2)Paul here offers a way to "discern what is the will of God" -- our original question. In fact, he offers a way to test and determine "what is good and acceptable and perfect." That's what we want, right? What is that way? Step One: "Do not be conformed to this world." Don't take on the world's forms and structures. Don't think like the world. Don't shape yourself to the world. John warns us not to "love the world or the things in the world" because "all that is in the world -- the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life -- is not from the Father but is from the world." (1 John 2:15-16). That's a pretty broad palette. Are my desires of the flesh, desires of the eyes, and pride of life the world's version? Don't go there. Instead, go to Step Two: "be transformed by the renewal of your mind." Now how do we do that? Well, first and foremost, we use brainwashing. No, not that kind. Paul talks about "the washing of water with the word" (Eph 5:26). If the problem is a truth problem (Rom 1:18) and God's Word is truth (John 17:17), then the principle way to renew the mind is a constant washing of the Word. Now, if this is true, is it any wonder we have such problems with Christians and the Word? Is it any surprise that the father of lies would seek to distract us from God's truth? Is there any surprise that folks calling themselves Christians take little stock in God's Word? It is the best method of renewing the mind and discovering God's will for our lives, and we neglect it.
A critical question for each of us is "What is God's will for my life?" We ought to seek that with fervor. Keep in mind that the term is variable and know which version you're asking about. If you want to know, "Has my life gone as God has willed?", rest assured that God's hand is not too short. His Sovereign will always occurs and you haven't missed it. If you want to know, "What will be most pleasing to the Lord?", you have an abundant resource in His Word. He is not short in providing answers. If you want to know "What should I do in situations that aren't covered?", you are still not left without answers. The answer is in a renewed mind -- knowing how God thinks. He tells us that in His Word. Become Bible-immersed and you'll find fewer and fewer of those types of questions and more and more answers.
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