What is God’s will for my life? This is a question we should all ask, a question we should all want an answer to. What... who… when… where… the unknowns. And it’s that aspect of the indefinite that provides our lives with another special and exciting dimension. It’s an opening for trust. It’s the explanation of faith. It unfastens an opportunity for reveling in God’s revealed will, and anticipating the road… beyond the bend.

What does it really mean to desire God’s will above all else in our lives? In answer to this question I go back to what desiring God’s will really means in its essence. Before we can truly desire to know God’s will, we must abandon our own selves in faith. The essence of ‘desiring God’s will’ is ‘trusting Him’, regardless of what he reveals. For what would His will mean to us if he were one that we would doubt? Without trust, God’s will would mean absolutely nothing, because… the evidence of it is not seen. Sometimes I start imagining to myself how it would be if there were some cut and dried way of discovering God’s will. Some way that could be mapped out and given to everybody to follow. Some way where there would not be any questions, some way where we knew God’s will for our lives from the start. Something… that would make us all just as the Israelites again.

And that very facet was something I was observing the other evening. “The Israelites had everything they could ask for. They lived under the physical shadow of God. God dwelt with them physically. They had every evidence; they had every proof they needed, and yet they doubted God.” Until now it was something I simply couldn’t comprehend. They were given the privilege of witnessing God in tangible reality. They heard him, they felt him, and they took him for granted. “How could they?!” But the answer lies in one single statement. They had no faith. For faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (Heb 11:1) Regardless of whether we can see God or not, regardless of whether we know… how could we ever believe Him without placing our trust in Him? Why would we even be here today, desiring to know His will?

To truly desire God’s will, culminates in one word: trust. And then there are the two aspects of it… trusting to ask, and trusting the answer. And this is what the topic is, ‘knowing God’s will’. We all know how to ask questions. But when we ask them of God, we really desire an answer – or we should. But one thing that I have too often found myself doing, is putting my own stipulations and expectations on the answer. Most of us wouldn’t do that consciously, but are we asking God the question in total trust, willing to accept the answer, whatever it is? Asking God can only be done when we truly are ready to trust any answer He may give us. But this is where we all have questions. How can we be sure it is God speaking? I’ll be totally honest with you. I really am looking forwards to hearing what those who have more experience listening to His answers have to say. I have never experienced God’s voice more than once in the same way. Therefore I could not say, do this, do that, and get the answer. But an interesting excerpt from an article by Winkie Pratney fits here very well. Let me share it with you.

God has three answers in guidance - (1)"Yes" (2) "No" and (3) "Wait". We cannot have a demanding attitude towards God. Sometimes there must be delays. Our lives are bound up with others, and many times God has to wait until they are ready (or until we are), before giving us the go-ahead. "Wait" is the most difficult of all answers, but sometimes it's the most necessary. Here is the test of a love-slave. (Psalm 62:1,5, 33:20, 25:5, 27:14, 40:1, 130:5, 37:7; Isaiah 40:31, 49:23; Hosea 12:6; 1 Chron.28:9)

Reading this excerpt reminded me immediately of my parent’s testimony of God leading them together. The story… well, whoever decides to embark on listening to it is in for a late night – if you get what I mean. In other words, it really won’t fit on this page. :) But the Yes, No, and Wait were very real answers in that story. I know a lot of you will probably want to hear it now that I mentioned it, since this is a subject that we all face at one time or another, but for now I’ll just say this. “Wait can be the most difficult of all answers. But yet it can also be one of the most rewarding! Amen!”

But wait is only that if we are asked to wait. When we are delivered the command to move ahead, to step forwards, to do, to act, we cannot stand idle. This excerpt from a sermon by Charles Spurgeon strikes the question in a way that can only be done by such a man.

His will is done in heaven instantly, and without hesitation. We, I fear, are given to delays. We plead that we must look the thing round about. "Second thoughts are best," we say, whereas the first thoughts of eager love are the prime production of our being. I would that we were obedient at all hazard, for therein lies the truest safety. Oh, to do what God bids us, as God bids us, on the spot, and at the moment! It is not ours to debate, but to perform. Let us dedicate ourselves as perfectly as Esther consecrated herself when she espoused the cause of her people, and said, "If I perish, I perish." We must not consult with flesh and blood, or make a reserve for our own selfishness, but at once most vigorously follow the divine command.

Trust, obedience, action… this sums up the core of the topic. May we stand on our path, ready for instruction, ready to obey, ready to wait, ready to be, and ready to act. May we stand before our Lord without baggage, without terms, fully open to his guidance. Above all, may His will be done in our life… as it is in heaven.

Let us pray the Lord that we may do His will on earth as it is done in heaven; that is, joyfully, without the slightest weariness. When our hearts are right, it is a glad thing to serve God, though it be only to unloose the latchets of our Master's shoes. To be employed by Jesus in service which will bring us no repute, but much reproach, should be our delight. If we were altogether as we should be, sorrow for Christ's sake would be joy: ay, we should have joy right along, in dark nights as well as in bright days. Even as they are glad in heaven, with a felicity born of the presence of the Lord, so should we be glad, and find our strength in the joy of the Lord. – C. H. Spurgeon