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How do you know the will of God in your decision-making as a Believer?
As the followers of Christ Jesus, knowing the will of God and living according to his purpose for our lives is very important. If we focus on God’s will for our lives, we shall live a more fulfilled life, and we shall enjoy everything that we do since it is already meant to be part of our journey as believers. When we are determined to do things according to God’s will, we will always be careful enough to ensure that we make the right decisions, not according to us but in the eyes of God.
We often ask ourselves as believers what God’s will is whenever we want to make life decisions, especially those that will affect us in the long term. We always want to know his will when choosing our careers, the schools to attend, our spouses, our jobs, and many other life decisions. When making such decisions, we usually want to please God while ensuring that we do not make the wrong decisions that will negatively affect our lives or make our relationship with God shaky.
The will of God is usually in two ways; the revealed will and the secret or the hidden will. God’s hidden will for our lives is sovereign, and nothing changes it. We only know it when it comes to pass, but in faith, we should always trust his purpose and will for our lives.
The revealed will, on the other hand, is what God has told us in his word. The scriptures teach us many things that we should always obey as believers in our burning desire to do his will.
For instance, we know that it is against God’s will if we commit adultery or murder, or we hate our neighbors or become proud as Christians. In the revealed will of God, we usually know what to do, but sometimes we don’t have the details and deeper information of how to do it. For instance, when it comes to choosing a life partner, we know that the word of God tells us to marry a God-fearing spouse. It further gives us instructions on how to conduct ourselves within the context of marriage. But further details such as exactly who to marry or when to marry are not revealed, and therefore we must go an extra mile to ensure that we remain under his will as we make such decisions.
If we are to do God’s will, first, we have to develop a healthy and intimate relationship with him. That means that we must walk with Him in truth and spirit, and our focus should be a genuine relationship with Him in prayer and deeds. Developing a relationship with God involves knowing him better by reading and meditating on his word, prayers, and fellowships with other believers. Reading his expression and knowing his instructions is not enough, and therefore we should do what it says at all times (James 1:22).
Also, when praying, it is good to have some moments of silence when you can listen to God and hear what He has to say concerning specific issues in your life. That is because prayer is a two-way conversation, and many times as you speak to God in spirit, you will hear his voice. So then, when we build a genuine relationship with God and trust him only, He starts revealing his plan and purpose to us (Proverbs 3:5-6).
In addition, to understand God’s will, our will must conform to his. That way, we shall be emulating an excellent example from Jesus who never lived according to his will but according to the Father’s will (John 5:30).
The Bible reminds us that we should offer ourselves as living and holy sacrifices without being conformed to the patterns of this world. That way, we shall know God’s will for our lives which is good, pleasing, and perfect (Romans 12:1-2) instead of living solely to our expectations.
Having fellowship with fellow believers is an excellent way of having Godly input in our lives that will ultimately help us to find God’s will. According to 1Timothy3:15, the church is considered as the pillar and buttress of the truth. Therefore, we should have friends and mentors from the church since they can see things that we sometimes don’t know about ourselves and give us genuine advice that conforms to God’s will when making decisions in life.
A few years ago, I had a young friend named Boniface who always loved to be in fellowship with other brethren in the church. We used to attend the same church, and he was a very committed believer despite still being in high school. During fellowships, he was very active in taking various roles as part of service to God. He was the chairperson youth group and enjoyed taking technical roles that involved computers, such as video editing for the church choir, making presentations and slideshows on a projector during teaching and sermons. He was also part of the team that helped design the church website as young as he was then. Boniface liked anything to do with computers. Apart from such roles, evangelism was part of him, and I remember he never missed any church camp or crusades. During such events, he would be given the role of preaching, and he would win many souls into the family of God. The pastors and fellow believers were consistently impressed by his work.
Boniface was a young man gifted in various ways, and he used those gifts to serve God. Finally, however, it reached a time for him to decide what would affect his life in the long term. The decision was about choosing the path to follow where he was in a dilemma between taking theology or a career in IT. I asked him what he preferred, and he told me that he had made his mind to do theology. However, with his gift and passion for computers, I differed with him and told him to pray about it so that he could understand the will of God. He did as we agreed and further consulted with the senior pastor.
He finally came to me with a report that the pastor, his other close friends in the church, had advised him to study IT in college. He further added that after praying about it, he heard the voice of God affirming the same thing. Boniface today is a cybersecurity expert, and he travels worldwide, offering excellent solutions in his field. Besides, wherever he goes, he leaves a spiritual impact because he still does evangelism. Many IT experts in the places he has visited have gotten into a personal relationship with Christ through his evangelism. God is being served in the IT sector, and indeed this was God’s will for Boniface. I would encourage you to take the correct principles like Boniface did when seeking the will of God about anything in your life.
Through that, you will stick to God’s plan for your life, and you will make no mistakes.
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Originally posted 2021-06-30 18:14:25.
