Page 107 - Discipleship Ministries Student E-Book

3. The student should be able to explain why, if obeying all the clearly defined activities that are the will
of God, how God can lead through the desires of the heart.

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13.3 How to find the will of God

One of the most important questions we struggle with daily is,
“How do I know what God’s will is in this decision?” Let’s face
it, many of the answers to decisions with which you are daily
challenged are just not found in the Bible. For example,
“What should I wear today?” “What should I eat for
breakfast?” “What local church should I attend?” “I was
asked to teach a class, should I do that?” “What man or woman should I
marry for life?” “What college should I attend?” “Should I take this job?”
And the list goes on and on.

Some people think that God’s will is some sort of mystery. “It may be lost, so I have to find it.” Others
may try to find God’s will by creating certain circumstances that may reveal it. They say, “If such and
such happens today, then I will know that God wants me to do this or that.” Maybe God is tugging at
your heart to become a missionary somewhere in the world, and you are trying to figure out where. So
you run down the street, slip on a banana peel, and land on a map of South America. You figure out that
God wants you to go to South America. But that night you see a special on TV about the needs in India
and your wife fixed Indian food for dinner. If you are trying to find God’s will by the circumstances
around you, you will end up in utter confusion.

Another way people seek God’s will is by using a scale. They list all the positive reasons for making a
certain decision, and then on the opposite side, list all the negative reasons. If the positive side has
more listings than the negative, then the will of God must be to do it. But if the negative outweighs the
positive, then perhaps it is the will of God not to go in that direction. It’s like putting weights on a scale
and the heavier side wins. This is NOT how to find God’s will for your life.

Some people base God’s will on their circumstances. They call them “doors”. God will open certain
doors and close others. Obviously, the open door is His will, right? Did you know that Satan can open
doors and make them enticing to enter? Is this how God leads us, through open doors? Can we be
misled by walking through open doors?

Then there are those who don’t really want to know God’s will, because He might send them to some
place they don’t want to go or do something they don’t want to do. “If I dedicate my life to be a
missionary, God might send me to a remote tribe in Africa where it is hot, and they eat bugs.” They
don’t want to find God’s will, because they are afraid, they will be stuck in something that will make
their lives miserable.

God has a special plan for each of our lives. He has a work He wants us to accomplish. And He wants to
direct us to accomplish His will for our lives. So, let’s see how the Bible tells us God will guide us.

41 Portions of this information were taken from John MacArthur’s sermon, How to Know the Will of God,
November 22, 1972. https://www.gty.org/library/sermons-library/1217/how-to-know-the-will-of-god

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