God's Will For My Life*by: The late Pastor Lloyd Peterson

God's Will For My Life*
*by: The late Pastor Lloyd Peterson*
*
Is it possible to know God's will for my life? If so, how may I know?
These questions are often asked. Another question associated with these
is 'does God have a certain pattern for my life,' a particular calling
and a place to serve him? The latter of these questions is obviously for
the Lord declares in Mark's Gospel that the believer is sown in places
of service: 'And these are they which are sown on good ground' Mark
4:20. In other words, the seed is personalized and sown. If we are in
the center of God's will we are in just the place and business where he
wants us to be. We are not just simply making a living where we find it
most convenient, but we are living witness to God's matchless grace
while we are making a living. Paul speaks of the Christian as having
been 'Chosen in him before the foundation of the world' Eph. 1:4a . It
is very evident then that God must have a pattern for each life; for
yours and for mine. This then being true it must likewise be true, that
it is possible to know God's will for my life. The important question
remains, 'how may I know for a certainty, God's will for my life?'
The three following steps are major factors to seriously consider in
ascertaining divine directive, or the answer to the above question.
NO 1. You must have no will of your own. ( We shall enlarge upon this
after briefly discussing the remaining two steps).
NO 2 .Every decision should lie within the boundaries of Scripture. That
is no step should ever be made contrary to Holy Writ e.g., if a
Christian fellow is in love with a girl who is not a Christian, he need
not waste his time seeking God's will concerning his marrying her. The
message of God is clear.
We, however, are often guilty of interpreting the Scriptures to fit our
desires and wishes. We must never do this. The Word of God must be left
to apply what it teaches. Again, we are sometimes guilty of ignoring
what God's Word says. If we do so we can never come to know God's best
and sweet will for our lives.
The Word of God does not openly declare every bend or turn on life's
road but there are posts along the way giving the general directions
that must be followed. When we adjust our lives to obey the carefully
interpreted Scriptures we will have within us the witness of God, the
Holy Spirit, that we are in His way and have the blessing and approval
of God's good will. This bring us to the third step.
NO.3. We must have the witness of perfect rest which is given by the
Holy Spirit when the correct decision is made. This is imperative! If we
make a choice for life and uneasiness and restlessness is a result you
may be sure the wrong decision has been made. On the other hand, when
the correct decision has been made there comes to the believer's life a
sweet assurance that 'this is what God wants for me'. We are told, 'And
a peace of God that passeth understanding shall keep (really guard or
umpire) your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.' Phil. 4:7).
We now resume our discussion of No. 1, above. We have left it for this
place in our brief message because of its major importance. The above
outline is simple enough. Why then is so hard to be sure of God's will
in the matters of life? And believe me, it is hard, easy to talk about,
preach and teach, but so hard to experience. The answer to that is what
I want to touch on in this brief writing, because it (the answer)
involves so much of life.
If a person can come through the first step in the above outlined, the
other two are relatively simple. It is when we deal with a human will
that the battle starts. We are, the most of us, so deceived by our own
selves. Jeremiah spoke of this very thing, he said, 'the heart is
deceitful above all things and desperately wicked:' (really incurably
sick) who can know it? Jeremiah 16:9. The human nature and will are
absolutely bend away from any other will. It is operative in
coordination with self, not some other person. To think that it is
simple to subject our will to another's will is as simple as paying your
neighbor's house rent and letting yours go by the board. It's just as
simple as sending someone else to the doctor for bodily cure, paying all
the charges and you stay at home sick. It is completely unnatural for us
to submit our will to another's directing and care. Yet, when you or I
come to God for His guidance there must be absolutely no will of our
own! It means something when we say 'not my will but Thine'. Most of the
time we lie when we say that. We are even deceived to thinking that we
really mean it. Dr. Strong, the theologian said, 'mind is always greater
than the its conscious operations. The man is more than his acts The man
is more than acts. Only the smallest part of self is manifested in
thoughts, feelings and volitions.'
Christian, study the human will! If you can get it to really submit
itself to His will, you're the winner. Remember 'God always gives His
best to those who leave the choice with Him.'