Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit” – yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” James 4:13-15
What do you think is the most asked question that I receive? I wish it was, “How do you become a Christian?” But there is one question outside of “Why does God allow evil and suffering” that I am most frequently asked. It is, “How do I know God’s will?”
The verses above could be the headlines of today. There is so much uncertainty. It’s almost as if a dense fog has settled on the earth. How do we navigate Biblically when it’s hard to see what’s ahead or what’s next?
The simple, but profound answer is to do what we know is God’s will today. What does God want us to accomplish this minute, this hour, this appointment, or dealing with this problem? The Bible is very clear on many of these issues.
I Thessalonians 4:3 “For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that you abstain from sexual immorality.”
I Thessalonians 5:18 “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
John 14:21 “Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by the Father, and I will love Him and manifest Myself to him.”
I John 5:14,15 “And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to His will He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of Him.”
I Peter 2:15 “For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people.”
We also see others asking and submitting to the will of God. I Peter 3:17 says, “For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.”
We see Daniel’s friends declaring in Daniel 3:17 their trust in God; “If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king.”
And we see our Lord in His humanity say, “And going a little farther He fell on His face and prayed, saying ‘My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.’” Matthew 26:39.
God wants you to know His will. Certainly, as a Father I would want my children to know what I believe is best for them. But in the process, the struggle, I want them to trust me. And I believe God wants us to demonstrate faith in Him as we are seeking His will. This gives us greater dependency on Him and a deeper appreciation for His love and plan for our lives.
We certainly have that opportunity today. Trust Him. Ask, seek, knock. Come boldly into His throne room, be obedient to what He has revealed, look for answers to prayer and anticipate God accomplishing great things through our lives.