Christianity Plain and Simple

The Will of God

Every at some point in their life wonders this thing, "What is my purpose in life?" Were we not all created for something greater than just existing?

As Christians, our purpose in life has to do with what is called the ultimate will of God. The will of God is the desires that God has for our life. This will has both general and specific aspects to it.

First, let's go over the general. The general aspects of the will of God is what God wills for everyone. God wants everyone to get saved, this is the general will of God. God wants everyone to live moral lives. God wants everyone to soul win. God wants everyone to go to church. These things can be found by reading the Bible and following its instructions.

Second, there is the specific will of God. These are things like, what occupation should I have? Who should I marry? Where should I live? What should I spend the core of my life doing?

Most of this book talks about following the general will of God, but today, let's talk about the specific will of God.

To start, a Christian will not find the ultimate fulfillment they are looking for in life until they surrender there heart to God not just for salvation, but for doing His will. A person can be saved, yet discontented and empty, if they are not willing to surrender to the general and specific will God has for them. Many a person will say they got saved when they were young but were very unhappy until they also decided to surrender their lives to God. That is because God has a specific will for each of us that He created us to fulfill, and unless we do it, we will not be completely happy and content.

So, you may be asking, how do I know the specific will of God? Well, there are a few ways we can know these things.

First, pray. Pray for God to reveal His will to you. Fast about it. Let God know that you want to know His will for your life.

Second, do the general will. Go soul winning, pray for others, live a godly life, and read your Bible. Honestly, if you just did this, you would be doing a large portion of the specific will. As you follow His general will, His specific will often becomes more clear. If you only date the kind of people the Bible says to, you will eventually marry who God wills. If you soul win like the Bible says, you will spend your time reaching others like the Bible says. If you don't though, how can we expect God to reveal the specifics of His will to us?

Romans 12:2 - And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what [is] that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

1 Thessalonians 4:3 - For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication:

1 Thessalonians 5:18 - In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

Third, remember desires can be for good and evil. Desires are sometimes placed inside us by God because God wants us to do those things. For example, David was led by God to begin building the temple by a desire to do it. Sometimes desires are just personal wants though that God does not want. How do we know the difference? If the desire is a wicked one or driven by an ungodly thing like pride or selfishness, it is not from God. For example, David also wanted to number the people, something God specifically said not to do. If our desire is something like that, we know that no matter how much we may desire that, it is not from God. We also should tell God to make our desires His will.

Proverbs 16:3 - Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be established.

Proverbs 16:9 - A man's heart deviseth his way: but the Lord directeth his steps.

James 4:13-15 - Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.