Finding God's Will? Pt 4

Start With What You Know

First component: God’s will always accords with Scripture rightly understood.

God never leads any of His children contrary to what the Bible teaches.

Second component: Believers who want to know God’s will must be prepared to do God’s will.

In other words, submission precedes knowledge.

If we are not genuinely interested in doing God’s will, then God has no reason to help us discover His will. God directs those who are willing to obey.

OK then, that leads to a follow up question: Who are the ones willing to obey? Are you willing to obey? It is easy to answer the question, “Ooh, me I’m willing.” Sometimes it is much harder to actually do what God says.

The person who is willing is not the one who professes to obey, but the one who actually obeys.

God’s will becomes evident only when we actually do it. We are willing to do God’s will if and only if we are presently obeying God’s will.

How can we obey God’s will before He makes it know? Obvious! God has already disclosed His will, or most of it, in a clear and objective manner.

The Scriptures were written to make God’s will known. God has surely made His will in general clear enough for any believer to follow.

Obviously, the Bible does not give us direct, personal guidance for every possible decision.

We cannot claim that we want God’s leading in our unique circumstances if we are presently disobeying His revealed will in Scripture.

That kind of conduct shows that we are merely pretending.

If we know that we are disobeying God’s revealed will while we are pretending to agonize over His individual leading, then we are guilty of flat hypocrisy.

Luke 8:9–10 ESV

9 And when his disciples asked him what this parable meant, 10 he said, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’

Luke 8:17–18 ESV

17 For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light. 18 Take care then how you hear, for to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away.”

Take care how you hear! What does good hearing of God’s Word look like?

Luke 8:15 ESV

15 As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.

God is only interested in leading those who want to do His will. We demonstrate our intention to do God’s will by obeying the part of His will that we already know. The part that we know is revealed in the text of Scripture.

If we refuse to obey what we know the Bible teaches, then all our talk about doing God’s will rings false.

On the other hand, habitual obedience will clear up an amazing number of problems in our lives. If we are committed to doing God’s will, and if we are actually obeying that part of His will that we already know (because it is revealed in Scripture), then we do not have to worry about what we ought to do under most circumstances.

We can simply entrust our paths to the God who providentially oversees our lives.

The principle here is quite simple:

If you want to know God’will, then you must begin by doing God’s will. Your obedience to what you already know is the outward exhibition of a heart that genuinely wishes to follow God’s leading.

Application Questions:

Do you really want to do God’s will?

Are you presently trying to do all of God’s will that you know? Or have you been neglecting or disobeying some aspect of what you know God wants you to do?

How would you counsel a person who claimed to be seeking God’s will in one area while fighting it in another?

Know Your Duties

How does John know if this new position is God’s will?

What are John’s current duties?

Three teenage children, all of whom would be pulled out of their schools in the middle of the year.

The new city they would be moving to does not have a rightly-ordered NT church with a pastor who actually preaches the Bible.

Their present church is small, but its members are commited to the Lord. They have a pastor who expounds the Scriptures accurately, applies them well, and is deeply interested in the lives of the congregation’s members.

John has served in his current church as a deacon for ten years.

Ann (John’s wife) is the church’s only accompanist.

The giving of John and Ann makes a substantial difference in the operation of the church.

1. John and Ann believe that God has a specific direction for them in this choice.

2. They genuinely want to follow the Lord’s leading.

3. They are already trying to obey as much of the Bible’s teaching as they understand.

What considerations will help them to determine how God might direct their present circumstances?

One question they should ask before making this decision is: “What are my duties?”

What is a duty? An obligation, a responsibility that people owe to themselves or others.

All people have duties. We all owe responsibilities to something. Examples? God, nation, family, church, and individual callings.

What duties does the Buck family owe? How should those duties affect John’s choices about the new job?

Duty to their children:

Ephesians 6:4 ESV

4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

Is there potential for disruption if they pull their children away from their school, church, and established home in the middle of the school year?

Duty to make disciples:

Matthew 28:19 ESV

19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

How would their duty to make disciples be impacted by moving? Can you make disciples apart from the local church? Making disciples is the business of local churches, and without a good church discipleship almost always suffers.

What about church membership? For NT Christians is church membership optional?

What happens to John and Anne’s children if they cannot find or plant a good church? Will the lack of a good church affect the whole family?

If John and Anne voluntarily place their family in a position where they know they cannot find a good church what are they doing in regards to God’s will? Actively disobeying it!

What duties do the Buck family owe their present church body? Is joining a church like joining a club? How does someone become a member of a NT local church? By entering into a covenant! What is a covenant? An oath or vow that the members swear to one another. It affirms their intention together to be a church, and it also defines what their responsibilities as members will look like.

Is covenanting together for church membership a lifelong obligation? No. Is it however, a more serious commitment than joining the YMCA? Yes, it is not casual obligation and it should not be easily abandoned.

What happens to their current church if John and Anne move away? They will leave a void that cannot be easily filled.

What duties does John owe his company? Does he have a duty to make more money or advance in the company?

Does he own some level of loyalty and cooperation to his employers? Is the level of obligation more or less compared to his other responsibilities? Which obligation do people tend to prioritize in our culture?

Sometimes, however it is possible for our duties to our employers to become completely inflexible. Examples? National Guard- when it deploys its soldiers. A Christian guardsman is duty-bound to go where their unit is sent. Now the choice is removed. This does raise the question of what duties might prevent someone from making that kind of inflexible commitment in the first place.

Sometimes circumstances simply do away with all choices. When that happens what should we do? Trust in God’s providence and know that He is directing our lives, even when circumstances are terrible. We no longer at that point need to seek God’s direction. Instead, we must seek ways to glorify Him under the circumstances into which He has directed us.

What about when difficult circumstances are the result of previous bad choices? Example, a student who goes into large amounts of debt will be less free to follow the Lord’s leading. If a man seeking to be a pastor amounts large debt in his studies he will not be able to take a small pastorate or go onto the mission field. He has become a borrower, and borrowers are enslaved to lenders.

Proverbs 22:7 ESV

7 The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender.

How does the duty of debt affect following God’s will for our life?

A person who owes money will be working for the creditor unto the debt is paid. God’s will for indebted people is to repay their creditors as honorably as possible. Until that step has been taken, debtors lack freedom to choose. Their duty is to pay what they owe.

Third Component: Any effort to discern God’s leading for particular choices should begin with the question, “What are my duties?” Each of us owes multiple duties, and God will never lead us to neglect any of them. We cannot rightly plead God’s will as an excuse from the obligations that we owe.

How would you counsel John and Anne in making this decision?

Application Questions:

What duties do you owe to your parents? Your spouse? Your children? Your extended family? Your church? Your employer? Your country?

Can you think of other duties that you might have? Have you made promises that you must keep? Have you agreed to other obligations that you must fulfill?

Do their duties place any decisions out of bounds for you? If so, what are some decisions that you must not even consider?