Determining God’s Will for Your Life

Introduction: Last week, we took a look at Ezekiel 20 and saw that God’s primary concern, his chief aim in all that he does, is the pursuit of his own glory. We saw that God’s glory is the reason for both his justice and his mercy, and that God’s pursuit of his own glory is, far from egomaniacal, actually a very good thing. By upholding his own glory, God draws his entire creation to worship and pursue the one thing in all Creation that can truly satisfy and provide life—God himself.

This morning, we’re going to talk about discerning God’s will for your life. Now, these two topics may seem unrelated, but as you’ll see, they’re intimately related. If God’s mercy and judgment flow out of the well of God’s pursuit of his own glory, so too does his will for our lives. So, we had to lay the foundation of God’s glory last week in order to properly orient our thinking about God’s will this week.

There’s a lot of confusion and misunderstanding about the will of God floating around in Christian circles, and I’ll confess that even up until I began working on this sermon series a few weeks ago, I had a few things confused. I don’t claim to have it all figured out—I am still wrestling with it. But, I do think that Ezekiel 20 and Romans 12 give us some very clear guidance that can help frame our perspectives and understanding.

When I was 14 years old, I felt an unmistakable calling into ministry. It was a Wednesday night and my home church was having a business meeting which I, as a 14-year old boy, did not feel inclined to attend. But, as I sat on the couch watching TV, I got a call from my grandma. A sister church, which happened to be only a mile from my house, was having a revival service and a relative of mine was the preacher. She wanted to know if I wanted to go with her.

As a 14-year old boy who had just gotten out of having to go to a business meeting, I was also not to keen on the idea of going to a revival service. Out of the frying pan and into the fire! “No thanks,” I told her. But no sooner had I hung up the phone than I started feeling convicted.

Hebrews 10:25 popped into my head and wouldn’t leave—“not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” I tried to brush it off. It was a Wednesday night service, for goodness sake. That’s like the least 'necessary’ service of all! And it wasn’t even my church!

But, as much as I tried to shake the conviction, I just couldn’t. So, I rang up my grandma, got ready, and went to the revival service.

Now, something had been going on in my life leading up to that moment. I had been dating a girl for about 9 months and my parents were not happy about it. It was a rebellious phase that I went through, and the more they expressed their disapproval, the angrier I got and the more my stubbornness increased. I had wandered from God during that time and wasn’t walking with the Lord. Finally, after 9 months of this, God broke through my stubborn pride and I realized that my parents had just been looking out for my best interests and I had been a colossal jerk. I broke off the relationship and began a period of repentance and seeking God. I began earnestly sharing my faith with others at school, reading my Bible more, praying more, and was closer to God than I had been in years.

But, I had no thought or intention of being a minister. I wanted to be a doctor, always had. So, when I walked into the service that night, I was completely unprepared for what was going to happen.

Bro. Albert, a relative of mine, preached a sermon on Isaiah 6:8 “And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.”” His sermon was a pretty typical firey revival sermon, but nothing atypical. But, as he preached and read the words of that verse, it was as if God himself were asking me that very question—“Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” I cannot explain it any more than this. I heard no audible voice that night, but the meaning was clearer than ever. God was calling me out to preach.

I shifted uncomfortably in my seat for the rest of the sermon until the invitation came. Bro. Albert asked if anyone needed to pray, get counsel, or make a decision to come forward. We begun singing the first couple verses of “I Surrender All” while I desperately clutched the pew in front of me, doing all I could NOT to surrender. I was sweating like a stuck pig (as we say in Arkansas), gripping the pew in front of me so tightly my knuckles turned white, and had begun shaking a bit. I didn’t want to “walk the aisle” with all those people looking at me, wondering what dirty sin I was confessing to the preacher. Then, as we got near the end of the second verse, I began to get lightheaded. I realized that one way or another, I was going to make a scene that night—either by walking the aisle and surrendering to the call to ministry, or by passing out and falling out into the aisle.

So, I stepped out into the aisle and headed towards the preacher. It was a small church, so it only took about 10 steps to get to the front, but it felt like eternity, and it felt as if every single eye in that church was burning a hole in the back of my head. But, the moment I stepped out into the aisle, it was as if a 100lb weight was lifted off my shoulders. I felt as light as air. I cried the whole way down the aisle and whispered to Bro. Albert, “I think God is calling me to preach.”

A couple weeks later, I preached my first sermon. It was called “How to determine God’s will for your life” and I exhaustively covered that topic in 10 minutes. Ha! I thought I had it all figured out.

Well, you’re not going to be so lucky today. I don’t have it all figured out, and it’s going to take more than 10 minutes.

I’ve told you this story for a reason. I’m very grateful for the crystal clarity of my calling all those years ago. It has sustained me through some difficult times and brought clarity to my mission in life. But, if I’m honest, I think I expected that as long as I was walking with God, as long as I asked him, he’d repeat this special revelation again whenever I had a difficult decision to make.

I bought into the very common notion of the will of God which I’ll today call the “Discover the Hidden Path” approach.

The “Discover the hidden path”—God has every detail of your life planned out in advance, and it’s up to you to discern God’s plan and then carry it out.

God not only has every detail of your life planned out, but he expects you to figure it out in advance and then follow it to the letter. God has composed a wonderful masterpiece, a symphony, and it’s our job to figure out the notes and play it to perfection. Those who don’t seek God enough are doomed to butcher the symphony, play all the wrong notes, and find themselves bearing the disapproving glare of God at the end of their life. But, if you just pray enough, seek God enough, the notes on the page will magically appear, like a treasure map with invisible ink that appears when you expose it to heat.

It’s not hard to see how this kind of thinking leads many good Christians to end up paralyzed any time they have to make a difficult decision. After all, the Bible doesn’t tell us what to major in, where to go to college, whether or not to go to college, what job to take, whom to marry, how many kids to have, and so on. Perhaps you’ve heard this satirical piece:

Just Do Something: A Liberating Approach to Finding God’s Will Chapter 7: Tools of the Trade

MAN, 91, DIES WAITING FOR WILL OF GOD

Tupelo, Miss.—Walter Houston, described by family members as a devoted Christian, died Monday after waiting seventy years for God to give him clear direction about what to do with his life.

“He hung around the house and prayed a lot, but just never got that confirmation,” his wife Ruby says. “Sometimes he thought he heard God’s voice, but then he wouldn’t be sure, and he’d start the process all over again.”

Houston, she says, never really figured out what his life was about, but felt content to pray continuously about what he might do for the Lord. Whenever he was about to take action, he would pull back, “because he didn’t want to disappoint God or go against him in any way,” Ruby says. “He was very sensitive to always remaining in God’s will. That was primary to him.”

Friends say they liked Walter, though he seemed not to capitalize on his talents.

“Walter had a number of skills he never got around to using,” says longtime friend Timothy Burns. “He worked very well with wood and had a storyteller side to him too. I always told him, ‘Take a risk. Try something new if you’re not happy,’ but he was too afraid of letting the Lord down.”

To his credit, they say, Houston, who worked mostly as a handyman, was able to pay off the mortgage on the couple’s modest home.

Obviously, this story is a joke, but we can almost imagine it being true. So, if that’s not the right approach, then what is? How do we as believers, who know that God has a wonderful plan for our lives, follow God in the myriad of decisions we have to make in our lives?

This sermon is not really targeted towards those who never give the will of God a second thought. This sermon is for believers who find themselves perpetually frozen in the decision-making process, plagued by fears of failing to follow God’s will, torn between two seemingly good, God-honoring options.

So turn with me to Romans 12.

Romans 12:1–2 ESV

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Prayer for illumination

If we want to know God’s will, we must first seek his glory.

God’s highest will is to be glorified in and through us.

Last week I referred to the Westminster Catechism:

The Westminster Larger Catechism Question 1

What is the chief and highest end of man?

Man’ s chief and highest end is to glorify God, (Rom. 11:36, Cor. 10:31) and fully to enjoy him forever. (Ps. 73:24–28, John 17:21–23)

We saw very clearly last week in Ezekiel 20 that we can also say that the chief and highest end (or purpose/aim/goal) of God is the pursuit of his own glory, and we talked about why that’s not egomaniacal and is actually a very good thing.

Therefore, we cannot say that we are seeking God’s will for our life if we are not seeking his glory first.

Ezekiel 20 gives us a very good example of what not to do when trying to discern God’s will.

Some elders of Israel come to Ezekiel, wanting him to inquire of God regarding some decision they had to make.

But, instead of revealing his will in this decision, God rebukes them:

Ezekiel 20:3–4 ESV

“Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God, Is it to inquire of me that you come? As I live, declares the Lord God, I will not be inquired of by you. Will you judge them, son of man, will you judge them? Let them know the abominations of their fathers,

The lesson we learn from Ezekiel 20 is that we should not pretend to be concerned with discerning God’s will on the particulars of a decision we have to make when we are living in open rebellion against God in our daily life.

That doesn’t mean that God requires sinless perfection, but simply that we can’t pretend to be concerned with God’s will on the particulars of life if we are openly rejecting his primary will for us—to live in a way that glorifies Him.

What do we mean by the “Will of God”?

Romans 12:2 promises that if we are “...transformed by the renewal of your mind” then "...by testing you may discern what is the will of God...” Does that mean, then, that if we’re holy enough God will tell us what decisions to make in advance?

The Bible talks about the “will of God” in two different senses.

Just Do Something: A Liberating Approach to Finding God’s Will God Always Gets His Way

If we examine the Bible, we see that God’s will has two sides to it. On the first side is God’s will of decree. This refers to what God has ordained. Everything that comes to pass is according to God’s sovereign decree. And all that He decrees will ultimately come to pass. God’s will of decree cannot be thwarted. It is immutable and fixed.

Just Do Something: A Liberating Approach to Finding God’s Will God Points out the Way

The other side of the coin is God’s will of desire. This refers to what God has commanded—what He desires from His creatures. If the will of decree is how things are, the will of desire is how things ought to be

Sometimes you might hear theologians refer to these as God’s secret/hidden will and his revealed will.

God’s Will of Decree (His ultimate plan):

Who (or if) you’re going to marry

What your major in college will be

What job(s) or ministries you will do

How long you’ll live

When Jesus will return

What mistakes you’re going to make—even sins

Acts 4:27–28 ESV

for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.

We don’t have time today for a thorough discussion of how God’s plan can include the sins of man without him being responsible or guilty for sin. We just have to note here that the Bible clearly teaches that God is sovereign, even over the evil deeds that crucified Christ, yet mankind is responsible for their own sins.

Daniel 4:35 ESV

all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, “What have you done?”

God’s Will of Decree (or his Plan) is fixed, immutable, and will definitely happen.

God’s Will of Desire (Revealed Will):

For you to live in a way that glorifies him

For you to love God and love others

For you to be faithful to your spouse

For you to put others before yourself

For you to read your Bible, pray, fast, seek God’s Kingdom, etc.

What is the “will of God” in Romans 12:2?

Romans 12:2 ESV

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Romans 12:2 NASB 95

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

What does Romans 12:2 promise we will be able to discern by being transformed by the renewing of our mind?

Romans 12:2 does not promise that if we’re good enough Christians God will reveal his secret/hidden will, or his “will of decree” as DeYoung calls it. This verse is not saying that if we follow God and we’re holy enough that he will reveal his will to us on the nitty-gritty decisions in life. The Bible does not promise that if we’re good enough Christians God will just reveal his plan for our future.

God does sometimes reveal his hidden plan through dreams, visions, and strong feelings—like my calling to ministry for example. You probably have examples from your life where you’ve clearly sensed God’s leading. But, these are the exception, not the norm.

In fact, Scripture indicates that God typically doesn’t reveal his plan to us ahead of time:

Deuteronomy 29:29 ESV

“The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.

What Romans 12:2 promises us is that when we surrender our lives to God, refuse to be conformed to the world, and instead allow ourselves to be transformed by the renewing of our mind, we will find that God’s will (of desire, his revealed will) is good for us. Our lives will demonstrate that God’s will (of desire) is good, and wholesome, and perfect.

And this is further demonstrated by the context. If Paul had meant that transformation of our minds would enable us to discern God’s plan for our lives, then he probably would have followed that up with more specific directions on how to do so. Instead, what follows is a list of general instructions for how to live a godly life and commands to use whatever spiritual gifts you have for the upbuilding of the Church!

Romans 12:3–8 ESV

For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.

“ Conventional understanding of God’s will defines it as a specific pathway we should follow into the future. God knows what this pathway is, and he has laid it out for us to follow. Our responsibility is to discover this pathway—God’s plan for our lives. We must discover which of the many pathways we could follow is the one we should follow, the one God has planned for us. If and when we make the right choice, we will receive his favor, fulfill our divine destiny and succeed in life.… If we choose rightly, we will experience his blessing and achieve success and happiness. If we choose wrongly, we may lose our way, miss God’s will for our lives, and remain lost forever in an incomprehensible maze.”

Just Do Something: A Liberating Approach to Finding God’s Will

Gerald Sittser, The Will of God as a Way of Life: Finding and Following the Will of God (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2000), 17.

God is not a Magic 8-Ball we shake up and peer into whenever we have a decision to make. He is a good God who gives us brains, shows us the way of obedience, and invites us to take risks for Him. We know God has a plan for our lives. That’s wonderful. The problem is we think He’s going to tell us the wonderful plan before it unfolds. We feel like we can know—and need to know—what God wants every step of the way. But such preoccupation with finding God’s will, as well-intentioned as the desire may be, is more folly than freedom.

The better way is the biblical way: Seek first the kingdom of God, and then trust that He will take care of our needs, even before we know what they are and where we’re going.

Kevin DeYoung, Just Do Something: A Liberating Approach to Finding God’s Will, ed. Jim Vincent (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2009), 24.

All that God requires of us is to seek his glory and follow his revealed will--to be transformed in our minds.

Ro 12:1–2 (ESV)

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

We do this by offering up our lives as a ‘living sacrifice,’ being willing to do whatever God asks of us.

When we do this, it is an act of worship

God does have a wonderful plan for your life, but he is (probably) not going to tell you what it is and he doesn’t expect you to figure it out, either.

God just wants you to live a godly life.

Don’t be conformed to the world

Be transformed by having your mind renewed

Test everything against Scripture

Use discernment

These are God’s will for your life.

God does not want us to worry about tomorrow. He wants us to follow him today.

Oftentimes, our obsession with discerning the will of God in a particular decision is nothing more than anxiety about the future masquerading as piety.

Matthew 6:25–34 ESV

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

If you find yourself paralyzed by a decision you have to make, ask yourself—“Why am I worried? Am I worried that if I make a mistake it will ruin my life? Am I worried God won’t provide? Am I worried that if I make the wrong choice God will be perpetually angry or disappointed with me?”

“Do I trust God with my future?”

Don’t over-complicate this. God does not expect you to prophetically discern the future and then map out a plan to get there. What he wants is for you to follow him today and trust him for tomorrow.

God’s will is for you to live a holy, righteous, God-glorifying life.

God’s will is for you to be faithful to your spouse, love your children, and put others before yourself.

God’s will for most people is to get married and have kids and raise them in the admonition of the Lord. It is better to marry than to burn with passion.

But, God’s will for some, for those whom he specially gifts this calling, is to remain single and devote their time and passion for ministry.

God’s will for you is to provide for yourself and your family, to seek to serve him in whatever situations or circumstances you find yourself in.

God’s will for you is to use the spiritual gifts he gave you to build up the body of Christ.

Biblical wisdom is the key to living a godly life. (v. 2b)

Romans 12:2 (ESV)

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Testing and Discernment are marks of biblical wisdom.

One of the problems with the "hidden path” method is that it effectively negates the need for Biblical wisdom.

If we expect that sooner or later God will just reveal to us the right decision in every instance of life, we have no need of wisdom.

If your paradigm for decision making removes biblical wisdom from the equation, you’ve missed something.

What about casting lots, fleeces, writing on the wall, dreams, signs, voice of God, intuition, open doors, etc.?

All of these have and can be used by God, but none are the norm.

Casting lots was primarily done in the OT, but seems to have been restricted mainly to decisions that affected the entire nation (like whether or not to go to war) and had a simple yes/no component. It is worth noting that they did not have the full counsel of God revealed in Scripture, did not have the same access to the Holy Spirit that we do, and that this only occurs once in the NT. Even there, the apostles seem to have used other criteria (i.e., godly wisdom) to first narrow the field to two perfectly acceptable options.

The fleece incident with Gideon is hardly held up as a model of piety…same with the writing on the wall incident.

Jesus repeatedly rebukes those who seek for signs

God does sometimes speak audibly to people and sometimes through dreams, but these instances are rare and still subject to testing and discernment via Scripture.

Intuition and “open doors” have their place, so long as they’re kept in check by Scripture and godly wisdom.

What if I make a mistake?

You’re going to make mistakes, wrong choices, act with impure motives, etc. from time to time because you’re a sinner.

But God can and will redeem your bad choices and work it all for your good and the furtherance of his Kingdom. Remember that even the rejection and crucifixion of Christ was part of God’s plan.

Don’t presume upon God’s mercy, but do learn from your mistakes, trust God with your future, and grow in biblical wisdom.

How to make wise decisions: the Path of Wisdom.

Search the Scriptures.

Is what I want to do contrary to Scripture?

Read Scripture. Meditate on Scripture.

Don’t twist Bible verses around to justify your sins or take them out of context. If the Bible doesn’t clearly give an answer on a decision, don’t try to make it do so. And don’t do the random verse-of-the-day approach...

There once was a man who was hoping to get a word from the Lord. So, he flipped open his Bible and happened to land upon Matthew 27:5 where it says that Judas “went and hanged himself.” He wasn’t quite satisfied with that word, though, so he tried again, this time landing on Luke 10:37, “And Jesus said to him, ‘You go, and do likewise.’”

Examples of people who felt it was God’s will to cheat on their spouse, get a divorce, etc.

Pray, fast, repent of sins.

Pray for wisdom, discernment

Set aside time to seek God through fasting

Repent of any known sins. Sin clouds our judgment and corrupts our minds.

It’s ok to pray for God’s guidance. Sometimes God does speak to us through visions, dreams, impressions, etc. But, understand that those are the exception, and most decisions we simply have to make using godly wisdom.

Check your motives.

Motives matter

You can do the right thing for the wrong reason

Self-exaltation, love of money, revenge, etc. can all masquerade themselves as godliness at times.

Ask God to reveal and sanctify your motives

Ask God to increase your love for him

Are you acting out of trust in God, or fear?

Proverbs 3:5–6 ESV

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

But, avoid the pitfall of assuming that your desires are always inherently evil.

We’ve all heard this verse:

Jeremiah 17:9 ESV

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?

But that verse is spoken as a rebuke of the man described in

Jeremiah 17:5 ESV

Thus says the Lord: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the Lord.

But, in that same passage, Jeremiah 17:7–8 says

Jeremiah 17:7–8 ESV

“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.”

If you are seeking God, finding your satisfaction in him, and spending time in the Word and in prayer, and the options before you are not immoral, then do what you want to do!

A worldly person says “Follow your heart,” but doesn’t take time to orient their heart towards God. A person like this needs to read Jeremiah 17:9 and come to grips with the depths of their depravity.

But, too many godly believers are trapped in a cycle of despair and self-deprecation because they assume that any desire that comes from their heart must be sinful and ungodly.

No, you are not perfectly good, but you are capable of doing good because of the Holy Spirit within you. No, your motives won’t always be 100% pure. But, that doesn’t mean they’re totally sinful, either.

If you first take time to orient your heart towards God, then God will often bless you with what you want.

Psalm 37:4 ESV

Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Seek godly counsel.

You are not the only person indwelt by the Holy Spirit. Some people have the spiritual gift of discernment, or perhaps wisdom from life experiences.

Talk to your parents, your spouse, your friends—what do they think?

"Honor your father and mother” is still binding, even if you disagree with them.

Find someone whose walk with Christ you admire and who knows you well and ask them what they think.

Take stock of your spiritual gifts and how they might be used for the Kingdom.

You might have to experiment a bit to figure out what your gifts are.

Sometimes we have to do things that are stretching and take us out of our comfort zone.

But, we have all been uniquely gifted by the Holy Spirit for certain acts of service within the body of Christ, for the upbuilding of the Church.

If you’re not using your gifts, that’s a recipe for burnout and it’s also disobedience.

Romans 12:6–8 ESV

Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.

Keep it in perspective.

The most important decision of your life is not what major you choose in college, but what is the major focus of your life.

The most important decision in your life is not who your spouse is going to be, but what kind of spouse you are going to be.

The most important decision in your life is not what job or ministry you’re going to take but whether or not you will do it to the glory of God.

The big decisions in life are not what most people think—whom to marry, where to go to school, what job to take, where to live, etc. The big decisions in life are:

Am I going to seek the glory of God and put his Kingdom first?

Am I going to love my wife as Christ loved the Church and gave himself up for her?

Am I going to find my satisfaction and joy in Christ?

Am I going to point others to him?

Then, make a decision.

Conclusion

God does have a wonderful plan for your life, but he doesn’t expect you to figure it out in advance. You ARE the symphony. God has created you with your unique gifts, talents, likes, dislikes, strengths, weaknesses, your upbringing, your culture, etc. for a reason. You have a role to play in God’s symphony that no one else can play. God has given us some very clear guidelines in Scripture—his revealed will. If you just follow that and seek wisdom, at the end of your life when you set down your violin, you will look up not to the displeasing scowl of a never-satisfied conductor, but to the smile and admiration of a Father, well-pleased with his child’s performance. You will hear the words, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.” And you will, to your amazement, find that every note you played—even the sour ones—God worked it all together for good and it was all part of his plan from the very beginning.

So, what is the will of God for your life?

Just Do Something: A Liberating Approach to Finding God’s Will A Life Lived Not in Vain

So the end of the matter is this: Live for God. Obey the Scriptures. Think of others before yourself. Be holy. Love Jesus. And as you do these things, do whatever else you like, with whomever you like, wherever you like, and you’ll be walking in the will of God.

Ecclesiastes 12:13 ESV

The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.

For a great resource on this topic, see:

DeYoung, Kevin. Just Do Something: A Liberating Approach to Finding God’s Will. Edited by Jim Vincent. Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2009.

Benediction

Romans 11:33–36 ESV

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?” “Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?” For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.