How to Know God's Will

Every Christian at some point struggles to know the will of God for their life. Questions surface regarding the right occupation, school, place to live, marriage, children, lifestyle…these issues, and so many more, leave us questioning God about what is best.

We turn to the New Testament for answers and find a variety of rich, spiritual insights. We look into the Old Testament to quote promises, such as : “Trust in the Lord with all your heart...and he will make your paths straight” But how might we pull these insights and promises together, like a pearled necklace, to be worn comfortably through our days and carried with us wherever we go? The answer can be found in Old Testament stories. Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy demonstrate what much of the New Testament describes. There is a precious golden thread that weaves its way through these four foundational books. That thread is the will of God.

The book of Exodus, whose title is derived from the Greek word meaning “the way out,” shows us how God led His people out of their bondage in Egypt. May we learn from the ancient story of Moses principles about how God leads His people even today.

God Chooses :

We read in that more than two centuries after Joseph died, a new Pharaoh took a new approach to the ever-growing Jewish nation. Fearful of Israel’s numbers and strength, this Egyptian monarch forced God’s people into servitude and began mass execution of their first- born sons. Such harsh and extreme measures can bring questions to the mind of any reader, such as, “Has God forgotten His people? or “Where is God in all of this?” How quickly we forget the principles etched in Jewish history through the life of Joseph. God not only works for good through human suffering, but God also establishes plans that are executed perfectly, such that even suffering is an essential ingredient in the process. Joseph suffered in humiliation and isolation that God might prepare him for a position of exaltation. Israel suffered as part of the essential preparation for her deliverance from Egypt and her development as a people. It was God who ordained her four centuries in Egypt(), and now God would choose a person to lead her out of Egypt and toward the Promised Land.

Exodus 1 KJV 1900

1 Now these are the names of the children of Israel, which came into Egypt; every man and his household came with Jacob. 2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, 3 Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin, 4 Dan, and Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. 5 And all the souls that came out of the loins of Jacob were seventy souls: for Joseph was in Egypt already. 6 And Joseph died, and all his brethren, and all that generation. 7 And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them. 8 Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph. 9 And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we: 10 Come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land. 11 Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses. 12 But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were grieved because of the children of Israel. 13 And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigour: 14 And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in morter, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field: all their service, wherein they made them serve, was with rigour. 15 And the king of Egypt spake to the Hebrew midwives, of which the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah: 16 And he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the stools; if it be a son, then ye shall kill him: but if it be a daughter, then she shall live. 17 But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men children alive. 18 And the king of Egypt called for the midwives, and said unto them, Why have ye done this thing, and have saved the men children alive? 19 And the midwives said unto Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are lively, and are delivered ere the midwives come in unto them. 20 Therefore God dealt well with the midwives: and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty. 21 And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that he made them houses. 22 And Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river, and every daughter ye shall save alive.

Genesis 15:13 KJV 1900

13 And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;

The second chapter of Exodus, describing the birth and early life of Moses, ends with this wonderful truth regarding God’s concern for suffering Israel: “God heard their groaning and He remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. So God looked on the Israelite's and was concerned about them” ().

Exodus 2:24–25 KJV 1900

24 And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. 25 And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God had respect unto them.

Moses’ parents protected their baby from the destructive forces of the world and trained him in the essentials of the faith. God was working through these parents…for God chose Moses before he was born. Moses was trained in Egyptian schools, but he did not forget his Hebrew roots. He grew into a man and sought to fulfill God’s plan for Jewish deliverance through human means. He would fail and flee. God’s chosen man was following the path into God’s school of training. Forty years of the best schooling in the great nation of Egypt would need to be matched with 40 years of character development in the desert.

God Call’s

Moses was carefully leading his flock to the “mountain of God” (Horeb, or Sinai—). He was likely not convinced that God had been similarly leading him during these years of confusion and loneliness. It was at this mountain that God would call him to go back to Egypt. It was back to this mountain that he would lead the Israelite's to receive commandments from God.

The Lord appeared to Moses in a burning bush. A simple, fragile bush was ignited and lighted by the presence of a holy God and yet not consumed. This is a wonderful picture of God’s mysterious ways. He doesn’t lead us from a distance; God lives within those whom He chooses and calls. We are weak and sinful creatures, indwelt by the Almighty God and yet not consumed. Moses immediately objected to God’s call, questioning his own personal worth, God’s name, the people’s response, and his personal abilities (,; ,).

Exodus 3:11 KJV 1900

11 And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?

Exodus 3:13 KJV 1900

13 And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them?

Exodus 4:1 KJV 1900

1 And Moses answered and said, But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice: for they will say, The Lord hath not appeared unto thee.

Exodus 4:10 KJV 1900

10 And Moses said unto the Lord, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.

Finally, Moses outright pleaded with God to “send someone else” ()

Exodus 4:13 KJV 1900

13 And he said, O my Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom thou wilt send.

The Lord agreed to send someone with Moses—Aaron, Moses’ brother. The Lord found need to call Moses a second time after Moses arrived home ().

Exodus 4:19 KJV 1900

19 And the Lord said unto Moses in Midian, Go, return into Egypt: for all the men are dead which sought thy life.

Those whom God chooses, He also calls ().

Romans 8:28–29 KJV 1900

28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. 29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

Jeremiah, chosen before he was in the womb, was also called and appointed to be a prophet ()

Jeremiah 1:5 KJV 1900

5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.

Paul, chosen by God from birth ()

Galatians 1:15 KJV 1900

15 But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me by his grace,

would be called through a vision of God.

Every believer in God has been chosen by God before the foundation of the world ().

Ephesians 1:4 KJV 1900

4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:

Every child of God receives a call of God. The methods and timing are as varied as are the people in God’s family. However, He who made us also calls us. His calling is first to Himself. Secondarily, God calls us into service. A call to be God’s and a call to serve God, together, are a composite picture of a call to consecration.

Every believer in God has been chosen by God before the foundation of the world ().

Each act of God’s protection and provision were divine strokes of circumstance, as God painted the colors of a consecrated life into the character of His people. We are awed by the Mount Si- nai experience where God appears in fearful glory to give His commandments to the Israelite nation.

Let us not forget that God was making this special nation into His “treasured possession, a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation” (). The word consecrate, which means “to set apart for a special purpose,” simply describes God’s way of leading His people. He sets us apart as His own treasures.

We are in the world but not of it (). We have been called by God that we might be- come His workmanship, on display before the watching world to the praise of His glory (Ephe- sians 2:10). It is wonderful to see how Moses came to grow in his faith through the Exodus ex- periences.

The same Moses who repeatedly questioned God’s call, eventually delivered the dreadful plagues of God against the mighty Egyptian nation with a holy boldness. An abstinent questioner became an obedient servant. The same Moses who found it difficult to meet God through the burning bush would later meet God on the blazing Mount Sinai. The meek shepherd of sheep would be trained to shepherd more than two million Jews for nearly eight decades.

God Consecrates

We read the story of the Exodus from Egypt, and the plagues and the power of God mesmerize us. Let us not miss the central point—Moses and the people were not only led out of Egypt but also were led into the presence and purposes of God. The plagues are mere stepping-stones to the Passover. The Passover is the central Old Testament picture-image of God’s means for our consecration…the sacrifice of Christ for our salvation (). We recall God’s wondrous works as He divided the Red Sea, and provided manna and water for His people in the desert.

Each act of God’s protection and provision were divine strokes of circumstance, as God painted the colors of a consecrated life into the character of His people. We are awed by the Mount Sinai experience where God appears in fearful glory to give His commandments to the Israelite nation.

Final Thought

When we hear the phrase, “The will of God,” we immediately think of specific decisions we are facing today. Like Moses in the desert, we want answers to our confusion with simple steps for action. God quietly and gently leads us while we think He has abandoned us. Our loving Father in heaven is more concerned about our own growth than our gripes. God is shaping our character while we struggle with our circumstances. We barely see the next step to take, while God has wonderfully prepared a path on which He is leading us.

You may not see any burning bushes. You may not experience fearful plagues. You may not receive commandments written on stone, but the same God who chose, called, and consecrated Moses is leading you today. God now lives within us. He writes His commands on our hearts. We, like Moses, are the called, chosen, and consecrated servants of the Lord Most High!

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