God’s Will

by David Beckmann

All sincere believers want to do God’s will. We pray for it all the time: “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done.” Consequently, it can be pretty frustrating when you are not sure what you are supposed to do. It’s easy to wish God would just talk to you, like he did to Noah (“Build an ark”), or Abraham (“Go somewhere else”) or Moses (“Lead my people out of Egypt”). But, when you look at those occasions in light of

the sweep of history, they are at very important points in God’s plan of salvation and rather rare. So, if God doesn’t talk to us like that, what are we to do?

Lots of people today talk about “having peace” about doing something. If they refer to the Bible at all, it’s likely to be Colossians 3:15: “Let the peace of God rule in your hearts.” However, that verse doesn’t have anything to do with a feeling you have. It’s not about “guidance.” It’s about getting along with folks at church, “in one body.” I’m pretty sure if you asked Moses, walking away from the burning bush, if he “had peace” about going back to Egypt, he’d think you were nuts.

It seems the basic way we do God’s will is to look for what the Bible says about our situation (Psalm 119:105), and ask for wisdom to understand what’s best (James 1:5). We get counsel, of course (Proverbs 11:14), and we watch out for our conscience (Hebrews 13:18). Otherwise, we step out trusting God to lead us in the right path (Psalm 23). Recognize that you are a sheep and stay close to your shepherd. “Trust and obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus.” Of course, one way God can lead us into things is by letting stuff happen to us. Remember Joseph? People talk about “having a call” from God: how about being thrown in a pit and sold into slavery? That’s some way to get called by God! I wonder if he “had peace” about it. But, he did the right thing in a situation like that: he stayed faithful (remember Potiphar’s wife). When you cannot understand what the devil is going on, you at least know that God is still good, he’s still in control, and you need to stay faithful to him and give him time. Eventually, you’ll look back and see God’s will was done, like Joseph did (Genesis 50:20). Neither our mistakes nor evil people can mess up God’s will for us (Romans 8:28). Thank God for that!

How are we to have confidence? We trust in God’s faithfulness to his promises. He gave his only Son for us, how will he not with him freely give us all things (Romans 8:32)? Just keep looking to Jesus (Hebrews 12:1,2). It’s harder for a child of God to get out of God’s will than we think—or than the devil wants us to think!

About The Author The Rev. David Beckmann is an Anglican priest and Moderator of the C.S. Lewis Society of Chattanooga. Recently, he was director of the C. S. Lewis Study Centre at The Kilns, Oxford, UK. He blogs at revbeckmann.com.