How can you determine God’s will when you are trying to make a decision?  This is an important question since we make decisions everyday.

 

My former methods of searching. When I was younger and had a decision to make I would look for “neato” circumstances that point the way to God’s will.  I knew God was in control of all circumstances, so I would expect that God would often direct me through circumstances.  I might also spend a lot of time examining how I felt.  Or, I might wonder why God led me to read a particular passage of Scripture on a particular day wondering if He was trying to tell me something.

 

I have now learned that my search for God’s will was not done in a scriptural way.  God tells me in His Word how I am to look for His will.  He does not tell me to look for His leading in circumstances, my own feelings, or in anything in Scripture beyond the normal interpretation of it. 

 

God wants us to know His will.  In Colossians 1:9, Paul prays that the Colossians will “be filled with the knowledge of [God’s] will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding.”  I could list other verses, but I don’t think I need to.  We know God wants us to know His will.

 

I want to explain (in summary form) what the Bible says about God’s will and how we are to search for it.

 

The two wills of God. Scripture writers refer to the will of God in two different senses.

                                                           

Decretive. The first is what some call the decretive will of God.  This refers to the decrees of God.  When God wills for something to happen, it will happen.  God’s will can never be thwarted.  We usually don’t know will of God in this sense until after it happens.  This is why it is sometimes called the secret will of God.  We do know some of what He has decreed for the future, right?  The Book of Revelation tells us a lot.  So, some of it really isn’t secret.  Nevertheless, most of it, we don’t know.  When is the snow going to come?  We don’t know.  We might like to know.  Right?

 

In Colossians 1:9, is Paul praying that the Colossians would know the future?  No.  The decretive will is referred to in Deuteronomy 29:29.

Deuteronomy 29.29

“The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of the Law.” 

We are not supposed to know all of God’s decretive will. 

 

Revealed. Scripture writers also refer to another “will of God” – many have called it the revealed will.  Here are some examples:

2 Peter 3.9

 “The Lord is patient…not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”  This is some that God does not want or ‘will.’

 

1 Thessalonians 4.3

 “This is the will of God, your sanctification; that is that you abstain from sexual immorality.”

 

1 Peter 2.13-15

 “Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one authority, or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right.  For such is the will of God that by doing right you silence the ignorance of foolish men.”

The revealed will of God is also called the moral will of God.  The moral will of God is revealed to us in the Scriptures.  If you want to know God’s will, you must know the Word of God. 

 

Paul prays that the Colossians would know the moral will of God – then he proceeds to tell them the moral will of God.  That is what the rest of the epistle to the Colossians is about. 

 

So, when it comes to seeking the Lord’s will or determining God’s will when it comes to making a decision, it is obvious we are not referring to God’s decretive will.  God has a plan for our future.  Every minute is planned out for you and everyone else, and that future – “the secret things” – belongs to the Lord.

 

That means that our search is for the revealed will of God, the moral will of God.  How do you find the moral will of God? Get into the Word.

Joshua 1:8

“This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.”

James 1:20

But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.

 

Psalm 119:9

How can a young man keep his way pure?  By keeping it according to Your Word.

Do you want to live according to God’s will?  Look intently into God’s Word, meditate on God’s Word day and night, and abide by it.  If you do, you will be blessed; your way will be pure before God.  What else is there?

 

When making a specific decision, apply biblical principles.  When you do this, you may find more than one option which is within God’s moral will.  You have found God’s will!