Deciphering God's Will

I’ve been thinking a lot about God’s will lately; His will in my life and His will for things in general.  I suppose His will for things in general is a bit easier to grasp.  How about anything that helps to bring about His kingdom here on earth?  I say that both in terms of people coming to relationship with God through Jesus Christ as well as the social aspects of bringing about His kingdom and making our world a better more loving place for God’s glory.

But what about our personal lives?  I think both of my grandmothers prayed for me to find the right wife from the time they knew I was conceived.  I guess they did well because after 23 years I still love my wife more than ever and can’t imagine my life without her.  But was she the only one for me?  On a similar note my son is a senior in high school and looking at colleges.  Should I be praying that he finds the one specific college that is God’s will for him?  Or on a more superfluous note, my mom always used to pray for a good parking spot when we would go to the mall or similar places.  If she got that spot was it God’s will, and if she didn’t get that spot did God want us to get some exercise?

I’ve always like Romans 12:1-2 when it comes to figuring out all this will of God stuff.  Therefore I urge you brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God – this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good pleasing and perfect will.  Here’s what I think this passage is telling us.  I think it’s telling us that God’s will isn’t so much about the specifics of life as it is about wholeheartedly living your life for Him.  To offer our bodies as living sacrifices is to give every aspect of our lives over to God.  So often we like to pick and choose the areas we want to give to God and the areas we want to hang on to for ourselves.  God is also in the business of transforming lives, but we usually have a part to play in that transformation (Sorry if that last sentence offends some of my Calvinist leaning friends out there). When our hearts are stubborn we can quench the Holy Spirit’s work in us so we need to be open to and desire God’s transforming work.  When we are our minds are renewed.  That is we start thinking about things differently.  We start thinking about things more like Jesus thought about things.  The desires of God’s heart become the desires of our own hearts.

The more this transformation takes place the more we find ourselves in line with God’s will for our lives.  So let’s get back to some of those specific situations.  Do you have a girlfriend or boyfriend you think might be the one?  How about you start by making sure both of you are allowing God to do His transforming work in your lives and that you’re giving your entire relationship over to Him.  If you’re doing this than I say you are in God’s will.  You’ll still want to get a feel for whether or not your boyfriend or girlfriend is a good complement to your personality and if you naturally get along and think of him or her as a best friend.  These are things that may help a marriage to thrive but they are not necessarily about God’s will.  Or to use the college example; no I don’t think there is just one college out there for you; or one grad school, or one career for that matter.  Students, if you’re planning to use college as a time to party, womanize (or manize) and conveniently forget about the convictions of your faith than it doesn’t matter what school you choose, you will not be in God’s will.  On the other hand if you take Romans 12:1-2 seriously and seek to worship God with all aspects of your life than you can pick any college and still be in God’s will.

I think when we start to see God’s will in this light it becomes very freeing. Suddenly there’s not so much pressure surrounding all those big decisions; like finding the right parking spot.