What Is His Will?

“So don’t be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.” – Ephesians 5:17
 
“How do I know what God’s will is?” It is one of the most common questions that we humans ask when faced with difficult decisions. What school should I go to? Should I pursue marriage with this person? Where should we live? Decisions confront us, and we must pick between the options set before us. How?
 
Many familiar with the Bible will “put out a fleece” (Judges 6). Referring back to Gideon’s tactic of asking God to give him a sign, folks will seek a sign from God that a particular direction is the right one.
 
But is seeking a sign from God really how we “understand what the Lord’s will is?” I don’t think so. Consider Gideon a little more carefully. He says to God, “If you will deliver Israel by me, as you said…” (Judges 6:36). Do you see the problem? God had already declared to Gideon what He would do (Judges 6:14). God had already demonstrated His patience with Gideon by giving him a sign (Judges 6:17). Yet, Gideon persists in unbelief. His fleece is not an example of seeking the Lord’s will. The Lord had already declared His will! Gideon was delaying and refusing to believe.

Bruce Waltke, in his book Finding the Will of God: a Pagan Notion? (1995), makes the point more forcefully. The practice of seeking signs from God is much more akin to pagan divination than biblical discernment. The pagans used signs as ways to predict outcomes and to secure success from the gods. Whether they were casting lots (Jonah 1:7), looking for signs (Ezekiel 21:21), watching the stars (Isaiah 47:13), having their fortune told, or consulting spirits (Isaiah 8:19), the pagans attempted to predict and control the future. Christians can be prone to treating the one true God like the pagans treated their false gods. When we assume God is hiding what is good from us and requiring that we perform rituals to get Him to show us the way, we are acting like pagans not like “dearly loved children” (Ephesians 5:1).
 
What does God will for you? He wants for you to trust Him as a good Father and imitate Him as a wise guide. You don’t have to guess because He has already told you, “be imitators of God, as dearly loved children, and walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave Himself for us…” (Ephesians 5:1-2). Obey what God has already told you to do. Trust Him to bring good to you through whatever the outcome of your decision. Make a decision in keeping with wisdom and in great courage that your good Father will guide your steps. Then you will find that “understanding what the Lord’s will is” is not such a mystery after all.