God’s Will for Our Lives

I’ve longed to find what God’s will for my life is.  I’ve searched high and low, looked long and hard and it continuously escapes me and I feel no closer to knowing what God’s long term plan is for me.

I’ve been reading through the book Forgotten God by Francis Chan, and I came across a chapter entitled “Forget About His Will for Your Life.”  He pointed out in that chapter that were very few people in the scriptures who received their life plan (or even long-term plan) in advance.  Prime example is Abraham, whom God told to pack up his family and go, not knowing where or how far or how long or if he’d be back.  Just get up and go…..and he went.

The desire to know God’s will comes from fear.  We fear the unknown.  Will God provide for us?  Will I have a long and healthy life?  Will I be prosperous?  Will I do great things for his kingdom?  So many things we could sit and wonder about, yet all this wondering and worry about the future and trying to figure out God’s will often leads to paralysis.  We do nothing.  God never promised us a 20 year plan, but he did promise to never leave us.

What if we listened to God’s spirit daily, throughout the day in the difficult times and the easy times?  What if we asked, “Where is God leading us today?”  God does have a plan for our lives, even if he doesn’t reveal it to us all at once.  But he is revealing it day by day, hour by hour.  But are we listening?  Are we listening as he whispers in our ears what needs done this hour?  Do we feel the promptings as we decide how to react to a difficult question?

Galatians 5:25 tells us;

If we are living now by the Holy Spirit, let us follow the Holy Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.

The Holy Spirit is leading us daily my friends.  Are we following?  Or are we still waiting to figure out what God’s will is for our life, so we can map out the next 20-30 years?  I think that dwelling on God’s plan for the future gives us an excuse for not living for God today.  We can always say, “Well, I would do such and such, if only I knew God’s will”.  Or how about, “I would serve here, but I don’t know what God has planned for me.”

We should be joining God on HIS journey and seeing where it takes us, but instead we are inviting Him to come on OUR journey, going where we want to go.  That seems a little backwards when you read it, but I think it’s what we’re doing.  I know I for a long time have asked God to reveal his plan for me, as long as it was something I wanted to do.  I didn’t want it to be too hard, or make me step out of my comfort zone too much.  If I joined Him on His journey instead, it may lead me to uncomfortable circumstances, but I’d know that God is there with me.  I know that He led me there, so I’m there for a reason.  I know that God will see me through and that it is for the betterment of His kingdom.

Even as I write this, it is scary thinking about what God may ask me to do.  But, I know that if I pay attention to his promptings, if I’m in communication with God through prayer and his Word, if I invite the Holy Spirit to move within me daily and lead me where he wants me to be, then I’ll be in a better place in my walk with God.  I’ll be following Him to where he wants me to go, instead of trying to drag Him along with me (which never works too well).

God is walking with you every day…right now he is walking beside you.  He wants you to follow him.  Try to stop worrying about what God has planned for your entire life and let him lead you there.