Believers use the expression “God willing” appropriately when they know and trust in the character of God. They acknowledge that God is the one who meticulously ordains all that comes to pass and whose plans cannot be thwarted (Job 42:2).

Kenya is considered a Christian country. Most people acknowledge the existence of God and practice some form of religion. Among them are many professing Christians who don’t know what it really means to be a believer. Thus it isn’t uncommon to hear people conclude talk about their future plans and hopes with the expression, “God willing.” For some, it’s a way to sound religious; for others, it’s little more than a cliche, Christian speak; and only for a minority is it more than some kind of spiritual punchline or full-stop.

It is my hope that every Christian find themselves in that last group. And in order to do so we need to examine not only the expression “God willing” but the will of God.

What Is the Will of God?

The will of God can simply be understood as what God wants and orders to happen.

Theologians typically speak about two kinds of the wills of God. The first one is his preceptive will. This refers to what God reveals to us in his commandments, how we ought to obey God for his glory and our good. In fact, Jesus says that we prove that we love him if we obey his commandments (John 14:15). The second will of God is called the decretive will of God. This describes God’s sovereignty, how he controls all that comes to pass (Ephesians 1:11).

God has made his will plain to us. That is, his preceptive will (the first, above). He’s told us what he desires from us in the Bible. However, his decretive will (the second, above) is not something we’ll ever fully know. In other words, when we plan for the future and pursue our hopes, we should do so in accordance with the will he has revealed to us. This is obedience. But when we do that we don’t know what God has decreed. This is trust.

In his outstanding book, Trusting God, Jerry Bridges describes well the reality of not knowing what the future holds. He writes, “Someone has described life as like having a thick curtain hung across one’s path, a curtain that recedes before us as we advance, but only step by step. None of us can tell what events a single day or hour may bring into our lives.”

Thus when we say “God willing” it isn’t necessarily because we know God’s will, but that we trust him to work it out.

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