By constant communion with the living and powerful Word of God through a vital connection between God’s Spirit and his spirit, every believer may “know the will of God for his life.” In this way, the believer in Christ can continually bear the “fruit of the Spirit” throughout his lifetime by living according to the will of God.

Introduction

What is God’s will for your life? How can you know his will? Especially if you are serious about giving yourself to Christ’s service, how do you find out what he wants you to do? Should you be a teacher of the Bible? A pastor in a local church? A Christian businessman? A traveling evangelist? A Christian teacher in a secular school? A missionary to Somalia or Papua New Guinea?

In terms of knowing God’s will concerning service in his kingdom, the experience of Paul the Apostle may be very instructive. Paul had a strong desire to go to Rome, the capital city of the empire. He writes to the Romans about his determination to visit them:

… I remember you in my prayers at all times; and I pray that now at last by God’s will the way may be opened for me to come to you (Romans 1:9c–10).

Paul prays, not “what” is the will of God concerning his planned visit. He has no expectation that God will make known to him what he has willed about his proposed trip to Rome. Instead, he prays “that” he may come to them “by God’s will.” Paul clearly indicates that “many times” he had “planned” to come to them, but had been prevented from carrying out his plan up until the present moment (Romans 1:13).

So Paul made plans. He repeatedly made plans. Even when hindered in fulfilling a specific plan, he kept coming back to it. Without knowing the specifics of God’s will about the matter, he made his plans. But he was often frustrated in his plans.

In concluding his letter, Paul comes back to this subject of God’s will regarding his planned visit to Rome. The desire of his life had always been to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, which had hindered his coming to Rome (Romans 15:20, 22). But now he has no more place to work in nearby regions. Since he has been many years longing to see them, he reveals his plan to visit them in Rome as he is on his way to Spain (Romans 15:23–24). Right now he is in process of delivering the gift from the Gentiles to the needy Jewish Christians in Jerusalem (Romans 15:25). But as soon as this trip is done, he declares:

… I will go to Spain and visit you on the way. I know that when I come to you, I will come in the full measure of the blessing of Christ (Romans 15:28–29).

So the Apostle has made a plan of action for himself. First he will go to Jerusalem. Then he will head for Spain. On the way he will stop off in Rome. Paul is quite certain about these plans. Yet nothing indicates that he has received a special revelation from God approving these plans.

At the same time, the Apostle understands the tendentious character of these plans of his. He urges the Christians in Rome to join him in prayer, “so that by God’s will” he may come to them in Rome with joy and receive refreshment in their presence (Romans 15:30, 32).

From these passages, Scripture makes it clear that “knowing the will of God for your life” is a matter that involves several dimensions working simultaneously. On the one hand, God’s servant makes plans—far-reaching plans that can stretch out for years into the distant future. On the other hand, God has a will that determines the life-course of his servants. At the same time, corporate and individual prayers function as a critical aspect of the realization of the will of God by his servant.

With this biblical background in mind, consider three essential distinctions for Christian decision-making. For whether you like it or not, you will eventually have to make a decision. Many decisions. Life-determining decisions. For this reason, it is good to understand more fully these essential distinctions whenever you are involved in making a plan:

1. Distinguish between revelation then and revelation now.
2. Distinguish between God’s will of decree and God’s will of precept.
3. Distinguish between emotional mysticism and the Holy Spirit’s wisdom.

1. Distinguish between Revelation Then and Revelation Now

Revelation when and revelation now? Revelation in the days of the patriarchs, the prophets and the apostles of Christ in comparison with revelation in the present age.

In the earliest days, God spoke individually to each person, directly revealing whatever he wanted them to know about his will. For at first no written record of his will for people existed. So he spoke to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. He communicated with them through dreams, visions and special manifestations of himself. He appeared in the form of a flaming torch passing between torn animal pieces (Genesis 15:17), a tall pillar of cloud and fire (Exodus 13:21), a swirling whirlwind (Job 38:1). But these revelations were rare, and experienced only by a few select people.

Then God began to communicate his messages in writing so that many more people could have ready access to a permanent record of his will. God wrote the Ten Commandments in stone with his own finger, so no addition or erasure could possibly occur (Exodus 31:18). Then he inspired Moses to compose the first five books of the Bible as foundational documents to constitute God’s people as a nation (Exodus 17:14; 24:3–4; 34:27; Numbers 33:2; Deuteronomy 31:9).

Later, the Holy Spirit of God inspired prophets, kings and statesmen to compose historical narratives, prophecies and poetry. As a consequence, not one word of Scripture had its origin in human invention. Instead, “men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” so that “all Scripture is God-breathed” (2 Peter 1:21; 2 Timothy 3:16).

Over a period of 1500 years, from Moses through the Apostles, the whole of the Bible was inspired of God. Have any more words been inspired of God and incorporated in the Bible since the last book of the New Testament was completed? Not a word! For the past 2000 years, not one inspired Word from God has been added to Scripture. The Koran and the Book of Mormon make claims of divine inspiration, but they cannot compare with the self-confirming character of the Bible. If no other God-inspired writings exist, what does that tell you? Clearly it confirms that there was “Revelation Then” in contrast with “Revelation Now.” For “Now” we have the completed Bible to guide and instruct us in the right way of faith and life, which the people of old never had. The completed Bible exists “that the man of God may be perfect, lacking nothing” (2 Timothy 3:17). No need exists for further direct revelation from God. All that is needed for faith, life and God’s guidance is found in the Bible.

But what about something slightly less than further written revelation from God? What about asking for a “sign” to guide you, such as “putting out the fleece”?

Have you heard that expression? Gideon wanted to be sure of God’s will for his life. Should he engage the Midianites in battle, or should he not? Would he be gloriously victorious or shamefully defeated? To provide his needed assurance about God’s will in the matter, Gideon proposed to the Lord that he “put out the fleece.” He asked that during the night the ball of wool he put outside should be soaked with dew while the ground all around remained dry. Then the next night, the ground all around should be damp with dew while the fleece remained dry (Judges 6:36–40). By this sign, Gideon could know God’s will for his life.

So should Christians today “put out the fleece?” To be assured you are doing God’s will, should you ask for a confirming “sign” that would clearly communicate God’s will for you?

If you are inclined to follow Gideon’s way, then follow Gideon’s way! Put out the fleece! Place a ball of cotton or wool outside. Ask for dew to drench the fleece the first night, but for the ground all around to remain dry as dust. Then repeat the exercise the next night, but this time ask for the ground to be soaked and the fleece dry.

Be careful that you do not test God with a concocted sign. Don’t simplistically ask as a “sign” for your phone to ring within the next thirty minutes. Otherwise you are fooling yourself. Unless you ask for a genuinely supernatural sign, you deceive yourself about discovering God’s will for your life through a miraculous sign.

In any case, the narrative about Gideon’s putting out the fleece is the wrong passage to learn how to determine God’s will for your life. Gideon was not seeking to know God’s will for his life. He knew God’s will. He was only seeking courage from God to do what the Lord had already told him to do. God had already told Gideon, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel …” (Judges 6:14). In response to Gideon’s humble hesitancy, the Lord repeated himself: “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites together” (Judges 6:16). Gideon clearly knew God’s will for his life. He was only asking for God’s assurance that he should do what God already had told him to do.

Don’t fool yourself about a matter as serious as knowing God’s will for your life. Don’t set up an artificial “sign” so that you end up basing a life-determining decision on whether the moon comes out from behind the clouds in the next fifteen minutes, or a bird lands on the third branch of a tree above you. Too much is at stake for you to trick yourself into thinking you have received a “sign” that tells you God’s will for your life. Remember the warning words of Jesus: “A wicked and adulterous generation seeks for a sign” (Matthew 12:39).

When you are trying to determine God’s will for your life, do not look for a special revelation to yourself, a voice whispering in your ear, telling you that you should go to this university rather than that one, that you should marry this person and not that one, that you should spend your day visiting with a friend rather than completing your task at work. In the past, says the writer to the Hebrews, God spoke to the fathers at many times and in various ways (Hebrews 1:1). But in contrast to then, he now has spoken through his Son, revealed in the Scriptures as the embodiment of all the wisdom and knowledge of God that you will ever need for life (Colossians 2:3). Study him as he is presented in Scripture, and you will find the answers to all the questions you have about life’s many choices. Be sure you use the Scriptures to the fullest as they reveal Christ to you. His will is that you be transformed more and more into the likeness of his Son.

So the first “essential distinction” that must be made in discovering God’s will for your life involves appreciating the difference between revelation then and revelation now. Don’t confuse the two. Moses and David could consult the Urim and the Thummim of Israel’s high priest as a way of learning God’s will, but you cannot. Neither David nor Moses knew about Jesus Christ the way you do. They did not have the inspired writings of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Peter, Paul, James and Jude, but you do. Revelation for you is found in the written words of the Bible, available to you day and night. This is the way you can learn God’s will for your life. With all this instant access to the Word of God, you have no need for the less clear forms of revelation such as dreams and visions, signs and wonders. Yet Christians today can be tempted into “setting up” a sign to guide them.

A young person was trying to decide whether or not he should go into the gospel ministry. During an evening inspirational service at a lakeside, he looked for a “sign” from God. A candle burned to the right and the left of the speaker. The candle to the right blew out. The young man prayed, “Lord, if it is your will that I go into the gospel ministry, please don’t let the candle to the left blow out.” He was asking for a revelatory sign. The second candle did not blow out, so he went into the gospel ministry.

But if he really wanted God to give him a sign, what should he have prayed? He should have prayed, “Lord, if you want me to go into the ministry, re-light the candle that has already blown out!” But he could not offer that prayer because he really did not believe in miraculous signs. He was only setting up a sign that actually required no direct divine intervention at all.

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