Knowing God’s Will

When God called me to preach, I knew.

Julie and I have been married for nearly fifty years. When I asked her so long ago, I knew God wanted us to be married.

My first official day as a Pastor is also my first official day working for the Justice Department. They were two completely separate duties, but God worked it out that way, and I knew what He wanted me to do; I knew His will.

How did I know that the three things above were the will of God for my life?

Knowing God’s will for your life cannot happen without a transformation of the mind. Romans 12:1-2, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world; but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

The first step in knowing God’s will is presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice to Him. A “living sacrifice,” this is done by living a holy life acceptable unto God.

It starts in our teens: that desire for a physical relationship. God tells us to wait until we are married, but that desire is there. Many will have sexual relations with many other people before they are married. By not yielding to God’s Word, we are not presenting ourselves to God as a living sacrifice, nor are we living a holy life.

I understand that society says if we haven’t had sex by the third date or so, something is wrong with the relationship, and that many Christians don’t see anything wrong with sex outside of marriage, but God says to wait. God should always be the Christian’s standard, not society or even the opinion of other Christians. What does God say about a particular subject?

This is basically where not conforming to the world, and the transformation of the mind, come in: doing the best we can to live life by God’s opinions and not the opinions of the world.

If you are thinking that you haven’t been that living sacrifice, please know that all is not lost. Jesus Christ washes our sins away at the cross. Repent, all will be well. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. In other words, if you haven’t been that living sacrifice, repent and start today. Don’t let the sins of the past prevent you from God’s blessings in the future.

When looking for a spouse, instead of seeking the most attractive person or someone with a good income, look for someone with godly qualities, develop a friendship, and pray to see if this particular person is the one God wants you to serve Him with. This takes a renewing of the mind, to choose in the direction of God and not the world. The godly qualities of men and women are outlined throughout the Word of God; therefore, at least a small knowledge of these qualities, as outlined in the Scripture, is necessary to find the spouse God would want you to have.

The same goes for a calling, job, or profession. The world will tell you to follow the money, seek the promotion, climb the ladder. God says, “Follow me.” If we follow the world’s priorities, we may have six or seven-figure incomes with exotic vacations, but we may miss out on a joy-filled life by not going in the direction God would have us to go.

Don’t get me wrong. It is not a sin to be rich. It is the love of money that is the root of all evil. What you love is what you will give your life to. Are you devoted to money or God? God used many wealthy men in the scripture. Job, Abraham, and Matthew were all wealthy, but Mary and Joseph were dirt poor. The Apostle Paul experienced both great wealth and great poverty. While preaching and starting churches, he made a living making tents. God can and will use people on every rung of the economic ladder; the question is, on what rung of the ladder does God want you?

Therefore, whether you are a tent maker, carpenter, fisherman, tax collector, shepherd, or a modern-day factory worker or executive, the question remains: What does God want you to do?

How can you tell? How can you tell what God’s will is for your life?

God has already told you, and it bears repeating, Romans 12:1-2, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”