What Does God Want Me to Do?

Should I quit my job and look for something new? Should I move? Should I take on this ministry? Should I create this boundary? Should I go forward in this relationship? Should I back off of this relationship? Should I say something? Should I keep my mouth shut? What should I do? What is the right thing? What does God want???

I want God’s solid, unmistakable answers to questions like this, but sometimes I don’t get them. God may not make his will very clear. He can leave me in the dark about what he wants…a lot. I can pray, read my Bible, seek the wisdom of others and plead for direction and still be stuck with what feels like a very silent God.

How can I do more than just stumble along, guessing my next steps, acting on my whims and hoping those whims are God’s prompts? These questions used to immobilize me but now I think there is something far more important than discerning what God’s will is.

What if we don’t need to know God’s will in order to be centered in it? What if not having a clear sense of what God wants is all right and not the deal breaker for living a fully obedient life?

Here’s how I see it: it is far more important to be fully ready to receive and obey God’s will than to simply identify what it is. I don’t believe that we stay in the center of God’s will by KNOWING WHAT God’s will is but by being fully WILLING TO DO whatever God’s will is.

God directs the path of those who trust him with their whole heart, who don’t lean on their own understanding (Proverbs 3:5-6). The Bible also says a doubting and double minded person is unstable in all they do and shouldn’t expect to receive anything from the Lord (James 1:6-8). Did you catch that? Not ANYTHING! It seems to me the key to hearing from God and staying in the center of his will is dependent on our trust, willingness and wholeheartedness.

Are you trusting, willing and wholehearted?

The 3X5 Card Test

Let’s dream for a minute. One morning you open your mailbox and among the bills and adds there is a sealed envelope from God. Inside that envelope there is a 3X5 card on which God has written his will for your life. It is clear and obvious. He has written it with a black sharpie. No more mystery, no more doubts, it is there in black and white. You know this card will tell you exactly what he wants from you. How do you feel about this? Are you skeptical? Are you resistant? Are you relieved? What does this stir in you?

3 Responses

The Skeptic

“I’m not in until I know what is on the card.”

You are open to God’s will if it lines up with your will, but until you know what is on that card you remain skeptical. You believe in God, want to follow him, but haven’t totally surrendered your life to him. You may have plans and dreams that you aren’t ready to release. And what if that card calls you to surrender something you would rather hold tight?

The Resistant

“I can’t do it.”

Before you open the envelope you already know what God would write on the card. His will isn’t a mystery to you. You have known what he wants from you for a while. It addresses a block between you and God that you are fully aware of and try hard to avoid. This envelope puts that issue in your face. Your response is anxious! You feel too stuck, weak and compromised to take on a life of surrender and full obedience.

(I’ve seen people break out in a sweat when I bring up the 3X5 card test. Nine times out of ten times the thing they can’t surrender is an unhealthy relationship.)

The Relieved

“Bring it on!”

You crave God’s clear will and direction for your life so this envelope brings relief. Your heart’s greatest desire is to live in full obedience. That card could say anything and you would receive it wholeheartedly. Like what it says or not, it doesn’t matter to you, because you would rather suffer in the center of God’s will than find pleasure outside of it.

My son Grant is in a season where he is struggled with identifying God’s will for his life. Recently he sat down to talk to me. I could tell he was frustrated. “I just want to know what God wants!” he said, “I’m willing to do anything. I’d even teach water aerobics to old people.” I had to laugh. My son isn’t a fan of swimming and tends to get a little freaked out by the elderly. But my son loves God and wants God’s will over his own comfort and desires. Tell me this isn’t the kind of person God leads and speaks to! I don’t believe Grant has to worry about being outside the center of God’s will. Not with a heart like that.

God is far more concerned about the condition of our heart than he is with our sense of clarity with his plans and direction. Discovering God’s will for our lives is just a bi-product of our trust, willingness and wholeheartedness.