As Jesus transforms the thoughts and desires of our lives, he revolutionizes our very reason for living. Understanding this reality is essential to knowing and experiencing the will of God as a disciple of Jesus. The most common question I get from people your age is this: what is Gods will for my life? In fact, its probably the most commonly asked question in all Christianity. In the midst of all the decisions we are making at any given moment, we always find ourselves wondering about Gods will in all of them.
Some decisions are small and seem insignificant. What should I eat today? Should I go eat Chinese, Mexican or burgers? What do I do when Im having a breakdown? What kind of car should I drive? How much offering should I give?
Other decisions involve large, life-altering decisions. Should I date? If yes, whom? Should I go to college? What should I major in? What career path should I choose? Whom shall I marry? Should I have kids or adopt? Where should I live? Etc.
All these questions always boils back down to what is Gods will for my life? What does God want me to do? How do I find Gods will for my life? In fact, we operate as if Gods will were lost. Thats when we go about trying to find some method to finding it.
Lets talk about some of those methods briefly now:
- Random finger method open your Bible randomly and put your finger down somewhere on the page and that is the will of God for you.
- Astonishing Miracle method just like Moses met the burning bush, we are touched by an angel okay, this may not be that popular.
- Striking coincidence method look for striking coincidences in life like choosing a major in college and you wake up one morning at 2:22, then the next night at 3:33 and the next at 4:44, then you go and pray in tongue saying, math is your new major because God spoke to me. More likely hes telling you that youre sleeping too much. Or more applicable, you have a red coke can in your hand, then you see a group of girls and one of them, only one is wearing a bright red shirt with a coke logo on it, while drinking a cokethats gotta be the girl of your dreams.
- Fleece method, Small voice method, Open/closed door method, Marco polo method, etc
I can keep going, but thats a waste of time. All these methods wont help you as you try to find Gods will for your life. In fact, Gods will for your life should become pretty evident when you become disciple by God and He transforms your emotions, minds and wills. To quote the Apostle Paul, I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me (Galatians 2:20). When we follow Christ, our lives are subsumed into his life and our ways become surrendered to His will.
The problem with this understanding of Gods will for our lives however is that my will is not his will and we dont trust Gods will for us. That is despite the fact that God wants good for us more than we want good for us. Thats despite the fact that even though he wants whats best for us, we dont surrender our will to him. Lets face it, the only reason we ask what Gods will is for our lives is because we dont want to do His will and we know it. We want to find shortcuts to the mind of God, and thats not happening the way we like it.
The will of God for your life is not a road map waiting to be navigated; rather, its a relationship that God wants us to experience every single day. You cant be subsumed by His life if you are not a part of his lifewe need to spend time with God. We need to listen to His Word. We need to be obedient to it. With that being said, lets go to Matthew 28.
16?Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go.?17?When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.?18?Then Jesus came to them and said,?All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.?19?Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching?them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you?always, to the very end of the age.
Gods will for your life is pretty simple according to the Bible: he wants you to bring him glory!
I summed up Jesus will for his disciple at the very end, but this act that he is commanding of them causes the world to do what He always wanted from the beginning of creation to be glorified. From the very beginning God wills to redeem people from everywhere by his grace and for His glory. If Gods will for my life is to bring Him glory by sharing His grace with the world, then what is my ambition in Christ? The first words of Jesus to his disciples were, Im going to make you fishers of men. His last words were make disciples of all nations. His will is pretty simple isnt it? To create, call, save and bless His people so that they can spread His grace and glory among all people.
Youre probably thinking that Im oversimplifying it right now. That Gods will is more than just preaching the gospel. Of course Im oversimplifying it! But this is the key to this whole thing and it comes from verse 20, I am with you always
V20 When God is saying that He is always with us, he is talking about the Holy Spirit. We know this from the book of Acts, He says to the disciples dont leave Jerusalem until the helper comes. Thats when Peter jumps into action and converts 3,000 in a single day. Gods will for our lives is for us to witness that power. We can only witness that power and good news if we allow ourselves to experience a relationship with Him on a daily basis.
I want to ask you all one question: do you believe Jesus is at work in the world around you and that he wants to use you in alignment with his will to accomplish his work? If you answered yes, then you have the ability to make more disciples, and influence more people than you realize. Gods will for your life is to actively engage in the lives of people you meet and encounter by making them disciples of Jesus through your words and actions.
The will of God is to for every disciple of Jesus to make disciples of Jesus. Nobody needs to wait for a still, small voice or random coincidences or supernatural signs to fall from the sky. God is clear about what He wants you to do with your life. He wants you to share His love with everybody in your realm, right now and not be afraid of sharing it because God is working. Wherever we are, whatever were doing, he wants us to serve in the different places and positions through diverse avenues to make disciples because he says follow me to become fishers of men. Its time to pick up and go do His will.
I want to spend the rest of the evening praying. I want those of you who pray in tongue to pray in tongue. I want those of you who pray loudly, to pray loudly. I want those of you who just want to sit contemplating to sit and contemplate. Just pray and ask God that you can be bold enough to do his will and spread his love when we leave this place tomorrow and go to church.
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