God’s Will and Your Life?

May, 2007

by: Jack Hughes

• Spiritual Growth

Graduation time is here again. Every year high school seniors graduate from high school wondering what God’s will is for their lives. Some want to go to college. They apply to several schools, and get accepted by two or more colleges they would like to go to. Which college is God’s will for them?

After graduating from college they apply for a job at several companies. They get multiple offers. Each offer has its pros and cons but all seem equally reasonable. What is God’s will? Which job offer should they take?

A young man begins to consider marriage. He has a job, is faithfully pursuing the Lord, and now he wants to pursue a wife. There are so many women that could be potential wives, how does he find the right one? Outside of what the Bible requires, what should he be looking for? If he finds a woman he likes, how does he know that this particular woman is the right one for him?

Life is full of forks in the road like the ones listed above. We are constantly forced to make decisions and while most are minor and of little consequence, the big ones tend to make us feel uneasy. We want to do what God wants us to do, but there is no specific verse that tells us what college to go to, what job offer to accept, what woman to marry, what car to buy, where to live, what ministry to serve in, etc. Yet all these decisions have an impact on our lives. What is “God’s perfect will” in each of these situations? Let’s see what we can discover from the Scriptures concerning God’s will and your life.

Understand there are two different kinds of God’s will!

Most people think of God’s will in a singular fashion. Something is either God’s will or it is not, they think to themselves. In some respects this kind of thinking is true. Everything does fit into those two categories. Yet most people never study the will of God enough to realize that there are actually two different kinds of God’s will, maybe even three, depending on how you look at it. The first kind of God’s will is what might be understood as God’s revealed will, or prescribed will, or desirous will. Everything God tells us to do, or not do in His Word, the Bible, is His “revealed will.” God “prescribes” or “desires” that we obey what He tells us to do in the pages of Scripture. The Bible contains His instructions or prescription for our lives.

Yet God does not force us to obey. Though we can only obey Him by His grace, we can choose to not obey Him. He even gives us the freedom to disobey and we often use that freedom and sin. For instance, Phil. 4:6 says, “Be anxious for nothing…” Have you ever been anxious? Sure you have! But it is God’s will that you not be anxious. “Yes,” you say, “but God doesn’t force us to obey.” The Bible is God’s revealed, prescribed, or desirous will and though He always wants us to obey His revealed will, we can choose to sin and disobey it.

An example of God’s revealed will in the area of salvation is given to us in I Tim. 2:3-4 where the Apostle Paul says, “This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” Here Paul uses the word “desires” and tells us it is God’s desire that all men be saved and come to the knowledge of truth. So, are all men saved? No. Again we see God’s revealed will, He desires me to be saved, but we also see the facts and that is only a few believe. Keep this in mind as we look at the second category of God’s will.

The second category or kind of God’s will is His absolute will. Not absolute in that God is sure about what He wants but absolute in that God will certainly bring what He wants to pass. Sometimes theologians refer to this kind of will as His absolute decree. God’s absolute will is, for the most part, hidden from us. We don’t know most of the specifics of God’s absolute will. But the Scriptures do tell us some of His absolute will.

For instance all the prophecies in the Bible are expressions of what God absolutely will bring to pass. Remember when Jesus was riding into Jerusalem at the triumphal entry? The people were crying out “blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord,” (Lk. 19:38). Then Luke records for us in vss. 39-40, “Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Him, ‘Teacher, rebuke Your disciples.’ But Jesus answered, ‘I tell you, if these become silent, the stones will cry out!’” God decreed absolutely that Jesus would triumphantly enter into Jerusalem and that He would be praised with the words of Psa. 118:26. When the Pharisees told Jesus to rebuke his disciples so that they wouldn’t quote the psalm, Jesus replied that if they stopped uttering praises to Him the stones would cry out. In other words, it was part of God’s absolute decree. Nothing could stop it.

Let’s look at two more examples of God’s absolute will relating to salvation. Previously we looked at a text that says, “God desires all men to be saved.” We know only a few are saved. Now let’s look at two texts where God’s absolute will is stated in relation to salvation.

The first text is Acts 13:48. Paul and Barnabas are preaching and we read this, “And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord; and as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed.” Did you see who believed? Yes, it was those that God appointed to eternal life. We encounter a similar text in Rom. 8:29-30, “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first-born among many brethren; and whom He predestined, these He also called; and whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.” Did you see that? Did you see who is doing everything? It is God who foreknows, predestines, calls, justifies, and glorifies. God does it all. When God determines to save someone, they will absolutely be saved and nothing can stop it.

I hesitate to tell you this, but here goes. There is one more category of God’s will which is really not another. It is complicated, but let me see if I can explain in simple terms. Everything that ever happens is part of what is called “God’s eternal decree.” This includes God’s revealed will and His absolute will. Think of it as God’s overarching, all encompassing will that includes all things. Paul in Eph. 1:11 speaking of our salvation says, “we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will.” Here Paul states that God works all things after the counsel of His will. This is a reference to His overarching, all encompassing, eternal decree which includes what He prescribes and what He absolutely determines will come to pass.

Read the following quote by the great intellect, philosopher and preacher Jonathan Edwards very carefully and see if you can understand what Edwards is saying: “Whether God has decreed all things that ever come to pass or not, all that own the being of a God, own that He knows all things beforehand. Now, it is self-evident that if He knows all things beforehand, He either does approve of them or does not approve of them; that is, He either is willing they should be, or He is not willing that they should be. But to will that they should be is to decree them.” (Jonathan Edwards as quoted by A. W. Pink in his work, The Attributes of God, pg. 16).

Did that make any sense? Let me paraphrase. Edwards makes the observation that God is all knowing which means He knows all things before they happen. And everyone knows that God is all powerful too. Now if God knows what is going to happen before it happens, and He does, and if He is all powerful so that He can stop anything that is going to happen before it happens, and He can, therefore to know what is going to happen, and to let it happen, is to will that it happens or decree it. A mind blower of the first magnitude! What this means is that God is perfectly, absolutely, unconditionally sovereign over all things and anything that happens is part of His overarching, all encompassing plan, will, or decree.

Now what makes things complicated is when we consider sin and how it fits into God’s eternal decree. If God’s eternal decree encompasses all things, then how could God will or decree sin? This is a good question which begs to have more time to answer it than what I can address here, but I will do my best to give a non-detailed answer that makes sense.

Let’s go back to the beginning, to the first sin that was committed by man. God creates the heaven and earth. Everything is very good (Gen. 1:31). Remember God knows all things and knows all things before they happen. God knows Satan is going to rebel, that Satan is going to deceive Eve, that Eve will give the forbidden fruit to her husband Adam, and that Adam will choose to willfully rebel against God. God knew all this before it happened. God had the power to stop it before it happened. God not only didn’t stop it, but knowing it would happen, He created Satan, Eve, and Adam with the ability to sin, gave them the opportunity to sin, knowing that they would sin, sustained them while they rebelled against Him, and did not stop them.

Why would God decree this? First we must keep in mind that God is perfectly wise which means nothing He determines to do can be improved upon. So we are left with the obvious conclusion that it was all part of God’s overarching plan, His will, His eternal decree to get maximum glory for Himself to allow for sin. God receives more glory for Himself by allowing sin to happen.

This brings up the classic dilemma. How can God’s eternal decree include creatures with the ability to sin, who are given the opportunity to sin, and who are sustained while they sin and yet God not be the author of sin or culpable for committing sin? If God is perfectly holy and hates sin, then why does His eternal decree include sin? The short answer again is that by allowing sin to occur God gets more glory for Himself. There are many attributes of God that would have been hidden in God’s being were it not for sin. Mercy, grace, longsuffering, justice, wrath, etc., are all attributes that are understood against the backdrop of sin only.

Yet I have still not answered the question, “Why isn’t God the author of sin?” This brings us to the two different kinds of ways in which God acts. Theologians refer to God’s actions as positive and negative. You might describe the two as what God causes to happen or makes happen and what God allows to happen or permits to happen. Sin fits under the latter category, negative action or what God allows, but does not directly cause. Granted He causes those who sin, fallen men and angels to exist, causes the opportunities for sin to exist, and causes those who sin to exist or sustains those who sin while they sin. Yet God does not sin, does not tempt anyone to sin, nor does He cause anyone to sin.

Think of what it is like to be a parent. Your child is running on wet concrete and you tell them not to run because you don’t want them to fall and get hurt. It is your will they don’t run. After several warnings you see them running again on the wet concrete. You could intervene and stop them. You have the power to do that, but instead, for the good of your child, you decide to let them run, let them disobey, fall, and experience the natural consequences of their own rebellion. Sure enough they fall, skin up their knees, and come to you crying. The next time the concrete is wet you don’t even need to warn them. They remember the painful consequences of their sin and they choose of their own accord not to run on the wet concrete. Thus by allowing them to sin and suffer the consequences, you were actually able to teach them more effectively what you could not teach them verbally. They also learn how important it is to obey you. This is a blessing for you, them, and your family. Hence by negative action, by allowing them to fall and not intervening, everyone is blessed more than if you would have physically stopped your child from running on the wet concrete.

Now we are ready to answer the question, “What is God’s will for your life?” Once you understand what you know now, everything is drastically simplified. First, you must obey God’s revealed will, for it is God’s will that you do so. So the first question you must ask God is, “Am I obeying the Word of God in my life?” If the answer is “Yes,” you are living God’s will for your life. If your answer is “no,” you are not living God’s will for your life. If you are living in sin, you are always out of God’s will, no matter what you do. So the first step to knowing God’s revealed will for your life is knowing what the Scriptures say and obeying them.

Second, you must believe that God is sovereign and no matter what you do, you can’t escape His absolute will for your life.

We already learned that God’s absolute will always comes to pass. Nothing can thwart it. So you never need to worry about obeying God’s absolute will. It is going to happen no matter what and you can’t change it. You can choose to obey or disobey God’s revealed or prescribed will, but not His absolute decree. That you cannot change or alter.

So, you get two offers from two colleges. You get two job offers. You have the option of pursuing two potential wives, whatever it may be. Which path is God’s will for your life?

First you ask yourself, “Am I obeying God’s revealed will?” If the answer is “Yes,” then choose a college, job, wife, etc., and know that what you choose is God’s absolute will for you! In other words, you don’t need to worry about anything outside of God’s revealed will. If you are obeying that, then everything else falls under His absolute will and eternal decree. You may be thinking to yourself, “How can this be? How can I make the decision and yet that be God’s predetermined absolute will?” Learn what these Scriptures teach you about the answer to that question. Job 23:13-14 speaking of God says, “But He is unique and who can turn Him? And what His soul desires, that He does. For He performs what is appointed for me, and many such decrees are with Him.”Psa. 115:3 says, “But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases.”Prov. 16:33 says, “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.”Prov. 21:1 says, “The king’s heart is like channels of water in the hand of the Lord; He turns it wherever He wishes.”Prov. 16:9 says, “The mind of man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.”Prov. 24:24 says, “Man’s steps are ordained by the Lord, how then can man understand his way?”

These Scriptures and many others teach us that God is steering the course of our lives, directing our steps, and turning our hearts. If we are obeying His revealed will, God will take care of His absolute decree. So we make a decision on a college, career, or spouse and we know from the Word of God, that because we made these decisions while obeying His revealed will, we know God is working in us, steering us, to fulfill His absolute decree. Obey God’s Word, make decisions, and know that you are in the perfect dot of God’s will!