5 ways to know if you are working with in the will of God.

Where am I Going God?

When something or someone new comes into your life, do you find yourself asking is this from God? Often in my life, new opportunities come into my life and I am not sure if I should pursue them. I worry about making choices that would displease God, I doubt my choices, and I become flustered unable to make any decision.

This is not God’s desire for our lives. He wants us to rejoice in all things, pray always, and give thanks for everything (1 Thessalonians 5:16), He wants us to understand His will for our lives so that we may live wisely (Ephesians 4:15-16).

For a while, I struggled to know if blogging and writing were God’s will for my life. I had a million reasons why it “logically” wouldn’t work or did not make sense. Opportunities continued to present, and the idea continued to press on my mind. Finally, I broke down in bed one night. Telling God that whatever His will was I’d follow is how I came to start this blog, and I am so glad that I did.

Part of finally finding and pursuing God’s calling and will for me was surrendering to what He wanted instead of what I thought was best. To understand what His will is there are a few questions we can ask ourselves and take to the Lord in prayer. Does the Bible expressly prohibit it, does this take me away from loving, worshipping, or serving God, does it make me a slave, does it bring out the best in me—according to God’s purpose, and does it help other believers?

Does the Bible expressly prohibit it?

This is straightforward. Is it against the Ten Commandments or one of the many things mentioned in 1 & 2 Corinthians? Then it is not God’s will. God will never ask you to do things that violate His holiness. Remember you are a temple of God, His spirit lives in you. Your actions need to be God-honoring, as to honor and respect the spirit of God living in you.

Does this take me away from loving, worshipping, or serving God?

This is a bit trickier. Anything can distract from God if we let it, even good things. The best example of this I know is social media.

We can use social media to spread God’s word (like a blog), encourage each other, and see what God is doing in the lives of people all over the world, and that can be awesome.

However, if we dedicate too much time to it and abandon personal devotions, skip gatherings with believers in real life, or use it to tear others down, we are no longer using it to love, worship, or serve God.

We must not just consider what we are doing or using, but how and if it is taking away from our relationship with God. If it isn’t then removing it may not be needed. Instead scaling back or changing your habits may be all that is needed. As with all things prayer and seeking God in this matter will help you to know what God’s will is in this and all areas of your life.

Does it make me a slave?

The Bible tells us we cannot have two masters, we either serve God or the world (Matthew 6:24-26). We can only be a slave to King Jesus, no other. If anything controls you or has a stronger hold than serving Jesus, watch out it is not from God.

I used to smoke for years. Recently, I realized that I was a slave to my habit. With Jesus’ help (including the help from good medical professionals) I was able to quit. I have never been so thankful. Not only has it helped my health, but I have felt closer to God. I can truly say nothing has more control over me than God and that is an amazing feeling.

Does it bring out the best in me?

God tells us he prunes us to produce good fruit. The fruit He is speaking of is the fruits of the spirit in Galatians: love joy peace patience kindness goodness gentleness faithfulness and self-control. If an opportunity or person is not encouraging you to produce these kinds of fruits in your life then it’s not from God.

To produce these fruits, we often go through trying situations. It is not to say that if your immediate response to something is not perfectly loving, for example, that it’s not from God. But if a situation or person constantly causes you to produce ungodly fruits then it’s probably time to reevaluate, pray, and maybe even move on.

I have had multiple people come into my life who have constantly encouraged bad behavior. There came a time that I had to accept that I was not changing my friends, rather they were changing me. I had to part ways for the better of my relationship with God. Jesus tells us to remove things that cause us to stumble in our lives because it’s a matter of eternal consequence (Mattew 5:29-32).

Does it help other believers?

Our final question for consideration is does it help other believers. God tells us to love each other as he has loved us (John 13:34). If what we are doing or who we are spending time with is harming others then it’s not God’s will. The scripture tells us that loving others fulfills God’s law (Romans 13:8).

To please God, we must love Him with all our heart, soul, and mind, but we must also love each other (Deuteronomy 8:3). The triune God puts strong emphasis on loving one another throughout the Bible. He talks about the body of Christ and unity. With such a strong emphasis, we can be safe in saying that if we are harming others with our thoughts or actions then it’s not what God wants from us.

Conclusion

Knowing God’s will can be difficult to discern, but we can hold on to His promise that His plans are for our good (Jeremiah 29:17). Knowing this can help us seek God’s will. In our quiet time and prayers, we can ask 5 questions to help us find God’s will; does it go against Biblical teachings, or take away from our relationship with God, or does it enslave me, or bring the best out in me or help others? Answering these questions honestly and going to God for Him to show us the answers in our lives and help us to know the path marked out for us.

Thank you for taking time to read this article. In an email (Emilyb@moreofJesusplease.com) or in the comments below tell us about your experience with discerning God’s will. I pray that God will richly bless you as you seek Him and His will in your life. God bless