Allow me to say upfront that according to our text today, it is not true that God has a design for all of us to be happy because we are Christians. If the focus of our heart is on pleasing God through appropriate service, we will have no expectation to be happy. The believer’s happiness comes from a deep commitment to obey God.
The Apostle Paul recalled his many experiences in serving the Lord. So much time he was abused, neglected, and tortured. In reflecting those experiences, he said that he endure it all because Christ strengthened him. (Philippians 4: 10-19) The experience of Paul is in quite a contrast to the modern Christian. He suffered physically while the modern Christian seeks comfort. We seem to live in a haze. Knowing God’s will quite often seems confusing.
For instance, today’s believer declares a desire to know God’s will for temporal things such as buying a house just because it is what they want. More important than temporal things, God’s will is so important that we might be led to a new area of life where we are able to declare the plan of salvation to someone else. Today people seek God’s will to have a pleasing home. We can easily waffle back and forth seeking what we call God’s will only to justify that which we have already decided but hesitant to implement. It is too easy to claim a desire to know God’s will when our next step is likely predetermined.
Discovering God’s will is different from experiencing his will. Discovering is a human effort that is only focused on a central theme and for the moment. This is similar to hopping from one issue to another, without stopping to ask, “What about God?” Experiencing God’s will is a lifelong daily process of spiritual growth. It is a continuum of surrender and development. Experiencing God’s will is to already have our desires aligned with his throughout each day. When we come to a place of decision, we are better able to exercise spiritual common sense.
It is not easy to live a life of surrender. It is not easy to align ourselves with God. His will is an expression of what is best after considering all things. We are not able to do that with our carnal minds. Only his omniscient mind can comprehend everything. We surrender, not to get something from God, but to get him. The only way to experience God’s will is to know God himself. Every day requires an ambition of submission and service. As we walk about in the radiance of his presence, we get a greater idea what a divine decision would be.
Most people only want to visit God and not live with him. They want to use him as a divine Oracle to predict the best outcome. Christians pray most about what to get instead of how to be. Professing to know God is a large responsibility because it means we have gained intimate knowledge about him. Before we ever decide about our various decisions, we must ask ourselves how closely we have already lived with God.
Let us inventory ourselves to learn what we have actually surrendered. Think about roadblocks that have blinded our spiritual growth and decide if they have been resolved. As we do this, we may be tempted to rush to a decision because we do not want someone else to get ahead of us while traveling a spiritual journey. It is better for us to miss an opportunity so that we might grow in him. Should we get our way on particular issues saying that it was done by God’s will, it is significantly possible that we would later regret our steps while not maturing more than we once were.
A maturing spiritual life must avoid any form of impulsive actions. It is best not to have taken steps for a decision just because we want the end result. It might be wise to ask ourselves what have we done to enhance our situation without taking any drastic steps and calling it God’s will. The Christian is most empowered to make the decisions by living a life close to God. As a result, the child of God knows his father ‘s will almost without asking. There is a peace that arrives after making a decision influenced by God. Any step that we take must include consideration of all things in an objective manner. After we pray, it is our option to select a decision while continuing to pray. Experiencing God’s will before during and after a critical decision generally involves contentment. It is a resolution within the heart not the mind. We can always ask ourselves in this process if we can proceed with peace.
Christian Writer 