The Bible makes it very clear what God's will is for all believers, in a general sense. The question is, "What is God's will for a specific person?" It is what you have been uniquely designed to do to further advance the Kingdom of God, using your supernatural gifts given by the Holy Spirit, and taking into account your natural abilities, training, and past experiences, including all of your hurts and emotional baggage from the past that can be used to glorify God and help other people.
Let me break this down into easily digestible morsels. God's will for all believers is to obey the Great Commission, as given in Matthew 28:19-20. "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you..." There are as many ways to accomplish this as there are Christians living.
So, we find God's general will for all believers in Scripture, but God's specific will for a particular individual will NOT be found in His Word. I believe that is why there is much frustration and confusion about God's will. Simply use all that you have and are. Ask yourself three questions:
1. What do I really, really want to do with my life?
2. How can I maximize all that I have been through and use it to honor God and help others?
3. What are my spiritual gifts, my natural abilities, my training, and my past experiences?
Your answer to these questions will point you in the direction of God's specific will, in fulfilling His general will. Consider the following equation: The Great Commission + doing what you are designed to do by by God = God's will for your life.
However, the specific will of God, to a very large degree, also encompasses character development. God is more concerned with character than career, with Godly qualitiies than with natural abilities, with attitudes than activities, and with your future potential than your failed past.
I am not going to take the time and space to quote the following verses which speak of God's will, but it will become obvious that they emphasize who we become, not what we do: Romans 12:1-2; Colossians 1:9-12; I Thess. 4:3; I Peter 2:15 and 4:2-6 and 5:2, and I John 5:2.
I have a question. With all this emphasis upon developing Godly qualities and character, why is there sometimes so much attention given to associating God's will with vocation, who to marry, where to go to college, and overall, trying to figure out God's will? While it is true that God, at times, places people in particular locations or specific types of work for a reason, that is not something that one needs to pursue to the point of being frustrated and held back from moving ahead in life because you can't figure out His will.
God wants us to have a good match between our spiritual gifts and abilities, and what we do to minister to people, along side the development of godly character. Do what you want with your life and do not worry about whether or not you are in God's will. You will move ahead in freedom.
Sometimes I think that when a person prays, asking God to show him or her his general will, God is saying, "Why ask me. It is all in my word. Just read it and do it. Then take everything that you have and are and use it for my glory. Now, get moving."
(TO BE CONTINUED)
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Good advice...If we waited always to hear God and he doesn't 'answer' in that frame of time, one could stagnate and not proceed with life. He doesn't want us to do nothing. We need to get on, but look unto Him and share Him in our journeys.
