SEEKING GOD

PART 2 of 8
SEEKING GOD’S WILL: Hearing God

When I first sat down to write Seeking God’s Will, before I had even committed one word to paper, God gave me a vision. I was on this side of a large gully and a man was standing on the other side. I could faintly hear his mumbling echo, but I couldn’t understand a word he was saying.

I thought, Lord, what is this? What does this mean? I heard in my spirit, “If you want to hear what he is saying, you need to get closer to hear him. I had an a-ha moment. Since all truth is parallel [1], it’s the same in the spirit world. If I wanted to hear what God was saying, I needed to get closer to Him as well.

When we develop a close relationship with God, we will close that gap between us. I have heard many believers ask, “What is God’s will for my life?” If we will just seek God and endeavor to get close to Him through an intimate relationship, we will hear what He is saying and will understand what His will is for our lives. This is the intent of this series.

GOD'S SOVEREIGN WILL
“What is God’s will for my life?” This question seems to be straight forward and simple enough when we first ask, but it goes just a little deeper than that. First, we must distinguish the different aspects of God’s will, which most agree that there are three: sovereign [2], revealed [3], and perfect [4] will.

The sovereign will of God says that nothing happens outside of God’s purview. In other words, God’s sovereign will is the ultimate will of God and He ordains everything that has and will come to pass [5].

God has decided to hide much of His sovereign will from us until that thing comes to pass. Therefore, we need not speculate on God’s hidden and sovereign will [6] for it is a futile quest and journey. God does call us, however, to seek and obey the revealed will of God as it pertains to the Scriptures.

GOD'S REVEALED WILL
Scriptures abound that tell us what we should and shouldn’t do to live righteous lives and to be holy because God is holy. In fact, you can define the revealed will of God as just that, what we should and shouldn’t do.

God’s Word says not to lie [7], steal [8], or covet [9]. It also says to repent of our sins, to love our enemies, and to be holy because He is holy. God says that we should live in His grace [10], be obedient [11], to give graciously [12], pray unceasingly [13], make continual progress [14], and much, much more [15].

The Bible is replete with God’s revealed will for our lives. God gave us the Law in Exodus 20:3-17 and should be the backbone of our behavior. In Deuteronomy 30:19 He says, “. . .I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live.” The Bible says to trust in Him [16], acknowledge Him [17], seek Him [18], believe in Him [19], and many more assurances of His revealed will for our lives.

We could spend a lifetime learning and applying God’s Word as it pertains to His revealed will for our lives. That works for me and I am sure that it works for God. (However, please forgive me Lord, because I fail daily in this endeavor.)

GOD'S PERFECT WILL
Romans 12:2, the ideal explanation of what is the perfect will of God.

And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Everything that pleases God is His perfect will. God’s Word teaches us how to live righteous lives according to His will and to be holy because He is holy [20] but what it doesn’t teach (directly) is what the will of God is specifically for each one of us.

GOD'S WILL FOR INDIVIDUAL LIVES
It is my contention that you can find your God given purpose through your passions. With God as understood, whatever you are passionate or excited about, above all else, should be the will of God for your life. This is providing that you are living in the perfect will of God.

Psalms 37:4 tells us that God gave us those passions in the first place, “Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.”

Therefore, answer yourself this question, “I am passionate about insert passion here?” Again, with God as understood, does this passion get you up in the morning just thinking about it? Is this what you are excited about? If you couldn’t do this one thing, would it make you curl up and die inside?

TYPES OF PASSIONS
Does your passion involve any number of talents or skills? Could you use them to help the church, conduct services, or minister to people? Are you a musician, thespian, or have construction knowledge? Are you an author like me or maybe you’re an artist, nanny, driver, accountant, or have some other talent or skill that you could administer and serve the church or body. The church needs many and all services and skills that the body can provide from within.

Does your passion lay within one of the 18 spiritual gifts designations [21]? Or maybe you feel that God has sent you out on a special mission or given you revelatory words and you feel compelled to tell others? Do the souls of men burn inside of you or maybe you have a desire to shepherd or lead other people? When you learn something, is the first thing you want to do is teach or tell somebody else? Well, maybe God has called you to the five-fold ministry as an apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, or teacher.

I would exhort you to take a spiritual gifts class, to see in which area you are gifted. Every six months or so, as a follow up, you could take another class to see how you have grown in the Lord or to see in what area God is now leading you.

EDUCATION
Once you discover your passions, where they lie, and a direction in which you really want to serve God, another question you might want to ask yourself is, “Do I need training or do I need teaching in this area?” I know, for myself, I wanted to go to school to learn how to write right.

Writing is my passion and I write from the time I get up in the morning until the time I go to bed at night. I needed some teaching to perfect my craft or at least have the capacity to do my best and feel good about myself, that I was doing the best I could for God. Education is something that you might want to check into. Education is never wasted.

STILL SEEKING THE WILL OF GOD
We can seek His will by learning from His Word, how to live righteous lives, and by being a good example for others as we carry our own cross down the Via Dolorosa [22]. This is why it is so important to know the Word of God, to know the difference between pizza and what God is saying to us.

In everything we are to give thanks to the Lord [23]. When doing things for others we should do them like we are doing them for Christ [24]. Our sanctification is the will of God, which is the act of setting ourselves apart as being holy unto God and not prostitute ourselves with other gods/idols, which is anything that we put above God [25]. Much is common sense because God has written the moral Law on the hearts of men [26].

Seeking God’s perfect will for our lives should be our number one quest. Anything we can do to close the gap between us, as in my vision, the better off our walk with Him will be. It is a door to a higher level of knowing Him. Let’s go through that door now by Seeking God’s Hands.

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[1] For every natural truth, there is an equal and corresponding spiritual truth.
[2] Hebrews 1:3; Lamentations 3:37; 1 Samuel 2:6; Amos: 3:6-13; Matthew 5:45; Psalms 115:3
[3] Exodus 20:3-17; Mark 3:35; Romans 8:27, 28, 14:23; Ephesians 5:3, 6:5, 6; 1 Peter 1:15, 16, 4:2; 1 Thessalonians 4:3; 5:15, 16
[4] John 6:40; Romans 12:2; 1 Timothy 2:4; 1 Peter 1:15, 16
[5] Ephesians 1:11, John 1:3
[6] I speak especially as it pertains to eschatology in these end days. We should know the sign of the times but only as God reveals them to us through the Holy Spirit..
[7] Exodus 20:16; Romans 3:4; 1 John 1:6
[8] Exodus 20:15
[9] Exodus 20:17
[10] Ephesians 5:1-20
[11] Ephesians 6:5-8
[12] 2 Corinthians 8:1-7
[13] 1 Thessalonians 5:11-18
[14] 1 Peter 2:15
[15] Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21
[16] Proverbs 3:5
[17] Proverbs 3:6
[18] Matthew 6:33
[19] John 3:16
[20] 1 Peter 1:15, 16
[21] Words of wisdom, words of knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, discerning of the spirits, tongues, and interpretations of tongues, administration, giving, leadership, mercy, service/helps, hospitality, exhortation, intercession, and missions
[22] We must bear our own Cross, Luke 14:27. The Via Dolorosa is the road in which Christ carried His Cross to Golgotha, or the hill where He they crucified Him.
[23] 1 Thessalonians 5:18
[24] Colossians 3:23
[25] 1 Thessalonians 4:3
[26] Acts 4:27, 28. Also, men is a generic term for mankind, meaning men AND women.