If you are a true born again believer in Christ, your heart will be pretty much reflected in Romans 12: 2, which says, “Be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind–so that ye may prove what is that good, acceptable and perfect will of God.” In other words, I want to know what God wants me to do in this life. I know I was not just born for the sake of being born. I know that the wise God who gave me life and breath, and sent His wonderful Son to die for me, has a plan for my life. But how in the dickens do I find out what it is?
In order for me to answer that questions, it behooves us to look at the number of ways God talks to us today. For our Bibles teach us that “man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the Mouth of God” (Matthew 4: 4). It is only by discovering and doing God’s Will for our lives that we shall be successful, happy and fulfilled. In this paper, I would like to speak from the subject, “Finding God’s Will For My Life.”
But as I said earlier, the key to finding God’s Will for my life is by learning how He speaks to us in this present age. The first avenue by which He speaks is His Word, which, in Psalms, we find that He values even above His Name (Psalms 138: 2). Thus some things I already know are not of God. If I hear a voice, for instance, that tells me, “I want you to go to bartending school,” you automatically know that that is not God. God does not in any way endorse the use of alcoholic beverages. In fact He warns us about being caught up in that worldly type of lifestyle. “Be ye Holy,” He says, for I am Holy.” A good student of the Word, then, will be able to exclude any prophecy or message that does not line up with what God has already said about Himself. Thus certain careers and vocations are automatically off limits to the believer. For example, you cannot be a cigarette plant manager and be saved. Same goes for a nightclub singer, a hip-hop artist, astrologer, casino worker, or writer for the sleaze rags out there called tabloids. (Sidebar: Satan is the Accuser of the brethren; when we gossip, we do the same thing.)
A classic example may be found in this scenario: Alyssa meets Cliff, a tall, handsome athletic type. He sings beautifully, and as the Vice President of Pfizer, commands a 6-figure income. He has the most beautiful eyes, and she gets lost in the sound of his voice, and his breaths. But there is one thing though: He is not really a child of God. He has never had a conversion experience, and is just frontin.’ Now any voice that tells Alyssa that Cliff is her husband is not the voice of God, for the Bible says that we are not to be “unequally yoked together with unbelievers” (2 Corinthians 6: 14).
Within this rubric, God can speak in any way He pleases. He can speak through a voice heard in one’s spirit. When we were born again, He Himself came to dwell inside of us in the person of the Holy Spirit, Who instructs us and “guides us into all truth” (John 16: 12). But we must also test the spirits (I John 4: 4) to see if they are of God. For example, if, on one morning, I wake up and a voice tells me, “Angus, I want you to go to Timbuktu and preach my word as a missionary there,” while it is biblically feasible that it could have been God Who said that, I must still spend time seeking Him about it. Every word I hear is NOT from Him–it could be me or Satan. Moreover, every word I hear is not necessarily for now, it could be for sometime in 2018. I am to seek Godly counsel about it, among other things.
Another example came when a voice started telling me that Mrs. Koolbreeze, whom I started having strong feelings for soon after we started hanging out together–was my wife. I could not just go out and tell her that she was my spouse. I had to keep seeking His Face about it. I had to ask Him if He was the one Who said it, that in His own good time, that He should tell others, and should inform her. I know that “God is not a man that He should lie, nor a son of man that He should change His mind” (Numbers 23: 16). That is to say, God is not inconsistent. He is not going to tell me one thing, her friends yet another thing, and her that someone else should be her husband. God does not work like that.
This underscores the importance of seeking Godly counsel. Because if you talk to your Man or Woman of God about it, chances are they will hear the same thing that you are hearing if it is, in fact, of the Lord. Now was Mrs. Koolbreeze saved? You bet. But she may have been meant for another one of my brothers in Christ, and not me. Seek Godly counsel from older brothers and sisters in Christ about the matter. Ask the Holy Spirit for guidance. He will tell you whom to trust…and whom not to trust. A second way God can speak, then, is through the wisdom of Godly counsel.
A fourth way of finding out God’s plan for your life can come about by using good old fashioned common sense. For example, any voice that told me that God wanted me to become the next Michael Jordan would be a lie, because for one thing I am 42. I am not even six feet, let alone 6’9. So I know it ain’t happenin.’ And moreover, I have the basketball skills of a kangaroo! As Socrates said many, many generations ago, “Know thyself.”
A fifth way of finding out what the Lord would have us do would be to explore our gifts and talents. What do you like to do, what are you naturally good at? Are you a teacher, a writer, a musician? Are you good at playing the piano, the guitar, the oboe, the flute? Now my wife can’t just sing, she can BLOW! She has the voice of three hundred angels. So at church she sings on the Praise and Worship team.
Sixth, it is important to find your passion. What flips your lid? What makes you mad? What grieves your heart more than anything else? For me it’s the fact that subpar songs are placed on the top of the charts, and that our children will not remember one classic 21st century oldie–except for perhaps Coldplay’s “Viva La Vida.” Dr. Mike Murdock and others have pointed out that what makes you feel strong emotions can key you in on the problem you were placed here to solve.
In choosing a career, finding a new church home, mate, etc, don’t expect this information to come tomorrow, although God certainly can speak in a day, in a brief second, if He so chooses. More often than not, however, finding God’s specific path for you is going to come through being conformed to His Word, and much prayer, tears, and fasting.
Fasting is very important. It cultivates an intimacy with the Almighty that frees Him up to speak to you on a regular basis. It brings your flesh under control so that you may be so submitted to the Lord that He actually feels free to talk to you. When you don’t fast, it drowns out His voice. Any voice you may hear could, in fact, merely be your flesh talking to you. For it is your flesh dominating your everyday. It is the physical part of your body you are serving, while your SPIRIT, the part of you that hears God, is left to starve.
In conclusion, as Winkie Pratney once said, you must be so submitted to Him that all He would have to tell you to do was to move, and you would do it. The intentions of your heart for asking must be so pure. You must want His will for your life because you love Him and knows what He wants for you is better than anything you could ever want for yourself.
