How Do I Know God's Will for My Life? Part 1
Reader Questions
I’ve been reflecting on a question posed by a reader the past couple of weeks. Here’s the question:
What latitude do we have in our life choices, and how do we determine if those life choices conform to God’s plan for our lives?
The first part of the question deals with how much freedom God gives us to choose. Jazz music provides another helpful analogy. A jazz piece has set parameters: a key signature, a chord progression, a rhythm, etc., defined by the composer. But jazz also gives the musician freedom to improvise within the parameters of the music. In a similar way, God is like the jazz composer and band director. He writes the piece, sets the parameters, and conducts the performance to ensure the piece is played as he intended. Yet, he allows the musicians (us) opportunities to improvise in ways that contribute to the overall performance. So, both human freedom and God’s sovereignty work together to make life beautiful according to God’s overarching plan.
The second half of the reader’s question deals with the topic of God’s will. How do we know if our choices conform to God’s plan? At the risk of oversimplifying, I’ll say this: If you’re living for God, and your heart is fully committed to obeying whatever he says, you really can’t step outside of his plan.
Now, I know that sometimes we sin. And I’m not saying that sin conforms to God’s plan for my life. If someone indulges their sinful desires, they’re not following God’s heart. If you commit adultery, you’ve clearly gone against God’s will—and that’s what sin is.
But there are other life decisions in which neither choice is a “sin.” Which house should I buy? What job offer should I take? Where should we consider moving to? In these scenarios, we ask the Lord for direction. We pray, we listen. We’ve decided, before we ask, that we will be ready to obey whatever God says. We’re connected to a local church; we spend time in God’s Word, we pray with other disciples, we regularly examine our hearts and confess our sins. We are positioned to hear and obey God.
If that is the pattern of your life, you can’t step outside of God’s plan. You are living within God’s parameters. You’re the jazz musician who gets to improvise within the boundaries of the piece and under the guidance of the composer and director. If God has something specific for you to do, he will tell you. If you’re about to step outside of his will, he will stop you. And if you’re in a regular habit of listening, you’ll hear him. One of the first things you learn when playing in a band is to watch the conductor and follow his or her cues. If we keep our eyes on Jesus, we’ll see him give us the right cue at the right time.
Next week, we’ll think about how to do that. How do we ask God for his will? And what should we do if we don’t get a specific direction from him?