Have you ever prayed for God to send the angel Gabriel to tell you what to do next? Is discovering God’s will for you a struggle often met with confusion or disappointment? Perhaps, like Gideon, you’ve put a fleece before God, and pray for a clear sign to guide your next steps (Judges 6:36-40). Maybe you rely on impressions, circumstances, or open your Bible to a random text in search of God’s voice.
Searching for God’s Will
For eight years, my family and I searched for a new home. We sold our little home on a small lot in the suburbs. We believed God wanted us to move to a more rural setting and enjoy a simpler and quieter lifestyle where we could more easily tune into the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
After selling our home, we prayed for God to guide our next steps. We learned that God didn't submit to our priorities or follow our timelines. Unless we submit our desires to God, we set goals that fit within our self-centered perspective and the narrow focus of our mortal life. God forms His plans for us with eternity in mind.
In the months and years that followed, we endured a small apartment with neighbors who kept us awake at night with R-rated noises, rented a new home in the suburbs knowing we could be evicted with 30-days notice (the landlord was in foreclosure), and camped out for more than a year in my in-laws’ home (we’d only planned to stay a few months). Over time, we learned that God’s will is focused first on transforming our hearts and minds–fulfilling our temporal desires is lower on the list (Matthew 6:33).
God’s interest in the condition of our heart comes through in a letter written by Jesus’ friend Paul to the young church in Thessalonica:
"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you" (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 ESV).
Let’s unpack Paul’s counsel about God’s will:
1) Rejoice always.
The wise King Solomon lived as one of the wealthiest people of his time. If money could buy it, Solomon could own it. But, he found in the vanity of satisfying his appetite for possessions and pleasure a futility that could only be remedied by surrendering himself to God. In the final words of Ecclesiastes, Solomon summed up his lessons learned by concluding that humanity’s whole
purpose is to fear God and obey His commands (Ecclesiastes 12:13).
Solomon wrote that God’s commands could be summed up in this one phrase: “Rejoice and do good as long as we live” (Ecclesiastes 3:9-13).
To “rejoice” or “be glad” is to be cheerful, to have a sense of calm happiness, or well-being.
How Is it possible to be rejoice always?
Jesus provided a formula:
"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full" (John 15:9-11 ESV).
In the Greek language of the New Testament, the word for joy is the root for rejoice. To rejoice is to express joy. Joy for the follower of Jesus comes from the fruit of keeping his commandments, which is to abide–live–in His love.
2) Pray continually.
The necessity of prayer is often underestimated. It connects us to the atmosphere of heaven. Without prayer, we will spiritually suffocate.
There’s a mystery to prayer. I don’t understand how my thoughts and words get delivered to God’s throne, understood and answered, only moments after my brain puts them in any meaningful order. But I believe it happens. Even more amazing is that God knows my prayers before I think or speak them!
It happened to Daniel, who got tossed in the lion's den because he broke the king’s law by persisting in prayer three times a day (Daniel 6). Daniel knew how to pray continually, and did it in spite of the inconveniences that stood in his way. And God answered Daniel’s prayer, delivering him alive from the lion's den the morning after the king’s men thought they had sealed his fate.
Prayer can change our fate, and the fate of others. We can pray to God as we would talk with a friend. We can pray any time of the day, anywhere. While it’s customary, and a sign of humility and respect, to pray on one's knees–or standing with our hands reaching toward heaven–our prayers can be sent and effectively reach God no matter what position our body takes. What matters to God is the attitude of the heart.
3) Give thanks in everything.
Recent scientific studies demonstrate the power of thankfulness.
Expressions of gratitude logged in a personal journal as few as three times a week can produce long-term improvements in your sense of happiness, and reduce depression.
Reflecting on things for which we are thankful increases our sense of joy, elevates our engagement in exercise, and produces better health.
Grateful people tend to be more generous than those who aren’t, more content with their lives and less materialistic.
God designed you to thrive on thankfulness.
Living in God’s Will
While we finally found our home in the countryside, our journey changed our perspective to one less focused on where we live, and more focused on how we live in our relationship to God. Wherever we find ourselves in this world, it is only a chapter in the story God is unfolding in our lives. Each chapter brings new challenges and new lessons to prepare us for the next chapter, and ultimately for an eternity with Jesus.