How to Know God's Will For Your Life

Dan 11:32  The people who know their God shall be strong, and do great exploits.

Grace: "God’s unmerited favor."

A gifts that don’t deserve – because of who you are, not because of what you’ve done

Grace is a source of power, or Empowerment for ministry – spiritual gifts

Do not grieve the Spirit of God. – Eph 4:30

Do not frustrate the Grace of God. – Gal 2:21

Grieve your Gift

Jeremiah – Jer 1:4-5

The word of the Lord came to me, saying, 5 "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."

Jeremiah: one of very few individuals who received a clear, direct word  

Clarifying God’s Will, Plan & Purpose for his life

We think that’s what we want – a clear, direct word

Even with clarity, Jeremiah still had reservations, insecurities & excuses

          Just like us…

Until we learn to respond to the small directives…

Why do you think you would respond to a direct word telling the full weight of His will?

This wasn’t just a calling… God was telling him how He made him

The ability to do God’s Will was in him from his birth

Joseph – Gen 37:5-8

Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more. 6 He said to them, "Listen to this dream I had: 7 We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it."

8 His brothers said to him, "Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule us?"

Joseph’s dreams revealed his DNA

& gave him a preview of “what could be”

Just because something is God’s will for your life,

·       doesn’t mean it’s without opposition

·       There must be Preparation

Don’t Stop Dreaming

Joseph’s life was full of painful rejections, betrayal and disappointments

I believe that his dreams were places of retreat and escape

They kept him going, until he came to the position of fulfilling God’s will for his life   

Moses – Ex 2:11-12

One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to where his own people were and watched them at their hard labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people. 12 Glancing this way and that and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.

Moses was raised as an Egyptian prince,

But he had a passion inside of him for his Hebrew brothers

His passion was undisciplined

So it lead to him committing murder & having to run for his life

God balanced his passion over 40-year period thru shepherding

Then returned him to fulfill his passion of delivering the Hebrews

Instead of looking upward, look inward to Identify Your Passion

Don’t lose the fire – what excites you, angers you, moves you, keeps you up at night.  – ex. Homelessness, youth, women, addiction

Bezalel – Ex 31:1-5

Then the Lord said to Moses, 2 "See, I have chosen Bezalel… 3 and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability and knowledge in all kinds of crafts —  4 to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, 5 to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of craftsmanship.

His talents, gifts & creativity revealed God’s will for his life. 

Too often we think that God’s will only be fulfilled in ‘church work,’ or ‘spiritual work’

It was in going to work that Bezaleel was doing God’s will. 

God filled him with the spirit to perform his ‘secular’ job at a the highest level

“God’s Will was in his skill.”

Peter – Matt 4:18-19

As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 19 "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men."

God used Peter’s profession & personality for Spiritual Ministry 

·       What got Peter in trouble most?  His personality. 

·       What afforded him the place to preach the sermon on the Day of Pentecost, where 3,000 people were saved?  His personality

Gideon – I can’t identify what’s in me

Judg 6:11-16

Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. 12 When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, "The Lord is with you, mighty warrior."

13 "But sir," Gideon replied, "if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our fathers told us about when they said, 'Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?' But now the Lord has abandoned us and put us into the hand of Midian."

14 The Lord turned to him and said, "Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian's hand. Am I not sending you?"

15 "But Lord," Gideon asked, "how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family."

16 The Lord answered, "I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites together."

Gideon was living in disappointment & bitterness

Not even seeking to know God’s will

Circumstances thrust Gideon into using what was in him

‘Life’ had caused Gideon to disconnect from his divine capacity,

So God used ‘life’ to compel him into purpose

David – 1 Sam 17:34-36

David answered Saul: “Your servant has been tending his father’s sheep. Whenever a lion or a bear came and carried off a lamb from the flock, 35 I went after it, struck it down, and rescued the lamb from its mouth. If it reared up against me, I would grab it by its fur, strike it down, and kill it. 36 Your servant has killed lions and bears; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.”

No one close to David recognized his destiny – he was completely overlooked

David, the shepherd, was left in the field to attend the sheep

His assignment of shepherding was actually key to David moving into God’s will

Shepherding introduced him to & prepared him for God’s will

To lead God’s people – called “sheep” throughout the whole of scripture

Ezek 34:23 

I will establish one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them—My servant David.

He shall feed them and be their shepherd.

How did David come to the place of shepherding?

Sometimes we discover God’s will simply by being obedient to authorities

i.e., parents, pastors, bosses, coaches, mentors, etc.

Abraham

Gen 12:1

The Lord had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you.”

Most of us come to know God’s Will like Abraham – through “progressive revelation”

God only told him to ‘follow’ 

Abraham didn’t have clarity on where he was going

Abraham did not begin to receive clarity on God’s will for his life until he was mature 

His understanding of God’s Will was through activity

Most of us won’t move until God tells us exactly where we are going and what the outcome will be

Paul gives us the key to the Process

Rom 12:2

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

Prove:  Try, prove, to recognize as genuine after examination

The key to “proving” His will is to be in motion

Acts 16:6-10

Now when they had gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia. 7 After they had come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit did not permit them. 8 So passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas. 9 And a vision appeared to Paul in the night. A man of Macedonia stood and pleaded with him, saying, "Come over to Macedonia and help us." 10 Now after he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go to Macedonia, concluding (proving) that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them.

Don’t quit just because doors seem to shut 

Closed doors don’t mean it’s Not God’s Will

Persevere & stop Procrastinating!

Instead of looking up, tune-in to how God made you & look inward What do I dream about?

·       What can I do?

·       What’s easy for me to retain & explain?

·       Where do I feel “inspired” or “passionate” in my doing?

·       Where are my circles of appreciation?