God's Will

When I was younger I'd hear a lot about God's will for your life but no one ever told me how to find it.

I got a little older and started reading devotional books and would get excited when an author said they could tell me what it was. But then they'd say something like "God's will is for you to glorify Him in all that you do". Well, that's true but that doesn't give me a lot of specifics now does it?

This was a real struggle for me and I wanted a magical equation that would tell me a+c*x/4= God's will for my life. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) God doesn't give us that. And it's probably a good thing. If you'd told me when I was sixteen how my life would look at twenty-one I would've been furious. If you'd told me at twenty-four how my life would look just a couple of years later I would've been confused and upset.

I have a great life but by the grace of God it's not the one I'd planned. He didn't show me a road map of my life (maybe because I can't read a map 😃) instead He protected me by just giving me the grace to get through the next stage before He revealed the trials around the corner.

So how do you find God's will?

Well as much as I didn't like it back then all those authors and preachers and speakers were right. God's will is for us to glorify and worship Him in all we do. Here's the part that took me a little while to understand. We should glorify and worship Him in everything we do.

Joni Eareckson Tada has a great way of putting it in her 365 Daily Devotional Readings "Pearls of Great Price"

"God has saved some to open medical clinics, run shelters for homeless people, work in Africa, write books, and speak from platforms. These constitute "good works". But for more God has saved us to wipe the nose, prepare the dinner, run an errand for a sick neighbor, clean the toilet, drive a relative to a hospital, hold the Bible for, or even play chess with, a lonely friend. Look around your church or neighborhood today- Jesus saved you to be excited about helping others."

So what's God's will? For us to praise and glorify Him in the good works that we do with a grateful and rejoicing heart. In every action we take if we praise Him then we are doing His will. For some that will mean being a stay-at-home mom, for others, working two jobs to make ends meet and for others moving across the world to be a missionary where God has called them. Wherever's He's called you, whatever's He's called you to do be excited about it, praise Him, glorify Him, point others to Him, and you'll do God's will.