"How can I know God's will for my life" - Pastor Doug Batchelor

[Music] somebody said one time the safest place in the world to be is in the middle of God's will it doesn't matter if you're surrounded by typhoons and tornados and volcanoes and earthquakes if you're in the middle of God's will you have nothing to worry about I've often thought about developing a list because one of the most common questions that I get in ministry is pastor how do I know what God wants me to do how do I determine the will of God for me and it's a very good question so what is the will of God for my life specifically and am I doing that will 1st John 2:17 and the world is passing away in the lust of it but he that does the will of God abides forever how do we determine the will of God how important is it those that do the will of God how long do they last forever how many want to live forever those that do the will of God will last forever in the Lord's Prayer Luke 11 verse 2 when you pray say our Father in heaven Hallowed be your name your kingdom come your will be done how do we determine what the will of God is for our lives I think it was David Livingstone that said I'd rather be in the heart of Africa in the will of God then on the throne of England out of his will I mean if being in the will of God means that you're struggling in some lonely distant uncomfortable mission field you'll have more comfort there you've probably heard about in a room Judson the missionary to Burma he was offered a very comfortable pulpit in Boston near his family and everyone said oh this is such a wonderful opportunity and he said well except I know God's called me to go to the mission field oh but wouldn't this meat be much better isn't this the wiser decision he said no I'm much better off being God's will in the mission field than being in a comfortable successful popular pulpit with good pay in Boston are you where you're supposed to be we need to know the answer to that question so we face a lot of big decisions in our life what school am I going to go to for some of our younger said what will i study once I get there beyond the basics and then once you study in your field and you have different job offers how do I know where to take that job what state what specialty what's God's will for me who am I gonna marry do I say yes to the first person that comes along and asks me am I to marry at all there's something to pray about maybe like me you'll be a bachelor your whole life mrs. bachelor got married became a bachelor so how do you determine the answer to these big questions first of all there's some basics we know God wants you to be safe that's as well second Peter 3 verse 9 the Lord is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance and it's a mistake for you to think that everything you see happening in the world must be God's will you know some of our friends and neighbors of the Islamic persuasion when something happens they say that's the will of all it's a will evolve whatever happens it's a will of Allah that's not true not everything that happens is the will of God God is not willing that any should perish are some going to perish that's not his will there's a lot of things you and I decide to do and we're out of God's will and there are things that happen you you can't always say what's an act of God this typhoon there and what it used to be known as Burma Myanmar and all these thousands of people that I was must have been God's will not necessarily did the devil bring a storm in the story of Joel I think we'll be surprised when we get to the other side and God pulls back the veil there's a battle between good and evil and if God's will was always being done then why would he tell us to pray that his will be done why would you pray for something that you're already gonna have it's because his will is not always done it's something that is to be prayed for it's something that is to be pursued so how do we determine the will of God now let me begin by before I get to my list of ways that I think you can apply biblical principles to determine the will of God I first like to talk about some of the dubious methods that people use and let's get that out of the way when some people are making major decisions even Christians they resort to things as basic as flipping a coin and I'm not saying that God cannot speak through the flip of a coin and that might work for those things but if you're making life decisions I'd want more evidence than flipping a coin and so you know some people do this or maybe you've wondered about casting Lots in the Bible just so that you have an idea of what that means sometimes if they were trying to determine between one or two choices or maybe multiple choices they would take a clay jar that had a narrow opening and they would put a number of black stones in one white stone or number of white stones and one black stone and they'd go around the circle they'd drop out the stone mouth was just big enough to drop out one stone at a time and if you got the lot fell on you it meant you were chosen so they had a variety of ways of doing that you remember they cast lots for Jesus clothing now casting Lots when you're making decisions for your life is probably not advisable one reason I say that is because God wants you to use your brain he says come now let us reason together you should not go through your day and through your life who shall I marry well I'll cast lots first of all don't tell your prospective parents in law that's how you're making your choice that won't impress them you want to be using a number of criteria in making these important decisions God gave you a brain because he likes to see you use it and matter of fact when they were picking the goats on the day of atonement they select two perfect goats and then one would be the Lord's goat one would be the scapegoat and the Bible did say they were to cast lots and one of them would be chosen as the scapegoat well you're picking between two goats and something like that well that's okay but making big decisions for life be careful by the way do you know where the word lottery comes from casting Lots now some of you can see I got biblical proof for playing the lottery now it's in the Bible it's not what I'm talking about I'm just saying talking about pure chance not not to play the lottery you've heard me say before you probably have a better chance of being bitten by a shark in Phoenix Arizona than winning the lottery so don't waste your money doing that the practice of casting Lots has mentioned about seventy seven times in the Bible and but I think it's interesting in second selected messages 328 the author their rights I have no faith in casting Lots and she was speaking about some churches were casting Lots to pick their leaders because they said well after all didn't the disciples picked a new apostle by casting Lots well that was a whole different story first they went through a selection process of the best candidates and they said we're gonna pick between the two of the best they were not casting locks arbitrarily to pick you know church leadership God wants you to use criteria and wisdom and we'll get to those things in a minute and again you'll find in letter 37 from 1900 it says to cast lots for the officers of the church is not God's order let men of responsibility be called upon to select the officers of the church they were to use their brains and use a number of criteria probably you've heard the story before this old Scottish woman used to travel the countryside and she's sold thread and yarn and one day she came to a fork in a road and she picked up a stick she threw the stick up in the air and it fell back down to the ground she picked it up and she threw it up in the air and it fell back down to the ground someone came along like she was doing this and they said what are you doing she said well as I go on my sales route I want the Lord to guide me and which way to go so I take this stick and I throw stick can I go which way the row the stick points and he said well why do you keep throwing the stick he said well it keeps pointing to the right but that roads pretty rough I want to go to the left so I just keep throwing the stick some people I've seen them do that let's flip coins they flip they don't get the answer they want they say two out of three and they just keep on flipping the coin I actually know someone one time there's really praying about a big decision this is true and they weren't sure whether or not there were a flip a coin if that's how they were supposed to pick and they flipped the coin enough coin rolled over against the wall and stood up on its in and it's like God was saying don't do that you're just giving me two options I might have an option you know nothing about so sometimes you corner the Lord when you use these methods and you're limiting how God's gonna answer you so I'd guard against that what about throwing out a fleece you remember Gideon when trying to get some reassurance that he was supposed to go in battle against the the Amalekites in the Midianites and the people of the east he put out this fleece this is a big sheepskin he put it out and that's normally what they slept on at night it was their sleeping bag and he said now if I wake up in the morning and there's a do on the fleece and none on the ground that'll be a sign well that happened and then he thought well maybe that's a natural occurrence tell you what Lord let's try this one more time tomorrow let the fleece be dry and the dew on the ground or whatever the opposite was I think I'm maybe said the same thing twice and the next date was the opposite and he said okay that's evidence and so some people have these different fleeces that they put out for the Lord and and you know sometimes it's not all bad to say all right Lord I'm gonna look for providential evidence and we sort of manufacture these fleeces that we're looking for God to guide us I know about a lady that you ever met these people that when they want to make a decision they flip through their Bible and they just whatever their eyes land and they say okay that's gonna be your message to me Lord be careful about using your Bible like a deck of tarot cards and I you've probably heard of people that now I'm not saying God can't lead that way I have no stories of the Lord has lets people dear friend of ours has passed away her name was Lolita Simpson you'll read in testimonies about a famous evangelist called W W Simpson and Lolita told me the story one time when her mother was trying to pray about whether or not to marry this young handsome evangelist she said Lord I got to know this is your will and she prayed and agonized she said I just need reassurance that this is the right man so she took her Bible and she flipped her Bible open she's praying there by her bed and she put her finger down on a verse and this is where she put her finger Genesis 24 58 when they called Rebecca they said to her will you go with this man and she said I will go now when you pray about who to marry and you flip the Bible open and that is the place where your finger lands well that's a pretty strong indicator now some of you are gonna go home try that now right I'm not recommending this I'm just saying God can use it but I don't think it's advisable because you never know you might flip your Bible open and and it'll say Judas when hung himself yeah you know that's obviously not his will for your life so you'd be careful about doing that what about dreams and visions I'm trying to deal with some of the the dubious things that people use to make big decisions can God guide us through a dream and God can guide us through a vision but you know I'm hoping the majority of your dreams are gibberish that come because your brain is defragmenting the things you've experienced through the day and it's sort of sorts itself out when you reach that point of rapid eye movement and all kinds of bizarre things may go through your mind and some people have weird dreams and they go and they visit psychoanalyst that help them to try and understand what's going on deep within because of their dreams and and it may just mean too much pizza and some people just put a little too much emphasis on a envisions you've probably heard about the farmer that was out holy in the field one day and it was hot he was a young farmer he wondered if he was supposed to spend his life about farming he was pondering these things and he looked up in the sky and he saw that the wind was moving the clouds around in all of us and he distinctly saw the letters in the sky P C and he thought about the PC Lord you don't want me farming anymore you want me to preach Christ preach Christ he threw down his farm equipment and he went and got his Sunday suit on and he started going around the community preaching they said Zeb what's going on he said God showed me in a vision I'm supposed to be a preacher I saw clouds it said PC and I know that means preach Christ so he spent several months out there trying to preach and didn't have very big results and his family started getting hungry and about eight months later he's back out there in the field hauling the corn and someone said Zeb what's up I thought God gave you a vision you're supposed to preach Christ so while I made up my mind that peace cement plant corn didn't mean preach Christ so be careful about the dreams and the visions if you're gonna have dreams and visions make sure there's other reinforcing evidence and I want to make your decisions just upon that but God can't speak through those things right so let's be careful now someone said that in the US alone there are more than 23,000 ways to make a living the odds are clearly not in favor for you to decide what you're supposed to do as a career or who you're supposed to marry think about all the options there based on pure luck you want divine leading in your life amen and you want God to give you wisdom how to discern his Providence in his will all right I'm gonna give you now a list of I have taken the best lists I could find from the people I respect the most the Bible George Mueller tozer the spirit of prophecy friends talk to our pastors this week and we got a few more points on the list I got about 15 points that I'm gonna share with you on how do you determine the will of God biblically and using good reason here's here are what I think some of the most important things you may add to my list later but after years of praying about it this is the first time I've really preached a message like this here's a list I'm gonna go through these quickly because I want to get this in one message number one be surrendered and willing the most important thing if you want to know God's will is be willing to do his will matter of fact John 7:17 if anyone wants to do his will he shall know concerning the doctrine whether it is from God or whether I speak of my own Authority if you're wanting God's will Jesus said if he's willing he will know the doctrine you will understand but the first thing is to be willing pray that God will give you a pliable and a willing heart step number one is to be surrendered surrender yourself before Jesus before you expect him to lead you if your heart is in a state of rebellion and you're not surrendered to God then why is he gonna show you his will all he does is add to your compounded guilt he shows you more that he wants you to do and you're not doing what he's shown you so be willing I heard about a native in the Congo the prayed he said dear Lord you be the needle I'll be the thread you go first I'll follow wherever you lead that's the kind of attitude we need I say a 45 verse 9 does the clay say to the Potter what are you doing when God shows you his will and do it you may not like what he shows you be open Psalm 25 verse 9 the humble he guides in justice the humble he teaches his way if you want to know the will of God in the way of God humble yourself before God and he'll teach you his way so be willing number to consult the Word of God find out what the Bible says on the particular options or the direction that you're praying about the Word of God has a lot to say about a lot of things and so acquaint yourself with his word you read of course psalm 119 verse 105 thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light to my path when you're walking through life if you want guidance ask for the word of God to guide you there's scripture on so many different things and more specifically in the Word of God you have the law of God so a lot of things you might see as options are clearly commanded to be done or not done based on what the law of God says there are some things God gives an emphatic I meant he gives us an emphatic no and there are some areas where he will give us an equally emphatic yes so find out what the law of God says if you're wondering you know should I leave my spouse and and go off with this other person you don't need to pray about God's will regarding that but you'd be surprised I've met people happen this year to married people members of the same church left their spouses got together and when I counseled with them they said you know it just feels so right we just can see God blessing we've got so much peace those other relationships they just weren't good we just sing this is God God's will for us and I'm going you don't need to wonder if this is God's will he clearly commands you not to do this it's a sin so don't be praying about the will of God you know Lord should I steal this car I mean you don't need to pray about that if God's Word gives you some clear direction on that that's clear now someone might say well you know I've got this job and it in order to get this incredible job opportunity I just need to work for 3 or 4 Sabbath's for 1 month until I get the tenure and then I've got the job you don't need to pray about that I mean if God says remember the Sabbath it doesn't mean when it's convenient you can break it in order to get a better job I mean the Word of God gives us really clear guidance in certain areas and they're just it's a slam dunk it's a no-brainer so find out what the word says and it may involve searching through the word a little bit Psalm 40 verse 8 I delight to do your will oh my god your law is written within my heart so if you're wondering about what the will of God is the law of God is the will of God they're one in the same amen number three be faithful to his revealed will so if you're praying about you know what school do I go to Lord I really need you to show me what do you want me to take in college who is it that you want me to date I've got three options what what country am I supposed to go to you praying about making big decisions first ask yourself am i doing what he has shown me make sure that you're living out what he has revealed John 12 verse 35 then jesus said to them a little while longer the light is with you walk why you have the light lest darkness overtakes you walk in the light that you have in other words and if you continue to walk in the light he gives you more light but don't be praying about perplexity regarding God's will if you're not doing what he's shown you Matthew 13 verse 12 for to ever has to him more will be given and he'll have an abundance if you are embracing the will of God that he's shown you he'll give you more because he can trust you to follow it some of you said I don't know why God won't guide me well are you doing what he said you asked what is the will of God we're well here's the answer true the nearest thing that should be done that he can do through you sometimes you need to say am i doing what lies closest at hand with all of my might you and I've met people before they stand stationary where their arms folded waiting for God to show his will and they got stuff right there they need to be doing sometimes we're frustrated looking for God's will because we have not learned to be content where we are and he may want you right where you're at and he's just trying to teach a contentment so are you doing what he's given you nearest at hand from the third book of testimonies page 428 those who are seeking to know the truth and to understand the will of God who are faithful to the light and zealous in the performance of their daily duties we'll be sure to know the doctrine for they will be guided into all truth if were being faithful to perform known duties God will help us understand more education 267 a simple list of 3 from the spirit of prophecy we need to follow more closely God's plan for our life number 1 do our best in the work that lies nearest number to commit our ways to God and number three to watch for the indications of his Providence these are rules that will ensure safe guidance make sure you're doing what you're supposed to do I mean that there's a simple short list if you will of how do you know the will of God all right but I've got more detail because sometimes our questions are more complex number four obtained Christian counsel find others who are believers with good judgment that will be honest with you and present your options to them and say please guide me proverbs 11 of course verse 14 you know this where there's no Council of people fall but in the multitude of counselors there is safety what kind of counselors any counselors you can go down to the bar and ask for counsel no you want to get Christian counsel first Corinthians 15:33 don't be deceived evil company corrupts good habits avoid bad companions get good people matter of fact that's a good policy for life surround yourself with good counselors he who would be wise makes friends with a wise right Psalm 73 24 you will guide me with your counsel and afterward receive me to glory so look for people that you can trust by the way one way to pick good counselors look for folks who look like they got their lives together if you're taking counsel from people whose lives are a disaster well I might tell you something they may not be in the best position to give you advice if their lives are a train wreck and so it's it's amazing to me I've met some people that they're better be careful what I say some people I know who have gone into counseling their personal lives are a disaster and I think how come they're going into counseling maybe that's sort of a subconscious way for them to try and find answers so the counseling and everybody else make sure you when you pick people to be your counselor and say what is their personal life like what is their spiritual life like and if they you know if they're blessed like Joseph and you can see the hand of God is with them that's a good person to pick as a counselor and say you know I'd like to go to them I'd like to be more like them and those people often give you good advice doesn't mean you always have to listen to it it doesn't say a counselor counselors get a few different opinions you know if someone's got a life-threatening disease and they go to the doctor and the doctor is recommending something what does someone often say get another opinion maybe even a third opinion because it's life and death sometimes one doctor might be seeing things wrong so get a multitude of counsel when you're looking for making these decisions godly friends will help you take inventory of yourself help you to discover your gifts and talents and they may encourage you to try new things you're not even thinking of I mean several people might look at you and say you know one reason I'm in ministry nobody growing up thought Doug was gonna be a pastor but after I became a believer and it never occurred to me right away after I became a believer and I started sharing with my friends and had some success in giving Bible studies more and more people that I respect it said Dunc have you considered the ministry and I didn't know how that would ever happen but they said you need to pray about it you know we think you've got gifts in those areas and so it was through collective counsel of godly people that I moved in this direction and he'll do the same for you if you ask him to then number five observe Providence look for providential leading God often shows what he wants you to do by events that happen one example I always think of in Ruth chapter 2 verse 20 you know Ruth and Naomi came back to the land of Bethlehem they were destitute and they had to glean in the fields just to get food for their daily bread and there was only one person in all of Israel that had the right of a redeemer that had the inclination to redeem them and it just so happened that when they went out into the fields to glean that had happened that Ruth ended up in the field of Boaz which was the one man who had the inclination and the ability to be her kinsman redeemer I mean she didn't know what field it was and when she came home and told my you know Naomi she said this is the Providence of God don't go to any other field that's the one God led you there and you can see many many stories in the book or she ended up marrying Boaz and redeemed the family of Allah Malik and it ended up being a great a great blessing so look for the Providence of God look for doors that open God often guides us in his will regarding doors opening doors closing and sometimes you say well I guess this is not God's will cuz that door slams shut and he often opens something else along the way right some people are always trying to kick down doors that God has closed because it's what they want and they've got the door of opportunity right there they're neglecting it 2nd Corinthians 2 verse 12 furthermore I came to trow ass to preach Christ and a door was opened to me by the Lord all these opportunities came to Paul and you know especially if you're willing to work for God he will show you open doors of opportunity I prayed many many times I said Lord you know I'm on the road I'm traveling I'll say help me to recognize opportunities to be a witness for you in some way and just yesterday my neighbor might be watching this but I'll be careful we got a lovely we got the best neighbors in the world and we've got a one neighbor that lives right by us and we got a cat that goes back and forth between our houses a cat you know you don't really own a cat they decide who they belong to and it's sort of the neighborhood cat and we don't take care of them so he and I were talking about the cat whenever I see this brother he's a and a horn thalamus is that what it is near a study or a bird yeah I I didn't know whether to say that or orthodontist or something like that but anyway he said whether you study his Birds and really nice family and and I've always thought you know I look for opportunity to share with a very educated couple they travel around the world he's a specialist in birds and saw him out front we were talking about the cat and I'm thinking lord I wish I had some opportunity to to say something and you know turn the conversation towards spiritual things and he comes over to me while I'm weeding my flowers says Doug I need to ask you do me a favor it's sure anything and he said I'm going on another birding trip he said I got some friends and there's seventh-day Adventists and they live in Montana and he's I told them that oh yeah I've got a seventh-day Adventist friend lives across the street guy named bachelor and they said oh we watch his programs and he said if you just sign a little card for them and so it just gave me an opportunity to give him a book and I just prayed that's Providence when you pray that and all somebody says you know by the way I'm going to Montana and I'm staying with seventh-day Adventists that know you and so he'll open doors for you if you ask doors for ministry doors for opportunity doors for careers doors for relationships and sometimes he closes doors and some of us we don't want to admit the doors are closed like Balaam we're on our donkey ridin with all we've got and we're beating the donkey we don't know there's an angel in the way you know what I'm talking about we're just trying to plow ahead it's like the guy who told everybody at the office he said look I'm going on a diet I know it's time and I'm giving up no nuts no more doughnuts he shows up the next day he's got a big box of two dozen donuts they said what happened Fred we thought you swore off the doughnuts he said well God it was God's will that I get these doughnuts well how did you figure that out he said it was Providence what do you mean he said well before I left for work you know I often drive by the doughnut shop and it's just packed you can't ever find a parking place and I said Lord if there is a parking place right in front of the door then I'll know it's your will for me to get this box to Nonna's he said you know I only had to drive around the block 10 times and they did the parking place opened up and I knew it was God's will now I'm telling you that story because some of you do you use those incantations you say you know what is this your will Lord you just keep pushing the door down your shirt and Lord sure you'll kick it open eventually sometimes and you wonder why everything went wrong so it wasn't this year we'll well you were pushing awful hard and you know Balaam finally got where he wanted the donkey to go didn't he and he lost his life in the process and God will often permit you to do something that is not his will because you're pushing for it I remember one time going down on the street after I just learned about the Bible and the Lord and I sort of it accepted the Lord I also drank beer and I kept panhandling until I got enough money to get beer and I said well must have been God's will for me to get beer cuz I got the money and I'm sure that same logic is used by people who stand at the intersections around Sacramento all the time so you know sometimes when you say Providence be sensitive to let God lead and don't be pushing the doors down there might be an angel in the way with a drawn sword amen then I'm not putting these necessarily in sequential order number six pray pray to God will guide you first John 5:14 and 15 now this is the confidence that we have in him that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us and we know that he hears us and if we know that he hears us whatever we ask we know that we have the petitions that are asked of him so when you pray pray according to the revealed will of God again John 15 15 jesus said I'd no longer call you servants because a servant does not know what his master's business is instead I called you what friends for everything I've learned from My Father I've made known to you if you want to know the will of God be a friend of God how do you become a friend of God you talk to him all the time you remember when the angels were on their way to Sodom to destroy it God stops by to see Abraham on the way he said Abraham shall I hide from you what I'm about to do cuz you're my friend friends talk about their plans to give it own thing if you want to know the will of God for your life to be a friend of God spend time praying and talking to the Lord God reveals his will to his friends and that by the way it was Genesis chapter 18 verse 17 the secret things of God are with those who fear Him now praying may also include fasting and praying there's different intensity of knowing God's will I mean you might say you know where shall we go for lunch today shall we do Mexican shall we do Italian shall we do Chinese well you might pray about God's guidance in that and I think God even cares about those things I do I pray Lord where shall I go today and I look for God sometimes the guy I mean little decisions but some things are big decisions for instance you know who shall I marry what moves shall I make what job shall I take these are big decisions you might want to invest some time in fasting and praying if you're praying about God's will for someone else's life too you might fast and pray when's life and death decisions you're making I recommend you fast and pray second chronicles chapter 20 verse 3 and 4 when Israel was surrounded by millions of enemies Jehoshaphat he commanded that the people fasted and they prayed throughout Judah Acts chapter 13 verse 2 and 3 when the disciples were wondering what was the next missionary endeavor the Bible says as they ministered to the Lord and they fasted the Holy Spirit said now separate to me Barnabas and Saul for the work that I've called them to then having fasted and prayed they laid hands on them and they sent them away they knew the direction they knew the will of God as they listened and they fasted and prayed and I'm sure they applied the other criteria in determining the will of God have faith if you're gonna pray for his will then believe that he'll show you his will proverbs 3 verse 5 and 6 trust in the Lord what is trust it's that faith trust in the Lord with all your heart lean not on your own understanding and all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your paths the Bible says the just shall live by faith so believe God has a plan for you and that he's going to show it to you in his time in the third Bible commentary page 1155 when you've sought to know his will your part in the operation with God is to believe that you will be led and guided and blessed in the doing of his will think about it for a second if you're willing to do his will then God's responsible to reveal his will to you you must believe he's going to do that right I mean if you're willing that's our biggest battle is step number one just be willing to do God's will and he'll reveal it to you now it takes faith sometimes to do the God the will of God once it's reveal some people are praying about the will of God you don't need to pray well shall I return a full tithe huh you need faith to do the will of God you know what the will is or do I need to pray about the will of God to follow his word know if it's revealed in his word then you know that it's his will now I put number nine right where I did after number eight because while you should have faith you should not be foolhardy when you're seeking the will of God be faith faithful be courageous but don't be foolish sometimes the answer is do the safe thing that's number nine when you're looking at all the options and one of them may be risky when it comes to living the Christian life don't say I'm gonna see how close to the edge I can get and still you know it's like some people want to walk like this the Christian life would say Lord is this your will no get as far away from that edge as you can get and if you know if sometimes if I'm getting ready to speak and I've got an illustration I want to share anything boy that illustration is a little on the edge Lord should I share that or not a little voices Doug do the safing don't share it I'll give you something else or Karen yeah well yeah that's under the category of spirit land or the multitude of counselors that's that category you got the multitude of counselors and you get a spouse that gives you a multitude of counsel I'm sorry dear but yeah well that's what it's all about so you want to be cautious and you know Lord is this dress too short should I wear that to church do the same thing wynton your ham or get a different one you know what I mean and so when you're praying about the will of God just consider that don't take unnecessary risks is what I'm saying there number 10 again these aren't in order because this is very important make sure that God is glorified in your decision make sure your decision will bring glory to God if it's gonna dishonor God and his kingdom then it's the wrong decision first Corinthians 10:31 therefore whether you eat or drink or whatever you do do all to the glory of God keep the Kingdom priorities Matthew 6:33 but seek he first and making the decisions of God seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added to you you might be saying Lord in this decision I'm making regarding a career in my life or a choice in my life for someone I'm going to marry or you know whatever the decision might be you're grappling with what is going to reach the most people what will make the biggest impact for your kingdom how will I be the best advertising agent for your glory and make sure that's a major factor in your decision process now in keeping with that not just the glory of God what's the great commandment love the Lord with all your heart mind soul and strength and what's the second part love your neighbors so number 11 in making a decision about the will of God how will my decision affect others I'm amazed sometimes when people are making decisions that all they're thinking about is what's this gonna mean for me how much will I get paid how much do I like that climate what do I like the environment or what do I think of this school and there they've got a family and their decision is going to affect everybody in the family and and I'm concerned sometimes I'll hear it's often a man he's got some career opportunity and it will mean uprooting the family and taking them away from all of their family and the kids out of school but just before they're ready to graduate and and all these tremendous volcanic upheaval and the husband is thinking well you know how much will I get paid what are my promotion opportunities and yeah they've got jet skiing in the lake nearby and I mean and they're just not thinking about what its gonna do to the family and so that's something very important Christians should be governed by love not just love for God but love for others and God wants us to be considerate of how your decision and it may not even be your family members it might be other people Romans 14 verse seven for none of us liveth unto himself and no one dies through himself and again Galatians 5:14 for all the laws fulfilled in one word even this you should love your neighbor as yourself number 12 be guided by the Holy Spirit pray that God's Spirit will guide you in making your decisions now that's sometimes one of the harder factors to to enunciate it's a very important one but for mature Christians you've heard that voice you know the voice of the Spirit I mean how else did Abraham know when he was supposed to take his son I'd want to know that was God speaking to me and the Holy Spirit will guide you Isaiah 30 verse 21 your ears will hear a voice behind you saying this is the way walk ye in it whether you turn to the right hand or to the left and so when you're praying about Lord what is your will regarding something then say you know how am I feeling led by God's Spirit I understand that years ago when some of the Arabs were crossing these vast deserts that frequently someone in the caravan would keep a dove with them and they had a long piece of string and if they got all turned around we're because of a sandstorm and didn't know where they were they would release this dove and you know does have these pigeons have these homing instincts and as soon as it would take off it would circle a little bit and then start pulling in the direction of home and you know the Holy Spirit sometimes is compared to a dove and you just want to have that tug of the Holy Spirit that is guiding you and you know John tells us says you don't need that any man should teach you anything the Holy Spirit the same will teach you and so as we have lived Christian lives of walking in the spirit we'll have the confidence when God's Spirit is telling us what to do many times you'll see where Paul was saying the spirit said go hear the spirits had come this way the spirit said don't go they were really in touch with the Spirit of God and the Spirit of God by the way will never guide you differently from the Word of God amen so listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit now what what number was that that was number 12 going on number 13 this is gonna be a tough one be patient in deciding the will of God you want to be patient James chapter 5 verse 11 indeed we count them blessed who endure you've heard of the patience of Job and seen in the end the Lord that he is very good and compassionate and merciful and sometimes when you're praying about the will of God we become restless and we want to do something and God's going to show you his will but you gotta wait sometimes he just wants you to wait I mean Moses wanted to deliver his people who tried to do it his way it backfired he waited 40 years before the next opportunity came along when you're praying about a big decision be patient you know what periodically people are thinking about making some dramatic move in their life and they've got alien parents and you know they need to consider them and perhaps they need to wait for them or they got children that are young and and they can't handle this kind of move or this career change right now give him a couple more years wait on the Lord and he'll guide you sometimes you haven't gotten an answer yet because God wants you to stay right where you're at and just be patient yes he's got a big plan for your life he's got a big change he's got that person you're supposed to spend the rest of your life with you haven't met yet you're wondering if you're ever going to wait Hoffa faster Doug I've been waiting so long be glad because you are better off waiting for God's will having the right job the right spouse the right school then rushing ahead of the Lord and having the wrong job you'll be miserable the wrong spouse the wrong school you know what I'm talking about and so you want to pray wait on the Lord and be patient Luke 21 verse 19 by your patience possess ye your souls and part of following the Lord and looking for as well as standing still remember those stories in the Bible Exodus 14 Moses said to the people verse 13 do not be afraid stand still they didn't know which way to go where they were they supposed to go know where they're supposed to stand still sometimes God's leading is your standing 2nd chronicles 20 verse 17 you will not need to fight in this battle position yourselves stand still and see the salvation of the Lord in other words sometimes the will of God is not you going to it sometimes the will of God is it coming to you you just stay where you are and watch what happens sometimes you think that I've got to get out of this circumstance and I don't know what I'm gonna do and Lord what which way am I supposed to go and what phone call do I make and which direction what door and God is saying stay right there I'm gonna change everything without you moving anywhere so a part of God's leading is your being patient and trusting and just stand still and see the salvation of the Lord you know the generals years ago you've often heard it said during the Revolutionary War their muskets were very inaccurate and it took forever to load them and what would the generals say to his troops as they were itching fingers to fire at the approaching enemy they'd say hold man hold and Washington said do not fire till you see lights of their eyes and the patience you gotta wait for timing and so sometimes God says you know you're wanting to jump it's not time wait he'll tell you when the time is I've seen many times I've ran ahead of the Lord if I just waited now after you do all these things I'm adding one more here I'm adding a couple more tally the evidence I've just given you a number of criteria from the Bible and good judgment of how do you determine the will of God sometimes it's not any one of those things but it's the the addition the accumulation of many of those things that helps you make a decision you kind of add things up it's like with those little handheld GPS satellites you use and you can use them in your airplane you can use them when you're walking on the trails now you first turn one on it'll tell you your exact location it'll tell you which way to go but you got to wait a minute while it acquires satellites you turn it on they'll say it's got one satellite can't even triangulate until you get three satellites you get a real good altitude and all kinds of information you get five or seven satellites so you just wait until you all the satellites and when it's picking them all up and says we got seven satellites now you can know pretty sure where you are within a couple of feet and so when you're praying about this big decision say what does the word of god say it's not always precise on everything so well I got some background there one of my Christian counselors say how will this glorify God and you just start going through the different evidence make a list Karen and I when we were dating each other we we made a list what the pros and cons were I hope she still remembers the pros so you know you add these things up and you say well you know here's the things to consider and you wanna hopefully there'll be a preponderance of evidence on the right side when you add up the list and by the way something everybody can do you might say Doug this is an interesting sermon it doesn't apply to me I'm somewhere I'm supposed to be I'm in the will of God right now but you always need to be adjusting yourself into the will of God always you know they got these oil drilling ships they used to just use these platforms that they were root and anchor down in the seabed floor but now they get ships that have these computer-controlled propellers all the way around the ship and the ship is not anchored the ship is not tethered to the ground the ship is able to control its location through constant adjustments micro millisecond adjustments of a computer that are keeping it so that it stays over the same spot way it's drilling and you know it's somehow Christian is we are constantly measuring that we're in the will of God based on all these things all the time because it's real easy for us to do something called sliding you stop calibrating that you're in the will of God and you can start sliding off Center and if those ships I just described if they don't make continual adjustments the drill line and the pipe cracks and so you want to constantly be centered in God's well some of you are sort of in the right vicinity but you're not centered in God's will and so take a look at the list now I got good news for you in the last one here oh by the way another verse for number fourteen by the mouth of two or three witnesses shall everything be established so you add up all the evidence one more verse for you number fifteen when you're deciding the will of God what is your heart's desire yeah don't be ashamed of that what do you want sometimes God places things on your heart because he's wanting you to do something and he's putting it in your heart where it actually you want the same thing God once everyone automatically assumes all right Lord where do you want me to go oh I got to marry them all right what's cool guys this is the job of man I hate teeth but you want me to be a dentist obviou dentist you know and we're always thinking that God's will is for us to do what we don't want to do that's a myth God if you're converted he will often then implant within your heart this burning desire to do the very thing he wants you to do if you're converted your desires are gonna be lining up with his desires let me give you some scripture for that because you already feel guilty about believing but that's good news first chronicles 17 verse 2 David wanted to build a temple for the Lord that was his desire to see a temple to God's glory and Nathan said David do all that's in your heart well it turns out that it was done through David's son but his desire was still fulfilled build a temple for the Lord God put it in his heart Psalm 21 verse 2 you have given him his heart's desire and have not withheld the request of his lips Psalms 20 verse 4 may he grant you according to your heart's desire and fulfill all your purpose many times you'll pray about something and and you want it and and God says you know I love you I don't want to give you what you want Psalm 37 verse 4 delight yourself in the Lord now here's the key delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart if your delight is God in His will and his glory you'll be finding out he's giving you the desires of your heart that's exciting when you think about that he'll surprise you God doesn't want what's worse for you he wants what's best for you and you got to trust him that in the end you'll always be happier being in the middle of God's will and doing what he asks now I've got an appeal for you here Romans 12 verse 2 this is a good verse I saved and highlighted for the end of this message Romans 12 verse 2 and do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind and that's a continual renewing of your mind why that you might prove that means test evaluate what is that good and acceptable and perfect some people are doing the imperfect will of God you should strive for that good and that acceptable and that perfect will of God and that's where you're gonna be the happiest is when you're where God wants you to be when you're right directly smack dab in the middle of where God wants you to be you'll be happy amen [Music]

Channel: Aaron

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Length: 52min 47sec (3167 seconds)

Published: Fri May 03 2019