A while back, I was having a conversation with someone about the will of God especially as it relates to prayer and I thought I'd write down my thoughts and see what you think. The conversation stems from Randy's message on hearing from God. If you want to listen, click here. I happen to agree with Randy on this one.
It's a pretty common thing for people to say "God has a wonderful plan for your life." I think that's true. But I think it's true in a different way than many people think. Most people when they say God has a plan, they mean that God has a "perfect will" for your life. He knows who you should marry, what college you should go to, what house your should buy, etc. Spiritually mature Christians are the ones who seek God's perfect will in everything. So if there's a decision to make, whatever it is, we should pray about it. This is the thinking I disagree with.
Here are some problems with that line of thought. First, no one prays about EVERY decision they make in life. Who, before they get dressed in the morning prays about what color shirt they should wear? Who prays about whether they should take a different route to work that particular morning? Nobody. People only pray about the "important" decisions. Yet can you think of a scenario where what route a person takes to work in the morning is an important decision? What about the man who gets in a fatal car accident on their way? It turned out to be one of the most important decisions of his life, yet he never thought to pray about it-and he shouldn't. We would drive ourselves crazy stopping to ask God about every decision we make in life.
But there are decisions that are obviously important in life. Take getting married for instance. Does God have that perfect woman picked out for me? My answer is no. Though it's romantic to think about finding your "soul mate," what about the person that didn't pray about who they were going to marry, made a mistake and missed out on God's perfect plan for their life? I'm married to Ann, but let's say that in college when I asked her to marry me, I was too spiritually immature to seek God's counsel in this decision and missed the fact that God actually wanted me to marry Sally.
What should I do now? Should I divorce Ann? I don't think so. After all, God hates divorce. Should I marry Sally too? I don't think so. After all, the U.S. government hates polygamy. I guess I'm stuck being out of God's perfect will for my life. I'll always have less than the best as far as God is concerned. (As far as I'm concerned, Ann takes a back seat to no one).
The same thing applies to cars and houses and other important decisions we make. As we look in the Bible, we see the same thing. We just don't see people sitting around asking God what they should do. The only example I can think of is when the Disciples were looking to replace Judas. They asked for God's guidance, but then they drew straws and I don't see a lot of people drawing straws in the middle of big decisions.
What we do see, however is people minding their own business. Abraham was doing whatever when God got a hold of him. Moses was tending sheep when a bush caught fire, Paul was on his way to Damascus to persecute Christians when God contacted him. What's the common them here?
First, God initiated. I don't deny that there are times that God will ask us to do specific things. But in the Bible, when God had something for people, He was the one that initiated-people didn't ask.
Second, God always spoke very clearly. When we ask for guidance on things, often-times we get answers that we have to decifer and read into things. But when God contacted people in scripture, He did so clearly. Often it was through an angel, sometimes, it was a dream, sometimes a voice (and sometimes a talking animal). I've had that kind of experience only twice in my life. It doesn't happen all the time.
Third, when people disobey (or don't listen), they're not necessarily "out of God's will," but they do miss out on God's blessing in their life. When God calls us, not only do we get to be a blessing for someone, but we are blessed when we know we're partnering with the God of the universe.
One thing I'm not saying is to stop praying. What I am saying is that we ought to redirect our prayers. There is something the Bible says IS God's will--that we become like Jesus. Our prayers should be to that end. Of course, we should also pray for our daily needs. When we do that, we are reminded of our dependence on God for everything we have. We pray also for wisdom, but not just when we need it. We pray for God's wisdom consistently in our lives so when the time comes that we really need it, we won't have to "cram" for the test. When we develop the mind of Christ, we don't have to always seek out special directions from God. Since we have allowed Him to develop His mind and His character in us, doing His will will come naturally for us.
