Discerning God’s Will
It’s clear that in nearly every instance, active patience is preferable to passive patience. However, it is often hard to determine whether or not we are using active patience as we wait on God’s timing, or trying to control a situation through our actions.
The line is thin and easily blurred, even for the most diligent. Discerning God’s will can be one of the most elusive and frustrating parts of active patience. Suppose you are waiting to find your ideal mate.
You meet several men you like. How do you know which (if any) is the one God has chosen for you? It can be so hard!
Read and Learn More How Leaders Can Cultivate Patience in an Impatient World ?
There aren’t a lot of concrete techniques or strategies out there for effectively discerning the will of God. Each person communicates with God differently.
Admitting that you talk to God regularly (and that you are listening for him to talk back) can be misinterpreted as a little crazy. So radio silence results.
But there are things you can put into practical use that will better open up the communication channels between you and God and help you to discern His will. Here are a few ideas.
Make Jesus Your All-Time Mentor. “What Would Jesus Do?” the title of a book by Charles Sheldon, as well as the phrase stamped on countless bracelets, t-shirts, and Christian schwag is the right question to ask.
When we have a mentor we trust, it is common to think about how they would react in a situation before we respond. Jesus tells us that He is our all-time mentor in life:
But we live in the modern world, and He came from a simpler time! How can we know what Jesus would have done in our situation?
While it is true that the period Jesus lived in was less technologically advanced, people were still people, and there was plenty of modern-day intrigue that occurred. They still struggled with hatred, jealousy, greed, lust, and dishonesty the same as today.
While Jesus’ teachings to his disciples and other followers may not explicitly tie to something we are struggling with today, there are plenty of general guidelines in the Bible that we can apply to our personal circumstances.
Reading and studying the Bible will strengthen our relationship with Jesus, which will help us discern His will.
Just as working with and spending time with a mentor helps us to learn how to succeed in a particular profession, spending time in God’s word will help us to find out how to succeed in life.
Seek the Advice and Counsel of Others. God has placed advisors and other godly people in our lives to help us discern His will for us. Maybe it is someone close to you such as your spouse, pastor, or another good friend.
But you can also get advice and counsel by reading or listening to Christian authors and speakers. Frequently, I find that when I am struggling with a problem or concern, I may be talking to.
Reading or listening to a mentor on an entirely different subject when the solution to the problem reveals itself. God can work through our mentor’s words to help us understand our problems better, even if we don’t share the specifics.
Be open to these moments by always filling and refilling your heart and mind with more God-inspired information.
Pray, whenever you need God’s guidance and direction:
We never have to worry about asking a dumb question or feeling unworthy to ask God for what we need and want. God wants us to pray about everything – as that is our primary form of communication with Him!
Listen For God to Speak Through Your Circumstances. If we believe that God is perfect and that He has a plan for us, then we have to believe that God is in control of our lives – regardless of our circumstances.
We may be in an uncomfortable place – we have lost our job or had a fight with a good friend. Even when we are sick with little chance of recovery or going through a financial crisis, God is in control of our lives.
I don’t believe that God is the one who causes those bad things to happen to us. We’ve lived in a sinful world since the fall of Adam and Eve and Satan is just loving the havoc he can create in our lives. But I don’t think God sees what is happening with surprise or confusion about how
something like that could happen. He didn’t mess up, and He knows how what happened will work for the good of His ultimate plans. We can’t see it, but we can believe in Him.
Additionally, God talks to us through the opportunities that come our way. It’s unnecessary for us to stew and agonize over a potential opportunity.
Remember the saying from the Sound of Music: “When a door closes, somewhere God opens a window.” We should be on the lookout for those open windows and be willing to climb through them.
Follow Your Conscience. God has put into each one of us a “thermometer” that tells us whether a situation is right or wrong. Often overlooked, it is that feeling in your gut that tells you to do something or not to.
When a contemplated action is wrong, you will feel uncomfortable, guilty, or confused. When it is right, you feel excited, motivated, and at peace, all at the same time.
Be careful, though to always read your conscience in conjunction with the other tools God
provides us for discerning His will. Satan can work in you to train your conscience for evil rather than good. Never stop praying and studying God’s word together with following your conscience to know best what God wants you to do.
Above all, seek God’s will with an open mind and a willingness to do anything for God, not just what we want or like to do. The goal isn’t to get God to do what we want but to get us to do what God wants.
Remember, God loves you more than anything, and so if what you want is in line with what he wants, he won’t deny you. You fathers—if your children ask for a fish, do you give them a snake instead? Or if they ask for an egg, do you give them a scorpion?
