Finding God's Will

Wanting God's Will

When I was a sophomore in high school, some of my friends and I got serious about serving the Lord.  I wanted to find His plan for me.  Famous preachers would be at youth conferences speaking on "How to Find God's Will For Your Life." Perfect. I would sit with Bible open, pen and note-pad at the ready.  This was it.

Stories were told, anecdotes shared, and some Bible preached. At the end of each service, though, I left with big questions still in my mind. 

Did he tell us how to find God's will? Did I miss it? 

How can I know what God wants me to do with my life?

God, are You hiding Your will from me?

Seeking God's Will

As a sophomore in Bible college, I still didn't know what God had for my life.  When would I get that big "Ah-ha!" moment? One day during my personal time with the Lord, I prayed in frustration something like this:

God, I want to do your will.  I just don't know what it is. 

You have showed me in Your word the big, important stuff.

You made the world. 

You died on the cross, were buried, and rose again. 

Since You have spoken to me about all of those really big things,

could You, would You show me the small things, too?

Could you show me in Your word Your plan for me?

Finding God's Will

After praying that prayer, I stopped being frustrated about not knowing exactly what God had planned for me.  Instead, I started looking for and finding that plan in His word. After all, the Bible is how God speaks to us.  The questioning stopped.  He had written it down for me long ago.  I just needed to read God's will for my life.

A lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path

Mistaking God's Will

On my journey to finding God's Will, I made some mistakes.

1. The Feeling

I heard it and said it. "I feel God wants me to __________."

Not to completely negate feelings, but should we be making our life decisions based on them? I know now that God wants me in missions.  He spoke to me through His word.  Some days I "feel" God's call to missions.  Somedays, not so much.  Just as we anchor our eternal security on God's word, we can do the same with our temporal life. Decisions based on feelings are likely to change, but decisions based on God's word are secure.

2. The Door

Another expression I heard often and stated is, "God opened the door for me to__________."

Sometimes God does do that, but sometimes what seems like an open door is just the easy way out. Sometimes the door we are supposed to go through is actually closed. What then? Ask. Seek. Knock. (Matthew 7 and Luke 11). Ask God if this is the door for you regardless if it is open or closed. Seek for the answer to that question in God's word. Knock in prayer about how and when your are supposed to go through that door. Beware of walking through every open door. 

Knock, and it shall be opened unto you.

3. The Advice 

Sometimes I heard, "My pastor/teacher told me that he believes God wants me to __________."

There is a place in a Christian's life, of course, for godly council and wisdom. For example, let the older women teach the younger (Titus 2). That advice, though, should never replace God's word. It should, instead, help a Christian be a wiser steward and a better doer of the word. Advice should complement what God has already shown us Himself.


If you are looking for God's plan for you, remember that He wants you to know it.  He is not hiding it.  His word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path (Psalm 119:105). Ask, seek, and knock in both prayer and in the Bible. Take feelings, open doors, and advice into account, but don't base your life on them.

Where can I find God's plan for me today? tomorrow? next week? the rest of my life? 

In the Bible.

Patrick and Vicki Weimer, Iceland since 1999