Can I Know The Will Of God?

By: Howard Vanderwell

Scripture Reading: Ephesians 5:15-21

February 14th, 2010

Look at what Paul says in Ephesians 5 v.15—21…it’s a paragraph in which virtually every statement and clause warrants close consideration. Here are some of the things he says:
  • Be very careful how you live and make sure it is done wisely.
  • Make the most of every opportunity you have for the days are evil.
  • Don’t get drunk with wine, but be filled with the Holy Spirit of God.
  • When you come together, give encouragement to each other through your singing.
  • Always give thanks for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
And did you notice that right in the middle of all those big principles, he puts this huge statement. "Do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is." What a big sentence! It captures what you and I need to know! As you think about that sentence, let me point out to you that there are some big things embedded in it. Paul has a habit of writing that way—of packing a sentence with big and profound thoughts. And we understand him best when we take time to recognize all that is in it. If you look carefully at this sentence, for instance, I think you’ll discover there are at least four assumptions behind it. And I think we’ll do better in our conversation today about the will of God if we take time to identify those four things first. First, God is a personal God. Paul is talking here about a God who is just as much a personal being as you and I are. He’s not some impersonal force out there in the galaxies. He’s not some cold and impersonal being we can’t relate to. He’s not some celestial sovereign computer who spits out programs. No, he is a person. He thinks, he feels, he acts, he rejoices, he is sad, and he thrives on entering relationships with us. Second, this personal God has a will. Yes, he does. "The Lord’s will" is Paul’s phrase. He has desires; he has plans; he participates in charting out the course of the cosmos, of world history, and of our lives. He’s not a God who would say "whatever!". He has a will, a plan. Thirdly, he makes his will known, at least in large part. He does share it with us. Notice how Paul talks about "understanding" the Lord’s will. He would not say that if it were not true that God has a will, he makes it known to us, and we are able to get it into our minds. And then there is a fourth consideration here. It’s the whole idea of foolishness. The opposite of understanding the Lord’s will is foolishness, Paul says. He puts it this way, "Do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is." It’s one of two ways: either searching for God’s will, or being foolish. That goes two ways — it is foolish not to be interested in understanding the Lord’s will; and, at the same time, if we don’t understand the Lord’s will we are likely to do some very foolish things. But now as we continue this conversation together about searching for God’s will, let’s be aware that there are a number of levels or dimensions of God’s will that we should distinguish. It’s like that with us too. In your life, you likely have plans for a number of areas — what you want your work or career to involve; you have some financial plans; you have plans for the kind marriage or family you want yours to be; there is a value or moral system that you will live by; and you have an idea of how you will maintain meaningful relationships with others. They are not all on the same level. It’s that way with God too. We could make some mistakes in trying to follow God if we don’t remember these different levels or areas in which he leads us. First, there is God’s cosmic or sovereign will. He created this world according to his plan and he has a plan for ruling the entire cosmos and all of history. Paul in his speech in Athens had described God as the one "who made the world and everything in it" and "is the Lord of heaven and earth". (Acts 17:24) Then there is another level that we call his salvation will. He is a God who wants to save people. Yes, he wants you to believe in Jesus Christ so that you can be saved from your sinfulness. Paul wrote to fellow—pastor Timothy one day (I Timothy 2:3) that God "wants all men to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth." The third level is what we ought to call the moral and ethical will of God. He has established unchanging moral and ethical standards according to which people should live for the sake of a just and stable society. You find these moral and ethical principles in the law of God in the Old Testament, and throughout the whole Bible. For instance, you find a lot of them expressed right here in this letter to the Ephesians. And then, finally, there is the personal and individual will of God. That involves the details and plans of our lives — where we are born, where we go to school, what career we enter, who we marry, and all kinds of those thousands of things that confront us every day. Yet, somehow, we have the freedom to make decisions on all these matters, all the while believing that God has a plan for us too. So try to keep those four in mind — his sovereign will, his salvation will, his moral and ethical will, and his personal or individual will. Now, while you think about that, I feel that I should tell you a little more about the person of God, because I suppose it could sound, so far, that God is one master planner who spits out a massive computerized plan for everybody , a plan that could sound as cold as the paper it’s printed on. And that’s surely not the case at all. One day, early in my ministry, I went to visit a fellow who had long since discontinued going to church and would have nothing to do with God. I wondered how that could happen, and what he was thinking. So I went to talk with him about it. What I heard from him seemed to be a lot more cut and dried than I was prepared for. We were standing in his yard for our conversation. When I asked him the big question about what he thought about God, he seemed very ready for me. "Well, pastor," he snapped back at me, "As I see it, it’s this way. See that fence? Let’s just suppose there are so many bottles lined up along the top of that fence. And then God comes along… and he takes the bottles he wants…, and he knocks off the bottles he doesn’t want! As simple as that! If he wants me, I’m taken. If he doesn’t want me, I’m off the fence!" And he seemed to clinch it in his own mind with a little gesture of his fingers that said "flick" (another bottle gone)! I drove away that day, saddened, thinking about how the cold mechanical almost computer—like God he was thinking of, is so unlike the God of the Bible! And then I remembered a story that an evangelist named Paul Little had written in one of his books a number of years ago. Little wanted to describe God’s relationship with us as that of a parent with his or her children. It’s a relationship of love. If my daughter comes up to me tonight, Little said, and says "Daddy, I love you!" I never in a million years will ever say, "OK, now that you’ve said you love me, I’m going to lock you in a closet, take your food away, and make you as miserable as I possibly can." Of course not. When she tells me of her love, my love for her just spills over and I surely want the best for her. Well, God is that way too. You see, the God of the Bible that we’re talking about here is a loving and relational God. This is a God with a warm heart, a soul filled with grace, who comes to be personally related to us, never to treat us as bottles he might want to flick off a wall. This God is a personal God who loves and cares and thinks and feels and sorrows and rejoices. And so the will of this God is a will that is loving and seeks to set out the best for us. It’s the will of a God who went all the way to give his only begotten son to pay for our sins and provide our salvation. So his will is going to be a loving will, a good plan, one that wants the best for us, one that will give us a rich and satisfying life. And because he is a loving God in relationship with us, you can expect that he reveals his will to those who are loving him, who are seeking him and seeking what he wants. But I think there are two other things we must remember. First, He does unfold his will to us gradually, not all at once. You know, I’ve got the bad habit of wanting to page ahead in a book before I begin to read it. I’ll read the opening, the table of contents, and then I’ll go to the end of it. I want to know where it goes, how it ends up, where it comes out, even before I begin. Well, that doesn’t work with God’s will. We can’t normally page ahead to the end. It’s more like one of those scrolls that they used for their writings in the ancient world. All you can see is what is right in front of you, no paging ahead to check the outcome. We follow his will according to what is in front of us today, and we trust that he will unroll it at the appropriate time for us to see the rest. And I think I must warn you about another thing. It is possible to step outside the will of God. It is possible for us to go outside of his plan. We have a will that we must use and it’s possible for us to use it wrong, to make wrong choices, to go the wrong way. That’s what disobedience is; that’s what sin is. And when that happens we lose our sense of joy and satisfaction in life. And then we need to catch ourselves, repent of it, and return to get back on course. So remember that all of this is about being in relationship with a very personal God who has a loving will for our lives. But maybe you want to say to me, "that all sounds OK", but my big question still remains. HOW can I know that will, that plan God must have in mind for me? And I agree with you…that’s the bottom line question. So let me make a few suggestions that I think will help you. First, make sure that you are a child of God, that you love God above all. Last week we spoke about how to be sure of your salvation in him. If our search for the will of God is to be seen as a genuine one, then it must come from a life that believes on Jesus Christ as the Savior and Lord, a life that wants to be lived for him. Remember that I told you earlier that God’s will is that you believe in Jesus Christ as your Savior and commit your life to him. Perhaps, for you, that has to come first before you can really expect to know the rest of his will. And then, secondly, I’d encourage you to search the Word of God. Yes, read the Bible carefully, faithfully, and read it with a prayer that God will show you what he wants. The Bible is filled with dynamic stories about people who found his will, it’s filled with moral and ethical statements, and with principles that guide and direct us. You will find most of the will of God for daily living written right here in this Word of God that we call the Bible. But be sure that you combine your Bible reading with what we often call "seeking prayer". Before you read, bow your head and ask God to open your mind to discover what he has to say to you here in what you are reading. You see, an open Bible must be met with an open mind to hear his voice. And I think I should remind you that it’s pretty easy to impose our wants and hopes on God’s will. When we should be aiming to shape our wants and hopes according to what God wants, instead we are busy trying to reshape what God wants to fit what we want. So we must be careful to approach the Bible with what we often call a yielded spirit. Let me tell you what I mean by that. Sometimes we may discover that God’s will goes in a direction that we aren’t interested in. Then what shall we do? It is possible, you know, to be looking for his will, when all the time in our heart we’re really saying "let me know it so I can see if I like it or not". And he just may not reveal much of his will to us then because he knows we’ll reject it if it isn’t just what we like. But if he knows we are willing to follow what he shows us, no matter what, he’s far more likely to make it clear to us. So a yielded spirit is vitally important. But I would also encourage you to consult with other mature and committed Christians whom you trust, especially in those big decisions in life where you really wrestle with it. Spend some time explaining your struggle and seek advice from other Christians you trust. But be sure you are consulting with the right people. Too many have gotten into big trouble because they have sought advice from the wrong people. Be sure those people are also engaged in wanting to know God’s will, not merely in giving you their own personal opinions. Sometimes other mature and committed Christians can be the ones through whom God speaks to you. But after all is said and done, I have to be honest with you and admit that there are times when you will have to be content to live with mystery. I mean there will be times in your life, like there are times in my life, when we just simply don’t understand what God has in mind, and we cannot by any stretch of the imagination figure out why he has planned things the way he has. Yes, there are mysteries. I’ve got them! And there will always be some mysteries like that. We’ll be talking about some of that in the next two weeks on this broadcast. We must be ready to admit that there are some parts of the will of God that are beyond us, we can’t get them into our little minds. And then we have to exercise "deep trust". Lewis Smedes, a well known author, once wrote in one of his books that the deepest kind of trust there is happens when we trust God "against the grain", even when everything within us wants to cry, "No, it shouldn’t be that way! So let me encourage you and applaud you for being willing to engage in this big search for the will of God. It’s a life—long endeavor for someone who wants to live a vital Christian life. It’s a lot easier to be foolish and go our own way, thinking we know best. But it usually ends up in failure and disappointment. Let me take you inside my life and tell you about my own personal view on this matter. I am just a sinful human being, who has been saved by the grace of God through the work of Jesus Christ. I have a whole new life because of Jesus’ work for me. I’m thrilled to have that new life. It makes living so rich and so full. Now, why then, if I’m so thrilled at his work for me, why in the world would I ever think that I ought to just run things in my life the way I happen to prefer? Could I possibly still insist on running things my way, and in my own direction? Of course not! If I’m so thrilled at the privilege of being a child of God, then the deepest desire of my life should be doing what I can to find and understand the will of God on a daily basis. After all, he’s my Lord! And, my friend, I hope the same is true for you!
Prayer

Heavenly Father, we really do want our lives to count for you. We want to live them the way you want. We want your plans to be carried out. And we want our lives to carry out those plans. But sometimes, Father, we are not sure. We wrestle with these big questions. We search and are not always so sure we’ve found what you want. And so today we pray for a spirit that deeply loves what you love, that wants what you want, for plans that fit into your plans. Please, O Spirit of God, give us a mind and heart that will be able to discern your leading, a mind that will understand what you’ve said in your word, and will love you above all. And if, Father, some of us have not given our hearts to you, we ask that you lead us today to come seeking your grace, and your forgiveness, and a whole new beginning. Live in us and lead us to living that makes a difference. For Jesus’ sake, Amen.

About the Author

Howard Vanderwell

Howard Vanderwell was ordained in the Christian Reformed Church in 1962. He received his M.Div. and Th.M. degree from Calvin Theological Seminary and his D.Min. at Westminster Theological Seminary in California. He has served as pastor to four congregations over 40 years in Iowa, Illinois and Michigan. After leaving the pastorate in 2002 he began a new ministry at Calvin College and Calvin Theological Seminary. He is currently a staff member at the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, MI and Adjunct Professor of Worship at Calvin Theological Seminary. He consults with local congregations, provides worship materials, leads conferences and workshops, and teaches courses on worship at Calvin Seminary. Howard’‘s interests include planning, leading and evaluating worship, preaching, and worship renewal throughout the evangelical church. “My life-long prayer, from my days as a child, was that I might be honored to serve as a Christian Reformed pastor preaching the Word of God to encourage and challenge his people. I consider the forty years of my pastoral ministry to have been the most valuable way in which I could have invested those years! When I consult with pastors, teach and mentor students, hold conferences for worship leaders, or write worship planning materials, my aim is to equip and inspire others to serve their Lord and Savior by making a whole-hearted investment in his church and his people. Such ministry is certainly not without its stresses and discouragements, and those of us who have found such joy in a life-time of ministry are uniquely fitted to encourage others.” Howard lives in Hudsonville, MI with his wife Eleanor. They have three married sons and ten grandchildren ages 5 through 19. His hobbies are yard-gardening, walking, photography and model railroading.

More >>