Understanding how to discern God’s will.
by Kelsey Gjesdal
I sat at my desk, biting my lip and staring at my phone. I’d told the interviewer I would give her an answer to the job offer that day. While I knew what the Lord wanted me to say, I felt crazy for needing to say it. The job checked all the boxes on paper: It was in the field I wanted to work in, with the pay range I hoped for, and held the possibility for career growth.
And yet, I felt uneasy about it. This job would require teaching some things I knew I couldn’t teach in good conscience. But it was the only employer I’d applied to that offered me a position. My heart raced as I picked up my phone and typed out my answer.
Decisions, decisions
Ultimately, I turned the job down. I would question this decision many times as I continued applying for other jobs and being rejected by other employers. But every time I started to doubt my decision, I would remember that God’s ways are not my ways; His ways are higher than mine (Isaiah 55:8). So even when I don’t know what He’s doing, I know I can trust Him.
“What is God’s will for my life?” is a frequently asked question as we navigate transitions into new seasons and new responsibilities and plans. Where does God want me to go to college? Who does God want me to marry? What job should I pursue? What does God want me to do next? We often find ourselves agonizing over big life decisions, afraid to step outside the Lord’s will but also afraid to not step into His will when opportunities present themselves.
When we dive into the topic of God’s will, it’s important to distinguish between God’s revealed will and His hidden will.
The revealed will of God is defined in His Word. These include things like rejoicing, praying, and giving thanks in all circumstances (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18); being sanctified, or made more and more Christlike by the power of the Holy Spirit (4:3); and doing justice, loving kindness, and walking humbly with Him (Micah 6:8). God’s revealed will is made clear through Scripture, which guides the paths of our lives (Psalm 119:105).
The hidden will of God is what we’re often thinking about when we seek direction for our lives. Most people are not satisfied with the Bible’s answers when they ask about the will of God. It’s easy to think, Of course, I want to grow in the Lord and live like Christ. But I want to know which job I’m supposed to take! (Or insert any number of big and small life decisions we face.) Maybe the Lord has placed us in circumstances that feel difficult or different from what we dreamed for life, and we want to know what in the world God is doing.
I wrestled with these feelings as I applied for job after job and faced rejection after rejection. At the same time, I was submitting a book manuscript to multiple publishers, and all I heard was silence. I wanted an answer from God for what I was supposed to do. I wanted a five-year plan handed down from heaven. Instead, I came across this verse:
The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law (Deuteronomy 29:29).
The Lord is omniscient; He knows the end from the beginning. I am not God. I don’t need to know the end from the beginning. The Lord has revealed enough for me to be satisfied in Him and to rest in His sovereign hand. As Elisabeth Elliot often said, “I am called to simply ‘Do the next thing.’”
Does this mean we should not plan for the future? Of course not. The book of Proverbs is filled with instructions in wisdom, and one of the traits of the wise is being prepared for the future (6:6-11; 31:21). But Proverbs 19:21 also admonishes, “Many plans are in a man’s heart, but the counsel of the Lord will stand.” We can make plans for the future, but they must be surrendered to the sovereign hand of God.
Making our plans
So how should we make plans if we aren’t sure what the will of God is? A few principles can guide us.
First, we must make sure we are living in the revealed will of God. Live for God and be conformed to His ways, as revealed in Scripture, so that we may learn His will (Romans 12:1, 2). When we are saturated with Scripture and are intentional to live according to His Word, we will be prepared to handle our decisions with the wisdom that comes from knowing the source of wisdom Himself: Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh.
Second, we should pray about everything — trade anxiety about the future for prayer and thanksgiving, and trust the God of peace to be with us (Philippians 4:6, 7).
Third, we should put the first two steps together and prayerfully weigh our specific life decisions in light of Scripture. Sometimes it is easy to see what decisions we ought to make because our choices are between something that honors the Lord and something that is contrary to the Word. But when we are facing two options that are both good things, what do we do? We use the wisdom that the Lord has given us to weigh pros and cons, listen to the advice of trusted, godly mentors in our lives, and we make our decisions trusting that the Lord’s plans ultimately will prevail.
Sometimes the Holy Spirit will make it clear to us that something is not for us, even if it seems good on paper, like the job offer I turned down. Sometimes people will think we’re crazy for the choices we make when we’re following the Spirit’s lead, but we should expect that. After all, “Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?” (1 Corinthians 1:20).
Tough choices
Choosing the cross of Christ sometimes means saying no to things that seem good. Then we can say yes to where God leads us, even when all we know is that He is saying to simply “Do the next thing.” Maybe God tells us this so we won’t boast in ourselves but only in God. As Paul writes, “By His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written, ‘Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord’” (vv. 30, 31).
