A friend commented the other day about being in God’s will. It got me thinking about if we could be certain if we are in His will.
While can never be 100% certain, the scripture seems to indicate that we can have a comfortable level of confidence about it. Much of this is based on the fact that God is love and He doesn’t want us to be in distress about it.
The first thing He wants to assure us about is our standing as His child. Romans 10:9 speaks of how to be inducted into His family, “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved”. This is simple and expansive. We just ask Him. However asking for His help means that we are buying into His lordship. It means, “not my will, but thine be done.” And then begins a wonderful life walking with God. If we were sincere, we can trust Him that we are His.
Now that we are His child, He wants to bless us with sensing His company. Romans 8:15,16 says, “you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God”. He wants us to feel His presence. His presence is a warm, comforting glow that abides with us forever.
What’s next with His will? Our daily walk with Him. Colossians 2:6 says, “Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him”. He wants to be a part of our daily lives. He prompts us to do some things and avoid others. Unless it’s based on scripture, we aren’t completely sure what’s from Him. Knowing that He loves us keeps out the oppressive thoughts.
Ignoring His guidance cuts Him out of our lives. I Thessalonians 5:19 says it this way, “Do not quench the Spirit.” When we do this, the sense of His presence fades. If we continue this behavior, we don’t feel Him at all. The bible also calls this hardening our hearts.
Ignoring Him is painful. David describes it in Psalm 38:4, “For my iniquities are gone over my head; As a heavy burden they weigh too much for me.” God designed it this way so we will hurry back to Him. Asking Him for forgiveness clears it up. Before long, we feel the comfort of His presence again. Even if we don’t, we know He’s forgiven us and He’s with us.
A key ingredient to properly receive His guidance is being in the Bible. It not only guides us with His principles, but it’s like having a walkie talkie receiver within. It’s called His Word. Having it in us allows Him to use it to speak to us. We can read it personally, hear it through Sunday sermons or radio podcasts. Without it, we can go astray. Culture tries to feed us all sorts of direction. The bible filters out the junk. Even our gut can be wrong. His Word is higher.
There’s more. But that’s a good start to determine whether we are in His will.