12 FOUNDATION STONES—CLASS 12B WHAT IS HIS WILL? GOING GOD'S WAY, PART 2.2 ---------------------------------------------- Section 2: Seven Ways to Know the Will of God ---------------------------------------------- How can you find God's will specifically for you? Here are seven ways. ----------------------------------- > 1. The Word ----------------------------------- 2 Timothy 2:15—Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 2 Timothy 3:16—All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. The first place we look for the will of God is in the Word of God. This is the known, sure, absolute, revealed will of God. You don't have to have any doubts about it. This is it! If God never tells you another thing than what He has already written, if you just operate according to the Bible, you'll get along great! ----------------------------------- > 2. The voice of the Word ----------------------------------- Psalm 119:130—The entrance of Your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple. The second way to know God's will is by the voice of His Word. God speaks not only in His Word, but He speaks through the voice of His Word. The psalmist said, Psalm 103:20—Bless the Lord, you His angels, who excel in strength, who do His word, heeding the voice of His Word. Have you ever had the Lord speak directly to you with the voice of His Word? You're reading a passage of Scripture when all of a sudden a verse or phrase or even a single word comes alive and hits you between the eyes? "That's for me! That's the answer!" Or perhaps you've been praying about a certain situation when the Lord reminded you of a verse or passage that was exactly the answer you needed. It was so loud and clear that God couldn't have spoken any more emphatically if He'd yelled it out! That is the voice of His Word, speaking through His tried and proven written Word. It may have been originally given for somebody thousands of years ago, and yet, all of a sudden, it speaks to you personally. So the first way to know God's will is through His Word, the Bible. Then there is the voice of the Word—a specific verse, phrase, or passage from the Bible, which speaks to you personally. ----------------------------------- > 3. Revelations ----------------------------------- What do you think would be the next surest indication of the will of God?—A direct revelation: a prophecy, dream or vision. The Lord sometimes reveals His will through prophecy and revelations. Ezekiel 3:10—Moreover He said to me: "Son of man, receive into your heart all My words that I speak to you, and hear with your ears." 1 Corinthians 14:31—For you can all prophesy one by one, that all may learn and all may be encouraged. God sometimes reveals His will through dreams: Job 33:15, 26—In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls upon men, while slumbering on their beds ... (26) he shall pray to God, and He will delight in him, he shall see His face with joy, for He restores to man his righteousness. Acts 2:17—And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams. Caution regarding determining God's will only by dreams: Ecclesiastes 5:3—For a dream comes through much activity, and a fool's voice is known by his many words. God sometimes reveals His will through visions. A vision is when God flashes a picture in your mind's eye: Numbers 12:6—Hear now My words: if there is a prophet among you, I, the Lord, make Myself known to him in a vision; I speak to him in a dream. Hosea 12:10—I have also spoken by the prophets, and have multiplied visions; I have given symbols through the witness of the prophets. However you receive your revelation—whether through a prophecy, a dream or a vision—you have to measure your revelation against the Word. Be sure that direct revelation does not contradict the Word of God. In these last days the Lord is using prophecy more than ever to help us not only determine His will and guidance but also to provide feeding instruction. Prophecy is an enormous subject on its own and so we have covered it in detail in an earlier class. In this class we are pointing it out as only one of three ways of receiving direct revelation. This should be taken in relationship to this particular class. Prophecy should not just be relegated to a minor role in your lives but rather given the prominence that the Lord is emphasizing today. > "Watch for the man with the pitcher!" (As told by a missionary family traveling in a camper van:) The Lord told us to go to one town we'd never been to before: Albany, New York. We didn't know anybody, we didn't have any place to stay, but the Lord said to go into this town and watch for a man carrying a pitcher of water, and he was to be the man who would help us. We parked in front of a little Italian Pentecostal church. The children got out to stretch their legs and play on the lawn. We'd been sitting there for about an hour and out comes the gardener. It turned out he was like the janitor. He was carrying a big watering can, watering the flowers. Mother said, "Look! A man with a pitcher!" We were expecting to see someone carrying one of those old Bible pitchers, but after all, how many men carry pitchers? But it just dawned on us, one of those watering cans with the long spout is a pitcher! My son in law went over there and started talking to him. He put us in touch with the preacher who invited us to help with a revival meeting that very night, and through all of this, we were offered places to stay. So that's how we began our visit and how the Lord supplied for us—through "the man with a pitcher"! ----------------------------------- > 4. Advisors and counselors ----------------------------------- Proverbs 11:14—Where there is no counsel, the people fall; but in the multitude of counselors there is safety. Proverbs 15:22—Without counsel, plans go awry, but in the multitude of counselors they are established. When possible it's wise to seek out good advice. This is not calling on others to make the decision for you; this is seeking out information and guidance. Don't hesitate to call on others when you need advice about a major decision you're about to make or a large project that you're about to embark on. Often the Lord uses the things we each experience not only to teach us, but also so that our experiences can be a blessing to others. Sometimes it's difficult for us to admit that we don't know everything and that others have wisdom or insight that we don't. But even this helps us walk humbly before the Lord and others, realizing that we don't know everything and need help. Who should you seek counsel from? If I wanted to learn how to play the piano, I wouldn't go to business college; I'd go to a pianist who knows how to play well. If I wanted to learn how to cook, I wouldn't go to see a computer technician, but to somebody who knows how to cook, whose meals I've enjoyed. If you need some spiritual advice about finding God's will, go to someone who loves the Lord, and whose life shows the good fruit of living close to Him. Godly counselors are people whom you can trust because they have good spiritual fruit. "By their fruits" See Matthew 7:15–20. ----------------------------------- > 5. Circumstances and Conditions ----------------------------------- 2 Corinthians 2:12—[Paul wrote:] Furthermore, when I came to Troas to preach Christ's gospel, and a door was opened to me by the Lord. 1 Corinthians 16:9—For a great and effective door has opened to me, and there are many adversaries. Revelation 3:7–8—And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write, ‘These things says He who is holy, He who is true, He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens: (8) I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name.' Matthew 7:7—Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. Circumstances and conditions are generally a poor means in themselves of finding the will of God, but in combination with the other steps they can be a good indication. If things just seem to be working out a particular way or moving in a certain direction, without your trying to make them go that way, or even when you've tried to push in the opposite direction, this could be a sign or a confirmation of the way that the Lord is leading you. If something is God's will for you, He'll make a way for you to do it. He'll set up the conditions, and help things to flow. He'll open doors for you to walk through and show you plainly, through physical circumstances, that you're doing the right thing and making the right decision. Other times, if something you're planning on doing isn't the Lord's will, He'll make it clear to you through closing the door and making it so that you can't go through with it. He might change the circumstances that had at first seemed to be "just right" for what you had in mind, to make you reconsider. Imagine a long hallway lined with doors. Which room are you going to enter? You walk down the hallway knocking at doors, trying the handle. You can only go through the door that opens. This is the principle of finding God's will by "open and closed doors." Sometimes it takes awhile to find God's will and it takes searching through different possibilities. On the other hand, sometimes obvious circumstances indicate God's leading. For instance, if you are considering whether it is God's will for you to visit a relative in another city, but there is a fuel strike and you can't get fuel in your car and the buses aren't running, then it is most likely a "closed door." However, you can't base your decisions solely on whether or not the circumstances and conditions around you jibe with what you believe to be God's will. You've got to use the other ways of finding God's will in conjunction with this. ----------------------------------- > 6. Personal desires ----------------------------------- Psalm 37:4—Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Proverbs 16:1—The preparations of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord. At times when you feel a strong desire or longing to do something, go somewhere, or see someone, it may be that God put that feeling in your heart. When you are pleasing the Lord, He often puts the desire within your heart to do the thing that will make both you and Him happy. He is willing to fulfill your particular wishes as a part of His plan for you. When our desires, wants and wishes are good for us, then He usually gives them to us. Or when our dreams, goals, ambitions, and aspirations will bring us and others happiness, He usually lets us fulfill them. However, if our personal desires aren't a part of the Lord's plan for us, and He knows that something won't be good for us, then it's wise to listen to Him and follow Him, because He knows best. He can see the past, the present, and the future. He's the only One who's all-knowing, all powerful, all seeing, and ever present to help us in our times of need, and in our times of decision making. If you have a special dream or desire that you want to fulfill in your life, if you're following God, your wishes may very well be within His will. Why not ask Him?—He'll show you what to do! He'll show you what's best! ----------------------------------- > 7. "Fleeces" ----------------------------------- Sometimes to find God's will you can ask for a specific sign or indication. This we call a fleece, a term taken from the story of Gideon in the Old Testament. Gideon was one of the more notable leaders of the children of Israel in the period following their conquest of Canaan. When God called him to fulfill a certain mission, he argued with the angel God sent, because he didn't think he was the right man for the job. He eventually consented, but in order to be sure that it was God that was speaking to him, he asked God for a sign. Judges 6:36–40—So Gideon said to God, "If You will save Israel by my hand as You have said—(37) look, I shall put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor; if there is dew on the fleece only, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that You will save Israel by my hand, as You have said." (38) And it was so. When he rose early the next morning and squeezed the fleece together, he wrung the dew out of the fleece, a bowlful of water. (39) Then Gideon said to God, "Do not be angry with me, but let me speak just once more: Let me test, I pray, just once more with the fleece; let it now be dry only on the fleece, but on all the ground let there be dew." (40) And God did so that night. It was dry on the fleece only, but there was dew on all the ground. The Lord doesn't always give signs like He did for Gideon, but sometimes He uses them to give us a needed boost. You can't always expect such a confirmation, nor can you rely on "fleeces" alone, as they aren't always a sure an indicator of God's will. However, if you have tried all of the other ways to find God's will and believe He is leading you in a certain direction, "fleeces" can be helpful as a confirmation. If you ask God for a sign, you need to ask in faith, being willing to act upon whatever the outcome is. Asking God for a sign or "putting out a fleece" is equivalent to making a contract, an agreement between you and the Lord, and you need to fulfill your part of the bargain. ----------------------------------- Summary of seven ways to find the will of God ----------------------------------- 1. The Word 2. The Voice of the Word 3. Revelations (prophecies, dreams, visions) 4. Advisors and counselors 5. Circumstances and conditions 6. Personal desires 7. "Fleeces" ----------------------------------- > How God shows His will ----------------------------------- God does not necessarily follow any particular order when revealing His will through these means. He may speak to you through a prophecy first, then you may confirm that prophecy by the Word. Or He may speak to you through the voice of His Word, and then you search other Scriptures and see what the Lord generally has to say about the subject. We can't put God in a box and say He's got to speak to us in this or that way, in this or that order. But these are ways we know He works, not only from our own experience, but also from what He has said in His written Word. > Sometimes we want to know what God's will isn't! The same principles apply! > You don't find God's will by just sitting around doing nothing. If, after trying all these ways, you still can't find the will of God, go ahead and do something. You will soon find out whether it is His will or not. Pray for God to lead you, and start. A boat has to be in motion before the rudder can take effect. > You should also bear in mind that sometimes God's will and plans are conditional. For instance, perhaps you have prayed and feel that it is God's plan for you to start a Bible study group and include a certain friend. You offer him a New Testament to help him in his search for truth. But if your friend refuses the book and doesn't want to read it, the Lord may show you an alternative route for starting the Bible study. In this case the overall plan the Lord gave you is still applicable, but because of your friend's choice, the details change. Matthew 10:13—If the household is worthy, let your peace come upon it. But if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. > God often gives His children alternative choices. The Lord lets us choose within the boundary of His overall will. 1 Kings 3:5—At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, "Ask! What shall I give you?" There is more counsel in the Making Great Decisions book. You can also fin several relevant Bible studies in Discovering Truth—Bible Basics: "How to Find the Will of God" (pages 85–95) and "Giving" (pages 80–84). > Let's do it! May God help us all to not only find His will, but to do it! John 13:17—If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. (end)