On God’s Will
Our friend Kevin Bauder published a series on Knowing God’s Will recently. Given my theological predilections, I strongly desired to argue with him, but… Well, his series is simply outstanding. You need to read it. He starts with:
Does God have an individual will for each believer? To suggest otherwise is effectively to deny either the infinity of God’s wisdom and knowledge, thereby verging upon Open Theism, or else to question God’s love for and personal interest in His children. God certainly knows what will be best for each of His people. He certainly wishes the best for each one. For God to wish the best for each believer while simultaneously knowing just what is best is exactly to have an individual will for each believer.
Kevin mentions several false methods of discerning God’s will in this post. Here is the first one to give you a taste of what he is saying:
Nevertheless, Christians must beware of seeking God’s will in the wrong ways and places. Three of these are particularly common. One is seeking God’s will through signs and “fleeces” (a reference to Gideon’s setting out a fleece to gain assurance from God). In this method, a seeker challenges God to reveal His will through some uncommon event or through some apparently-chance occurrence such as the flip of a coin or the casting of a lot. God did speak in some of these ways in the past, but He has given no indication that He intends to do so now. To look for signs, to set out fleeces, or to cast lots now is to engage in superstition.
In part two, Kevin points out that in order to know God’s will one needs to already do that part of God’s will he already knows.
The second element in discerning God’s will is closely related. It is simply that believers who want to know God’s will must be committed to doing God’s will. Submission precedes knowledge.
This principle should surprise no one. It follows the pattern established in the book of Proverbs. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge (1:7). God refuses to answer those who call upon Him without first seeking Him; the fact that they do not fear the Lord shows that they really hate knowledge (1:28-29). The one who understands the fear of the Lord is the one who finds knowledge (2:5). This fear of the Lord involves hating pride, arrogance, and the evil way (8:13). It is the beginning of wisdom (9:10), and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. The fear of the Lord gives His people strong confidence and is a fountain of life (14:26-27). This fear precedes instruction in wisdom, just as humility precedes true honor (15:33). It leads people to depart from evil (16:6). It tends toward life, results in settled satisfaction, and spares one from calamity (19:23).
Knowing God’s Will: Part Three
In this piece, Kevin creates a scenario where a couple has to make a decision about a promotion involving a move, a fairly common scenario in modern life. He shows how Christian duties strongly inform our decision making in the will of God in cases like this.
One question they might ask is this: “What are my duties?” Every duty is an obligation, a responsibility that people owe to themselves or others. All people have duties. They owe responsibilities to God, nation, family, church, and calling. Some duties are intrinsic and inescapable. Others are freely assumed but binding once accepted. For example, vows are not normally obligatory, but once sworn become compulsory (Num. 30).
Some circumstances involve obligations that eliminate choice. Then it is simply a matter of glorifying God wherever that may take you.
Sometimes circumstances simply do away with all choices. When that happens, believers can be sure that God is providentially directing their lives, even if the circumstances are terrible. Now they are no longer seeking God’s direction, but seeking ways to glorify Him under the circumstances into which He has directed them. They must do the best they can with a bad situation for as long as they have to, but when they are once again free to choose for themselves they should make the choice that enables them to fulfill the greatest number of duties in the best way possible.
Here, the final piece in the series, the criteria for decision making are less clear. The wisest, best choice is difficult to discern, either through the Word, appeals to duties, or simple obligations. Here wisdom is needed. How do we get wisdom?
Throughout this discussion I have assumed that God has an individual will for each Christian and that His will can be discerned. To this point, I have described criteria for determining God’s will that are straightforward and objective. God’s leading never contradicts Scripture rightly understood. The person who wishes to know God’s will must be willing to do God’s will, and this willingness is characterized by actual obedience to as much of God’s will as is already known. God’s will is always for Christians to fulfill their duties.
The remaining criteria are less straightforward and more subjective, though they may be as important as the objective criteria. Employing these criteria requires wisdom and a sense of balance. Consequently, those who wish to seek God’s leading need to fulfill at least one prerequisite.
That prerequisite is prayer. To receive wisdom from God we have to ask for it, but if we ask, we receive it generously (Jas. 1:5). Since wisdom is necessary to discern God’s will, the process of seeking God’s direction must be bathed in prayer.
Obviously, those matters that are already objectively clear require no prayer at all, just obedience. Everyday choices likewise do not require prayer. However, some choices will significantly impact our life, our family, our church or other important relationships. Then we need wisdom. Then we need to pray.
Nevertheless, prayer is not a magic formula to secure a personal revelation. We should not expect the answer to be written in the sky or to become audible to the ears of the soul. We should expect no signs and we should trust no sudden overwhelming convictions. Such things are too easily counterfeited. The prayer for guidance will be answered through the exercise of wisdom, judgment, and discretion.
In this, the latest edition to this point, Kevin points us to the need to gather information before making decisions about God’s will in our life. He says:
The Bible is full of both examples and principles that merge God’s will with adequate informed judgment. God’s will was for Joshua to conquer the land, but Joshua still sent investigators to gather information from Jericho (Josh. 2). Those who hope to pass wise judgments are obligated to gain information from multiple witnesses (Deut. 19:15; 2 Cor. 13:1). Acting without knowledge is not good (Prov. 19:2). A person who makes a pronouncement without listening to the facts is a fool (Prov. 18:13).
Ignorance is not a virtue in discovering God’s direction. To be sure, circumstances sometimes force us to make decisions about which we are poorly informed. Furthermore, we often wish that we had more information than we do. We can never become omniscient, and something that we don’t know might be the one thing that would have changed our minds. That is no excuse, however, for not learning all we can.
When Christians don’t inform themselves as fully as possible before deciding on something, they are more than likely to make a mistake. The Lord himself didn’t leap off the pinnacle of the temple. Many young people, in the zeal of their idealism, take steps that a prudent man would not take. (Older people do it, too!) I can testify, I am still paying for mistakes made years ago when I knew everything. Nevertheless, God grants wisdom as you walk with him. May God help us all to be diligent servants, walking in his will in the days to come.
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Dr. Bauder isn’t finished with his series, it appears. I was intrigued by it and thought you might enjoy this summary. Read the posts. Bookmark the page. Follow the rest of them as they come!
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UPDATE: Part Six!
Don Johnson is the pastor of Grace Baptist Church of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada.
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Thanks for sharing this resource. I *highly* recommend a book that one of my former professors – Timothy Berrey – wrote on this subject. You can find it here at Amazon. It is called “Planning Your Life God’s Way.”