How do I find God's will for my life?

A couple of weeks ago at church we looked at the question of making decisions and the will of God. Although there are always going to be exceptions I expect that most Christians believe that part of what it means to be a Christian is that you want to do what God wants - even if we don't always agree on what that is.

So if we want to do what God wants it is necessary to find out what that looks like - not just in a general sense, such as the kind of character we should develop (love, joy, peace, patience...), but also in the sense of what to do with my life, where to live, who to marry etc etc. And I expect that that is where many of us get stuck - because although there are passages in the Bible (such as 2 Samuel 5) where God seems to direct people very specifically and clearly - our experience is often not so specific or clear.

So how does God guide us? I think that there are broadly speaking, four ways in which Christians think about God's guidance.

1) God has a plan for my life (Destination A) and therefore for every decision I take there is a right and a wrong option - if I make a wrong choice at some point this will result in having to move to Plan B - and missing out on the best God has for my life.

2) God has a plan for my life (Destination A) but if I make a mistake God is able to work things out so that I can get back on track and still reach 'A', although it might take a little longer.

3) God has a plan for my life (Destination A) but at a series of points along my life's journey God presents me with a variety of options - all of which are acceptable to God and all of which will still lead to destination A.

4) God has a plan for my life but there are a number of final destinations that are equally acceptable to God, depending on what choices I make at various points in life.

[What (4) is not saying is that we can do whatever we like and make whatever choices we like. It is also allowing that there will be some decisions we face where there is clearly a 'right' choice, in terms of the will of God.]

I'm sure that many of us would like to know exactly what God would have us do - because it takes the responsibility and pressure off us to make a decision. We pray - God tells us.

Romans 12:2, and other verses, makes it clear that doing the right thing comes out of a life that is lived the right way. It follows from having a mind that has been transformed in the way you think about everything - and that transformation comes about through spiritual disciplines such as time in prayer and Bible study - things we find hard to maintain. So there really are no easy answers...

But when we are facing difficult decisions (whether to do X or not) here are a few points to help us determine what God might be saying:

• Have I prayed that God will show me his will?
• Does the Bible allow/forbid me to do X?
• If I do X will God be glorified?
• Will doing X allow me to grow spiritually - or will it hinder my spiritual growth?
• Do I really want to do what God wants?
• Have I spoken to some mature, wise Christians, who I trust?
• Has God given me a peace about doing X?
• Am I trusting God?

Map, Route Finder or Sat-Nav?

I wonder what preachers did in the days before Sat-Nav illustrations? Those of you who follow this blog will know that I have written about Sat-Nav systems on more than one occasion, and yesterday I was on holiday in a church listening to a children's talk using a Sat-Nav as the illustration. Which got me thinking off on a tangent...

Many Christians have questions, at some point or another, about guidance. We believe that God has a plan for us - the question is whether I know what that is. Am I doing what I should be doing? What should I be doing? What happens if I get it wrong?

One of the good things about Sat-Nav is that if you take a wrong turning you either get told to turn around, or a new route is calculated. Also you are not stuck to a fixed route. Coming back from holiday yesterday afternoon and being stuck on the M5 in traffic around Bristol, we had a brief stop in a service station and then drove off into the country, away from the motorway and towards Bristol using a mixture of A and B roads, before meeting up with the M4 at Junction 19. It may have taken a bit longer but it was a much more interesting drive.

So where is all this going?

I have heard illustrations that describe the Bible as a map - it shows us the way to live. But a map gives the big picture. You can see the whole country - every road. Life is not always like that. Rarely, if ever, do we see the big picture. God certainly sees the big picture but we rarely do.

Before Sat-Nav I used to use the AA website to print off directions from one postcode to another. The trouble with this system is that if you take a wrong turn you are totally lost without hope unless you can get back to the point at which you went wrong. I think some people see guidance this way - there is only route and if I ever take a wrong turn there is no hope, I've messed up, and if I can't get back to where I was then things are never going to work out as they should. And such a fear of making a wrong turn can paralyse people into making no decisions at all.

But I think the Sat-Nav is more like the way things are with us and God. I know where I am, and I know what I need to do next (turn left in 2.35 miles). God knows the rest. And as long as I follow the instructions I should get to where I am going. But if I make a mistake it is not the end of the world. Sometimes I will have to turn around, but at other times an alternative route will get me to where I am going - as long as I follow the new instructions. And sometimes I believe that God gives us the choice to make up our own mind. "You know where you are, you know where you want to be. Any of these three roads will take you there. One is quicker than the others. One is shorter. One is more scenic." All I have to do is start driving down one of those roads, follow the instructions, and enjoy the ride.

The God who Guides

I'm sure that most Christians would agree that part of what it means to be a Christian is that now you try and do what God wants rather than what you want. But how do we know what it is that God wants? In some things the Bible helps. For example, Matthew 5:44 tells us that we are to love our enemies...Mark 8:34 tells us that the life of the disciple is the life of self denial...Leviticus 19:15 tells us that we are not to show favouritism but treat everyone fairly...Leviticus 19:19 tells us that we shouldn't wear clothes made with two different kinds of material! Okay - so maybe that isn't as straight forward as some people would want us to believe. But what about those questions of guidance that the Bible has nothing specific to say - which university should I go to...should I get married...who to...which job should I take...where should I live...?

This Sunday morning we're looking at Genesis 24. I'm sure some of us read this kind of story and wish that God would guide us as clearly. I'm also sure that when some of us ask about guidance what we really want is a quick and easy fix - the guide to instant guidance.

In Abraham's story so far we've found him to be obedient to God, someone who believed God, someone who feared God and someone who would not keep anything back from God. I think that this is the backdrop in front of which God guides Abraham and his servant. Romans 12:1-2 reveals that discovering God's will follows self sacrifice, resistance to the ways of the world and having a renewed mind that thinks God's way (e.g. the first will be last ... death=life ... )

Then we find Abraham and the servant planning and praying, and the servant got on the road and started walking and praying. Sometimes we're paralysed by the fear of doing the wrong thing and so we end up doing nothing. But we should be proactive. In order to steer a vehicle that vehicle needs to first of all be moving somewhere. But as we push doors to see what will happen we must remember that God will never ask us to do anything that is against His word. Then we should remember that we were created for community and God invented the church - we're not here on our own - and there are other, wiser, older, more mature Christians that we can talk to about what wethink God might be calling us to. If they all think it is a bad idea then listen to them.

But the context in which we push doors, write letters, go to interviews, go on a date must be that Romans 12:1-2 attitude. If that is our heart attitude then as we push doors I believe that God will guide us and keep us from those paths that He wants us to avoid. Some people will say that it was a coincidence that Abraham's servant found Rebekah but there is no such thing as a coincidence with God.

Click here to listen to this message from Pastor Keith, 14 October 2007.