A Guide To Walking In God’s Will In Every Decision

How can you know God’s will for your life?

Every day we’re confronted with a vast array of confusing decisions that will have a real effect on our lives and the lives of those around us. Do we become members in this church? Do we go to homeschool, private school, or public school? Should I get into a relationship with this girl? Should I take this job opportunity?

How can we know that we’re doing the right thing and are in God’s will?
Proverbs 3:5-6 makes it really simple.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart…

God is worthy of our wholehearted, unreserved, unquestioning trust. He will take care of us, and lead us, and guide us, and shepherd us. He won’t leave us to flounder in the muck of life. We can and must throw ourselves upon the Lord and trust that He’ll hold us.
When we don’t know where to go, we’re tempted to stop trusting God. We fear. We tremble. We worry about the future. The first step to walking in God’s will is trusting in God with all our hearts. 

…and do not lean on your own understanding.

We can either lean on our own understanding or God’s understanding. We lean on our own understanding when we trust our unstable feelings instead of God’s unshakable word. We lean on our own understanding when we trust our own opinions rather than the wise counsel of those around us. Our own understanding will collapse beneath us, causing us to fall off of God’s path. God’s understanding never crumbles.
We lean on our own understanding when we trust our own opinions rather than the wise counsel of those around us. Our own understanding will collapse beneath us, causing us to fall off of God’s path. God’s understanding never crumbles.
We lean on our own understanding when we don’t trust God with all our hearts.
We lean on our own understanding when we neglect the straightforward commands of the Bible.
There will be times when it seems to make more sense to go our way rather than God’s way. In those moments, we must refuse to lean on our own understanding.

In all your ways acknowledge him…

We’re called to acknowledge God in all our ways. Not just a few of our ways, or most of our ways, but all our ways. Our attitude must always be, “Your will, not mine Lord.”
Every decision we make, from the job we take to the parenting style we choose, must be rooted in our commitment to serve and obey God.
We acknowledge God’s ways through prayerful reading of scripture, depending on the wisdom of others, and prayerfully making decisions.

…and he will make straight your paths.

Isn’t this a wonderful promise? If we trust in the Lord, do not lean on our own understanding, and acknowledge him in all our ways, God will make our path straight. Period.
If we make decisions in humble dependence on God, he’ll lead us on straight paths. We don’t need to fear or worry because God is committed to making our path straight.
As you walk through life, don’t panic when big decisions come your way. God is for you and wants to lead you on the straight path.

But What About Decision “Fleeces”?

You’ve got a big decision to make.
You’ve got a fat job offer, but there’s some potential. You’re thinking about this girl that you really like, but you’re not sure what the outcome will be. You’re trying to figure out if you should buy a house or keep renting. How do you decide?
How about putting out fleeces? You know, just like Gideon. In Judges 6, God called Gideon to deliver the people of Israel from the hand of the Midianites.
But Gideon was a jittery, nervous fellow, and he wanted to be sure that God was with him, so he asked God to give him signs.
In Judges 6:36-40 Gideon laid out a fleece. If the fleece was wet but the ground was dry, then he could be sure that God was on his side. Next day, wet fleece, dry ground.
But Gideon needed a little more assurance, so he decided to ask for one more test. If the fleece was dry but the ground was wet, then God was definitely with him. Once again, God came through. Dry fleece, wet ground.

So should we follow Gideon’s example?

Should we ask God for signs when we’re making decisions? Lord, if this job is from you, let me see a cloud in the shape of a cross right now. If I’m supposed to ask this girl out, let her text message me in the next five minutes. Is this what we’re after?
I don’t think so. If you read the story of Gideon closely, you’ll see that Gideon is not an example for us to follow. In Judges 6:12,14, the angel of the Lord came to Gideon and said:

The LORD is with you, O mighty man of valor…And the LORD turned to him and said, Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; do not I send you?

God tells Gideon flat out that He’s with him, and then commands him to go and give the Mideanites a beat-down. But Gideon isn’t buying it. Even though he is speaking face to face with God, he isn’t convinced that God is with him. So he starts playing the sign game.
In Judges 6:36, Gideon says, “If you will save Israel by my hand…”, and then he lays down the first fleece.
A few verses later, before putting down the second fleece, he says, “Let not your anger burn against me…Please let me test just once more…” Gideon knew that he shouldn’t be putting God to the test, but he just had to have a sign.
Why did God answer Gideon’s requests? Because He’s gracious and often stoops to our level of faith.

Should we ask God for signs prior to making big decisions?

No. Gideon isn’t our example. Don’t lay any fleeces before the Lord. Rather, go through the biblical process of asking God for wisdom, seeking the wise counsel of others, and then making a decision.

Having Faith For Your Decisions

Many of us face difficult and life-changing decisions. I’m so grateful for God’s incredible promise in Psalm 32:8:

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.

This is one of the Scripture’s most encouraging promises. I regularly pray “Thank you, Father, that you have promised to instruct me and teach me in the way I should go and counsel me with your eye upon me. Please guide me in this decision I am facing. Please show me what to do. Please give me wisdom. Thank, you, Father that you have promised you will.”

First of all, it is God Himself who instructs us

“I will instruct you… I will counsel you…My eye upon you.” God doesn’t delegate his counsel to an angel or anyone else. The very fountain of all wisdom counsels us. The one who devised the laws of nature, who knows how the whole universe works together, who knows all things, including the future; the one who knows us intimately, who knows what is best for us and loves us so deeply he shed his only Son’s blood to purchase us. This is the one who instructs us and counsels us.

God teaches and guides us for his own glory

He wants us to lead lives of maximum effectiveness and fruitfulness. He desires to display his goodness, kindness, mercy, and transforming power through us. God wants to counsel us more than we want his counsel.

He shows us the way to go because he is a loving Father 

If any of my children faced difficulties and ask for my advice I wouldn’t say figure it out on your own. I want my children to do well. I want my children to have every good thing. I want my children to know and enjoy God. If I desire these things from my children, how much more does our heavenly Father desire them for us.

He speaks to us his by his Word and his Spirit

God’s word is a treasure chest of wisdom and guidance. It contains all we need to know about God and how to obey him. It is filled with his will from cover to cover. In addition, God fills us with his own Spirit, The Counselor, who guides us into all truth and shows us what to do in every situation.
God also speaks through the preaching of his Word and books written by Christian teachers. He also guides us through godly Christian counselors, our parents, pastors, wise friends, and fellow believers.

What are you facing today?

Before you make that decision, go to your loving Father and thank him for his wonderful promise to teach you, guide you, and personally counsel you. Seek him in big decisions and small.
Then trust him and don’t fret. He will certainly fulfill his promise to guide you in his perfect timing. If you have to make a decision and have sought him, and still don’t know what to do, just make the best decision you can. He will guide you.

But Can You Miss God’s Will For Your Life?

Decision making can be a paralyzing experience.
Say, for example, that you have been offered a new job in a different state? Should you take it? Well, it depends. What are the schools like in the area? What is the traffic like? Are there any nuclear power plants nearby? Is the increased salary worth the emotional cost of moving your family? Will you be forced to root for the Dallas Cowboys?
All these different factors can make it difficult to decide.
Now throw the whole issue of God’s will into the mix? Is it really God’s will for you to move? It seems like it’s God’s will, but maybe it’s not. What if you make a terrible mistake and somehow miss the will of God? Are you going to end up in some purgatorial situation because you accidentally missed God’s will?
The fear of missing God’s will is enough to paralyze any Christian. But here’s the question: can a Christian miss the will of God for their life? Could you somehow go your entire life being outside of God’s good plan for you?
It seems that the Bible teaches that, yes, you can miss God’s will. It also teaches that no, you can’t miss God’s will.

YOU CAN MISS GOD’S WILL IF…

The way to miss God’s will is really simple: ignore the Bible. In the Bible, God has told us exactly what we should do when it comes to making decisions.
First, we should determine if our decision goes against anything clearly spelled out in the Bible. The Bible is clear that fellowship with other believers is necessary for our Christian growth. If taking a job will cut you off from fellowship with others, it’s not God’s will for you to take the job.
Second, we should ask God to give us wisdom. James 1:5-6 says:

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting…

Getting wisdom from God isn’t a mystical, super spiritual experience. It means asking God to help us think clearly and biblically about the decision in front of us.
When we ask for wisdom we should believe God is going to give it to us. God isn’t trying to hide his good will from us. He wants to help us understand the right way to walk.
Third, we should ask the opinion of others. Proverbs 15:22 says, “Without counsel plans fail, but with many advisers they succeed.”
This is so gloriously simple. Finding God’s will for your life is as simple as asking the opinion of other, godly Christians. Lay the situation out before them, and then let God speak to you through their counsel.

YOU CAN’T MISS GOD’S WILL IF…

If we heed the counsel of scripture, we won’t miss God’s will. God isn’t hiding his will or trying to trick us into making a bad decision. If we evaluate our decision by scripture, ask for wisdom, and then ask the opinion of others, we are doing what God requires of us. He promises to guide us through that process.
We don’t need to seek a subjective, mystical, spiritual feeling when it comes to decision making. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes God gives us peace about a decision, and that’s a blessing. But that’s not always the case. Sometimes we might not feel one way or another about a decision.
In general, feelings are a very bad barometer of the truth. A feeling of peace can come from God, but it can also come from a lot of other things, like a glass of wine or a good nap.
Plus, what exactly constitutes the “right” feeling when it comes to a decision? Is it peace? Or maybe joy? Or a sense of rightness?
The Bible doesn’t tell us what we’re supposed to feel about our decisions. Instead, it tells us how to make biblical, God-honoring decisions. So if you have a big decision to make, don’t freak out. Instead, go to the Word, ask for wisdom, and get others involved.

“The Whistle” by Benjamin Franklin

 When I was a child, seven years old, my friends, on a holiday, filled my pockets with coppers.  I went directly to a shop where they sold toys for children; and, being charmed with the sound of a whistle that I saw on the way in the hands of another boy, I voluntarily offered the storekeeper all my money for one.

     I then came home and went whistling all over the house, much pleased with my whistle, but disturbing all the family.  My brothers and sisters and cousins, hearing about the bargain I had made, told me I had given four times as much for it as it was worth.

     This put me in mind of what good things I might have bought with the rest of the money; and they laughed at me so much for my folly that I cried with vexation.

     This, however, was afterward of use to me, the impression continuing in my mind; so that often, when I was tempted to buy some unnecessary thing, I said to myself, “Don’t give too much for the whistle,” and so I saved my money.

     As I grew up, came into the world, and observed the actions of men, I thought I met with many, very many, who gave too much for the whistle.

     When I saw anyone too ambitious of the favor of the great, wasting time in attendance on public dinners, sacrificing his repose, his liberty, his virtue, and perhaps his friends, to attain it, I have said to myself, “This man gives too much for his whistle.”

     When I saw another fond of popularity, constantly employing himself in politics, neglecting his own affairs, and ruining them by that neglect, “He pays, indeed,” said I, “too much for this whistle.”

     If I knew a miser, who gave up every kind of comfortable living, all the pleasure of doing good to others, all the esteem of his fellow-citizens, and the joys of benevolent friendship, all for the sake of accumulating wealth, “Poor man,” said I, “you do indeed pay too much for your whistle.”

     When I met a man of pleasure, sacrificing the improvement of his mind, or of his fortune, to mere bodily comfort, “Mistaken man,” said I, “you are providing pain for yourself instead of pleasure; you give too much for your whistle.”

     If I saw one fond of fine clothes, fine furniture, or fine horses, all above his fortune, for which he contracted debts, and ended his career in prison, “Alas!” said I, “he has paid dear, very dear, for his whistle.”

     In short, I believed that a great part of the miseries of mankind were brought upon them by the false estimates they had made of the value of things, and by their giving too much for their whistles.

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Mark 8;36-37  —  Jesus said, “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?  Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” 

Matthew 22:35-38  —  One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question:  “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”  Jesus replied:  “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’  This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it:  ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’

Colossians 3:1-2  —  Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.

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Let me never think, O eternal Father, that I am here to stay.  Let me still remember that I am a stranger and pilgrim on the earth.  For here we have no continuing city, but we seek one to come.  Preserve me by thy grace, good Lord, from so losing myself in the joys of earth that I may have no longing left for the purer joys of heaven.  Let not the happiness of this day become a snare to my too worldly heart.  And if, instead of happiness, I have today suffered any disappointment or defeat, if there has been any sorrow where I had hoped for joy, or sickness where I had looked for health, give me grace to accept it from Thy hand as a loving reminder that this is not my home.  Amen.  

"THE LAST LEAF!"
Written and preached by David P. Nolte




ROMANS 5:1-10

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The essence of God's love is manifest in the giving of His Son Who, in turn, gave up His life for the salvation of all who would believe. There was no obligation on His part, save the self-imposed one of love, that prompted such sacrificial giving. God simply saw our deplorable and pitiful condition and intervened on our behalf! Paul notes that this kind of giving is uncommon: "Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die" Romans 5:7. Paul does not preclude entirely the idea that one may die for another, but usually it is only for someone deemed worthy that the sacrifice will be made. I want to talk to you today about love that sacrifices and love that saves sinful, unworthy people. To illustrate Christ's action of love, I want to tell the story by O. Henry entitled "The Last Leaf!"  It is a story of sacrificial love.  Living at the top of a dilapidated 3-story tenement lived Sue, nicknamed "Sudie," and Joanna, nicknamed "Johnsy," two neophyte artists bound together by mutual need, a common love of art, and similar culinary tastes. Sue was robust, Joanna fragile, a wisp of a woman. On a wintry, wet, snowy november morning, a cold, unseen stranger came calling; Mr. Pneumonia smote Johnsy and put her on a bed of critical illness. The doctor gave her a scant 1 in 10 chance of survival which he'd elevate to 50/50 if she had a will to live. But there she lay, sick and dying. Her story in a real way parallels ours.

1. MANKIND HAS BEEN SMITTEN BY A COLD, INVISIBLE STRANGER: SIN!
1. VERSES 6-10 say we were "helpless, ungodly, sinners, enemies of God," and Paul implies that in that condition we were separated from God and needed reconciliation! The word: "helpless" means "enfeebled, impotent, without strength, sick!"
2. Without Christ, it is the common lot of man to be sin-sick and dying.
3. The Bible paints no pretty picture of the condition of man in his lost, alienated condition:
1. Genesis 6:5 "Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually."
2. Jeremiah 17:9 "The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it?"
3. Isaiah 1:4-6 "Alas, sinful nation, people weighed down with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, sons who act corruptly! They have abandoned the Lord, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they have turned away from Him. Where will you be stricken again, as you continue in your rebellion? The whole head is sick, and the whole heart is faint. From the sole of the foot even to the head there is nothing sound in it, only bruises, welts, and raw wounds, not pressed out or bandaged, nor softened with oil."
4. Unsaved man is plagued with moral leprosy, spiritual cancer, terminal heart disease. The symptoms of this sin sickness are everywhere! Listen to the songs, watch the news, read the papers, keep your eyes open!
1. Sexual immorality and perversions are all around us.  Deviant lifestyles are accepted and even promoted as normal..
2. Loss of integrity: corruption, dishonesty, cheating, lying are common ways of life.
3. Religious errors: occultism, Satanism, witchcraft, the new age movement abound.
4. Stress on individual rights and freedom with no regard for personal responsibilities make people blind to the needs of others.
5. Violence for its own sake and for control of others makes the world dangerous and hostile.
6. Drunkenness, drug abuse, gambling and other addictive behaviors keep many in bondage.
7. So smitten, man has not 1 chance in infinity of surviving on his own!

Johnsy lay sick and dying. When the doctor left Johnsy, Sue checked on her frail friend whose scant form barely made a ripple in the blankets. With eyes wide open, Johnsy stared out the window and counted backward: "12." and later "11." and then "10." --- "9." --- "8, 7," almost simultaneously. Sue looked out the window and saw nothing but a withered and scraggly old ivy vine on the wall 20 feet away. "6."  "What is it, Johnsy?"  "Leaves on the ivy; there are 5 left; when the last leaf falls, I will go, too!" There she lay, weak, helpless, giving in, convinced that when the last leaf fell she'd die. She was hopeless and resigned.

2. SOMETIMES LIFE IS LIKE THAT, A STUDY IN HOPELESSNESS AND RESIGNATION:
1. One day falls after another in monotonous, dreary, mundane, tedium. Like falling leaves: "12 --- 11 --- 10."  We seem to be waiting for the last leaf to fall.
2. We, too, are prone to throw in the towel, to give up, to quit. We are, as Paul said, "helpless!" We are like others of whom we read in the Bible:
1. Moses, Elijah, Job and Jonah all wanted God just to end their struggles in death.
2. Each of them, from their particular set of pressures said, "Enough! Just let me die!"
3. Depression, despair, hopelessness, resignation are the themes of many a life. For a good many, obviously, death seems better than life.
1. It is true that, "It is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment," Hebrews 9:27 .
2. It is also true that our business is not death but life! Paul says, Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men, but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil"Ephesians 5:15, 16.
4. At best, we are all terminal, temporal, the last leaf falls quickly, so we must make most of our brief time:
1. Job 7:6 "my days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, and come to an end without hope."
2. Psalms 39:5 "behold, thou hast made my days as handbreadths, and my lifetime as nothing in thy sight, surely every man at his best is a mere breath."
3. Psalms 103:15, 16 "as for man, his days are like grass; as a flower of the field, so he flourishes. When the wind has passed over it, it is no more; and its place acknowledges it no longer."
4. James 4:14 "yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away."
5. While we realize our lives are brief, our job is living! But, like Johnsy, many wait for the last leaf to fall!

Living downstairs from Sue and Johnsy was a crotchety old grouch named Behrman. A failure at art, he persisted in claiming that he would one day paint his masterpiece, but he'd never even begun. He was fierce and unfriendly, his one redeeming trait was that he saw himself in the role of guardian and protector of the two young artists who lived above him. When he learned of Johnsy's sickness and her loss of will to live, he looked in on her and left. It was a brutally cold night, wet, snowy and windy. Johnsy slept through, fitfully, and in the morning demanded that the curtain be raised -- the vine was down to one lone leaf, green at the stem, but yellowed, ragged and dying. "It is the last one;" she observed. "I thought it would fall in the night; it will fall today and I shall die at the same time." But it held on through the day and on the next morning, the curtain was raised to reveal that one lone leaf, still in its place, bravely hanging on. As Johnsy studied it she said, "I've been a bad girl, Sudie; something has made that last leaf stay there to show me how wicked I was to want to die." The next day, Sue spoke softly to the revived Johnsy: "I have something to tell you; Mr. Behrman died of pneumonia today. He was ill only two days. The janitor found him in his room downstairs helpless; his clothing was wet and they found a lantern and ladder in his room. Look out the window, Johnsy, at the last leaf -- didn't you wonder why it never fluttered or moved in the wind? It's Mr. Behrman's masterpiece -- he painted it there the night the last leaf fell." The story touches our emotions; but I'll tell you something infinitely more moving, more meaningful, more lasting; more wonderful: 

3. THERE IS HOPE AND HEALING: JESUS GAVE HIS LIFE TO SAVE ALL OF US!
1. Verses 6-10: Christ died for the ungodly; he died for sinners; he justified us; he reconciled us; he saved us.
2. Jesus came to bring soul healing!  There is hope!  There is a Savior!
1. "The LORD builds up Jerusalem; He gathers the outcasts of Israel. He heals the brokenhearted, And binds up their wounds. Psalms 147:2-3.
2. "For I will restore you to health And I will heal you of your wounds,' declares the LORD, ..." Jeremiah 30:17.
3. "But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed." Isaiah 53:5.
4. "He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed." 1 Peter 2:24.
3. But please carefully notice this:
1. We don't deserve it, we just need it! We can't earn it, He just gives it! Ephesians 2:8-9: "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, that no one should boast."
2. We can't pay for it, we must receive it! John 1:12, 13: "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." How do we receive it? Not by asking Jesus into our hearts! Not by praying a sinner's prayer! But by following the pattern of New Testament conversions:
1. Believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Only Savior.
2. Repent of your sins. Turn away from them. Forsake them. Give them up.
3. Confess Jesus Christ before witnesses and never be ashamed of Him.
4. Be buried in the water of baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
5. Continue to live a faithful life of service and obedience.
6. That's the New Testament activity of faith; that's the New Testament manner of receiving Jesus Christ. To demand more is to demand too much; to demand less is to demand too little; to demand something else is to deviate from the New Testament pattern and norm.
4. We can't get there some other way, we must come through Jesus and we must come in His way!
1. Acts 4:12: "And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved."
2. John 14:6: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me."
3. He has come to us with an offer of grace and mercy we'd best not refuse!

As Mr. Behrman faced the freezing weather to paint that last leaf, so Jesus loved you so much He braved the cold hostility of a rebellious world to secure for you the hope of eternal life. Don't let His efforts be in vain. Look out the window; the last leaf has not fallen; it's His masterpiece of grace, painted in His blood for your salvation! Come to Him, out of what troubles you; He'll give you peace! Come to Him, out of what is slowly killing you, He'll give you life! Come to Him, out of what separates you from the Father, He'll give you grace! Come to Him out of your sin and He'll give you forgiveness.  Come to Him!  He's waiting just for you to come!