What is God’s will for my life?

This is a question we often hear from Christians and have likely asked ourselves. It is only natural to want to know what God has planned for us so that we can begin working toward it.

But what about when we feel as though God isn’t revealing to us what career we should pursue, what person to marry, how many children to have, what path to go down in a new phase of life?

In his article “You Don’t Have to Know God’s Will” on Pastor John Piper’s website Desiring God, Jon Bloom writes that, though we may not know the specifics of what God has planned for our lives, we can still step out in faith and have peace.

As Christians, we’ve likely heard it before: God’s Word reveals all we truly need to know about God’s will. Bloom affirms this, but explores the idea further.

We are all seeking for clarity, we all want to know what is the best option. But did you know that at even Jesus Christ, God’s own Son, did not Know God’s will for His life? Many times, it seems life would be so simple if we could just have a blueprint of how everything is going to play out. All the doubts would disappear, we think, all the worry would evaporate. But as you’ve probably found out that is not how it works.

Perhaps. But our faith wouldn’t grow and the peace we find would be a rather shallow peace because it would be a peace gained without struggle, instead of the peace God grants despite the storms.

God’s Word is where we ought to turn when we are unsure and doubting. Specifically, says Bloom, we ought to look to God’s promises.

The Apostle Peter tells us that God has already given us everything we need to live as His disciples in this world:

“His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires” (2 Peter 1:3-4).

As the stories of many biblical characters or the experiences of others tell us, God rarely gives detailed instructions on what decisions to make in our daily lives, but when we are committed to trusting Him and taking hold of His promises, we will likely find that the doubts themselves begin to fade away and are replaced with a bigger perspective.

“When God’s direction and purposes for us are unclear, his promises are always crystal clear,” writes Bloom.

If God has already given us all we need to live as His followers, then we can truly believe what Pastor David Jeremiah says in one of his articles entitled “4 Steps to Finding God’s Will for Your Life”: namely, that “The reality is, God has revealed most of His will to us in His Word already.”

Since you may not know God’s will for your life, think on this, How can you take hold of God’s promises today? How can you begin to trust Him more?

-Veronica Netfinger