God’s Will and My Choice

We make choices everyday. It can be small choice like what to wear, or what to eat; but it can be also big choice such as where to work, who we date and marry, and committing our life to Lord Jesus. 

The choice we make, big or small, take us down a particular path. We have, at some point in our lives, suffered bad outcomes from the bad choices in our lives, and we surely want to make sure we choose wisely next time. 

As Christians, one question we often ask, when we are faced with the need to choose is, what is the will of God? Is the will of God for me to choose A or B?

However, is the will of God obscured from believers? The Bible told us that God has clearly revealed His will to us. “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.” Deuteronomy 29:29 ESV

The secret will of God which He did not plan to reveal to us, is not for us to find out. If we want to find out the secret will of God to know what will happen if we choose A or B, it will be as if we are going to fortune teller to ask about our future. But God said, it’s not for us to know; but as to what’s been revealed to us, are clear and we are told to do – obey. 

When we feel the pressure to make decisions, what is more important is for us is to search our hearts and confirm if we are already living in the revealed will of God? What then are the revealed will of God?

• Jesus said “For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” John 6:40

God’s will for us today is for us to be saved from eternal destruction, and for that He has sent His son to us. God’s will is for us to put our trust in Christ, and if we trust Christ, we will do what our Lord Jesus had instructed us to do, i.e to obey His commands, His teachings. How does it translate to our life today? Are we make choices in our lives, are we making decision out of our faith in Christ which includes His teachings and commands, or are we making decision out of fear of missing out things in life, and what the world shapes us about what is important and worthy to pursue?

Ephesians 5:17 tells us that the will of God is for us to be Spirit filled so that we can use our time well on earth, as the days are evil (Ep 5:17).

Our life on earth is shorter than we know, and all that we do have eternal impacts. Knowing this, Paul cautioned us that the will of God is for us to be filled, meaning to be controlled by the HS. As regenerated Christians, we have HS dwelling inside us, but we may not always be controlled by it. To be controlled by the HS, we have to be saturated with God’s Word in our hearts and minds, and allow the Word to take hold of our will, emotions, and mind.

When we are controlled by HS, we will be doing what Paul said in the following verses, that is “addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always… submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.” Indeed, when we are being filled with the HS, we are living in the will of God in the way we conduct ourselves in every areas – work, family, church, personal lives. 

Thirdly, 1 Thessalonians 4:3 tell us that our sanctification is the will of God. That is a life that strives to separate from sins and pursue holiness. Paul specifically said in the following verses “that you abstain from sexual immorality.. control our own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God, that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter.” Being involved in all these are definitely not the will of God, therefore we need to be sanctified and leave a life that is godless, and start pursuing a life that is pure and holy.

The irony is that, to many, all these are not unfamiliar for they are clear in the Scripture. The Bible told us “but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.” The truth is, we often fall in the “doing” instead of the “knowing” because of our lack in faith. We truly need the Holy Spirit to help us to live a life of obedience to God’s will.

But it will be wise for us to heed the calling of God, and learn from our patriarchs. Once, Lot and Abram, in the book of Genesis, was confronted with the need to separate and choose where they wanted to settle down.

In making the choices, Gen 13:10 told us “And Lot lifted up his eyes and saw that the Jordan Valley was well watered everywhere like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, in the direction of Zoar. So Lot chose for himself all the Jordan Valley, and Lot journeyed east. Thus they separated from each other. Abram settled in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled among the cities of the valley and moved his tent as far as Sodom. Now the men of Sodom were wicked, great sinners against the Lord.”

And we know the endings of Lot and Abraham.

Lot, though loved by God, trusted in his own understanding and chose according to what appealed to him (the well-watered land, vibrant city), and he ended up at Sodom, a place that the Bible informed us to be extremely morally perverse. Lot ended up with much misery and loss. Lot was thinking of things on earth, while Abram was setting his mind on the things above and acknowledged God in all his ways. He made an altar everywhere he went. His choice was made out of faith in God, not out of fear in missing out good things. He chose by faith, not by flesh because he had a high view of God and His promises.

Brothers and sisters, are you struggling to make some important decision? Are you seeking the next right step? Before we go there, we should pray that we have the right, proper, high view of God (and His commands) in our lives, and pray for immediate obedience to the revealed will of God first, before deciding who we date, where we work, where to study etc. When the will of God becomes our mind and heart, we will not choose based on what appeals to our physical senses but that which appeal to our inner spirit. Our choice will be God-glorifying and not self-glorifying. Our choice will not be self-seeking like Lot, but self-denying like Abraham.

May we make choices by faith and not by flesh.

May the choice we make not expose us to Sodom where great danger is posed to our souls and may shipwreck our faith. Instead, may our choice place us at where God wants us to be, and full of His blessings.