What is God's Will For My Life?

I like to know things in advance. I like to map out a plan and be prepared. When it comes to my relationship with God, I know He has the best plan for my life. Therefore, I should simply follow His plan. If only it were that simple! Besides the fact that I am often distracted by making my own plans, when I actually stop to consider God's will for my life, I am faced with a world of difficulty.

The reality is that any piece of information God reveals about how He is at work is only a small part of a greater whole. He gives us mere glimpses of the bigger picture He is able to see.

God doesn't want us to be ignorant of His bigger plan, but the truth is that we can't understand its fullness, being limited by our humanity. As a science fiction fan, I can think of examples of persons trying to fit knowledge too great for them to handle inside their heads. One is Rose Tyler in Doctor Who, as she looks into the space-time vortex inside the heart of the TARDIS (Time And Relative Dimensions In Space). She sees the whole of the universe and time, and as a result cannot maintain homeostasis. She is overwhelmed.

Another example is Col. Jack O'Neill in Stargate SG-1, who looks into an ancient repository and absorbs vast amounts of information from the database of the Ancients, but begins to lose his mind along with a deterioration in his homeostasis. Neither character can handle, nor appropriately use, the overwhelming amount of information they are given.

I imagine it is somewhat similar for us. Our minds cannot begin to approach the greatness of God's mind. I doubt very much that we could handle too much of His mind at once. What is more, in our corrupt nature we would be sorely tempted to manipulate what He shared with us for our own use (if possible). He shares with us only so much as is needed to guide us.

When I was in 9th grade I first began to really pray in earnest, desiring to know what God wanted me to do with my life. In those early years, God showed me the gifts and desires He had given me: to reach people from all nations and to encourage others in the faith through writing. With these things in mind, I went on missions' trips and then to a state school as an English major.

All the while, I was afraid. I was afraid because I thought I would choose the wrong things and not be of use to Him anymore. And if I was not of any use to Him, I feared He might no longer love me.

This is not true. God always loves us. Nothing can separate us from His love (Rom. 8:39). He gives us freedom to reject it---but even then we cannot cease its flow. This is a truth I have had to re-learn countless times along the way.

With knowledge of His love, I know I can approach Him with all my 101 questions about life. In discerning His will, however, I often want to demand information from Him, as if I have a right to it.

What He reveals to us of His plans, even those concerning ourselves, is a gift and not a right. In John 15:15 Jesus demonstrates the extent of this gift, as we are no longer called God's servants, but His friends, as He chooses to share part of His knowledge with us. We are shown great honor by what God allows us to know.

What God allows us to know, however, is not always the information we are seeking.Sometimes instead of telling me the place He wants me to go or the person He wants me to meet with, He reminds me to have a generous heart, being self-sacrificing as Christ was. I cannot tell you how irritating this is when I am looking for specific instructions! When I pray sometimes I just want directives, not high-minded principles!

Prayer is the best thing to do when we are seeking God's will. It is vital to seek His face, just as Abraham had to do at every point in his journey. God gave Abraham ample blessings and promises, but each came with a time lag.God promised to give Abraham a child, and offspring as numerous as the stars...but he remained childless for years. God was going to give him a Promised Land...but Abraham had to travel through Egypt and the Middle East, walking in circles with his entire family and livelihood, before he approached it.

Along the way, Abraham acted corruptly, having a non-promised child with his wife's maid and lying about the identity of his wife. At the same time, he also stopped at several points along the way, building altars to call upon the Lord.

Though we should not imitate the former, we would be wise to imitate the latter. The altars we need to build today are in our hearts. We need to demonstrate in our hearts a reverent respect for God's plans in our prayers. In praying "thy will be done," we must really mean it. We need to ask God to give us truly submissive hearts. When He does, only then are we ready to listen to and follow His will.

Perhaps His will for you today is to give Him glory in front of others, to show kindness to a coworker or family member who rubs you the wrong way, or simply to seek His face. Sometimes we do things just to do things. Perhaps He is simply calling You to rest in Him. Perhaps He is calling you to do away with a part of your life which is not honoring to Him.

If you will listen, He will map out the plans He has for your life. He doesn't simply promise that He has plans for us, but also that, "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart" (Jer. 29:13).

I do want to end with a few self-reflective questions I have found helpful in this process as well:
1) What has God given me passion/ interest in?
2) What is my personality type?
3) What is my gifting?
4) How has God used my personal history to shape who I am today?
5) What are some needs God has brought to my attention?
6) What do Godly, trusted persons in my life say about me?

May God bless you as you seek His will.