Tag Archives: finding God‘s will

On Finding God’s Will

To my children:

These are excerpts from Exodus 35:21-22,26, and 36:2, passages about building the tabernacle shortly after leaving Egypt.

‘And they came, everyone whose heart stirred him, and everyone whose spirit moved him, and brought the Lord ’s contribution to be used for the tent of meeting, and for all its service, and for the holy garments… All who were of a willing heart brought brooches and earrings and signet rings and armlets … All the women whose hearts stirred them to use their skill spun the goats’ hair. ‘ ‘And Moses called Bezalel and Oholiab and every craftsman in whose mind the Lord had put skill, everyone whose heart stirred him up to come to do the work. ‘

God’s means of accomplishing his purposes in this scenario was not via prayer and fasting, but simply people doing what their hearts wanted to do. The point seems further corroborated by the phrase ‘every craftsman in whose mind the Lord had put skill.’ Where did the skills that their hearts stirred them to use come from? Yes, God deliberately, calculatedly, put the talent in their minds.

I do not say we should obey our hearts, only that we should listen to them. Moreover, this context only supports following your heart with regard to specific skills – what we do with our hands – not who to marry or how to behave, which are matters of morality.

So when I urge you to pursue a path in life that you love, be it mechanical engineering, video games, flying, dancing, crocheting, drawing, singing, this is what I’m getting at. I believe God put specific desires in each of you, deliberately, methodically, and he wants to accomplish his purposes by you following your heart to use those skills.

Suggestions on Finding God’s Will

“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
Romans 12:1-2

Clues I see here include…

  1. We must present our bodies as living sacrifices to God. That at least means living in a way that is holy and which God finds acceptable.
  2. What drives us to do that is “the mercies of God.” (Why did he appeal specifically to God’s mercies to motivate us for holy living?)
  3. We must have our minds renewed in a way that brings transformation.
  4. We must not be conformed to this world.

None of those things are ends in themselves. They are means to an end, and that is knowing our Father intimately. Then it’ll be easier to discern his will.

It is very similar to someone asking you what your best friend wants for their birthday. You might say, “A Golden Doodle puppy,” or, “Anything strawberry flavored,” or, “Tickets to see this band play in London.” If they asked how you knew, you’d probably just say, “Because I know them. We spend a lot of time together.”

In our case, we are the ones wanting to know what God wants. And the way we can understand what he wants is by really getting to know him, by spending lots of time together.