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Do You Struggle to Discern God’s Will? from Crossway on Vimeo.
Asking the Wrong Question
So often when we think about What is God’s will for my life? we’re wanting to know, “What should I do?” That’s the question most of us are asking in the back of our minds or even screaming out to the heavens, “What should I do?” We elevate the decision-point moments of our lives as the times where really want to hear the voice of God. Whether that be through the Scriptures or something else like a phone call where God’s going to be on the other end of the line.
God is always more concerned with the decision maker than he is with the decision itself.
Thinking about the will of God in those terms is asking a secondary question when there’s a primary question that we need to ask first. The primary question is the one that I think the Bible is spending it’s time addressing, but because we’re so typically down in the weeds with the things that life is throwing at us, we elevate that decision point.
If I make a bad decision, my life will be ruined, if I make a good decision my life will go great. God is always more concerned with the decision maker than he is with the decision itself. Every decision is a product of who we are. So, I would argue that a better question to ask, with regard to the will of God is, Who should I be? versus What should I do? and let who we are inform what we do.
Be Like Christ
The answer to Who should I be? is plainly revealed for us in Scripture. You don’t have to treat your Bible like a magic eight ball, you don’t have to look for a secret hidden in the text. It is constantly telling us that we should be image bearers, and that we should be conformed to the image of God as we have seen in Christ.
This is a guest article by Jen Wilkin, author of In His Image: 10 Ways God Calls Us to Reflect His Character. This post originally appeared on crossway.org; used with permission.
Jen Wilkin is a speaker, writer, and teacher of women’s Bible studies. During her seventeen years of teaching, she has organized and led studies for women in home, church, and parachurch contexts. Jen and her family are members of the Village Church in Flower Mound, Texas.
