God's Will and God's Ways

“God, what do you want me to do? Tell me.”

Silence. The vaulted doors of heaven seem locked and double-bolted, impenetrable. “Please... I desperately want to know.” In his imagination and frustration, he can almost hear God saying, “Nope. Not going to say. I know and have my plans for you, but that information is unavailable.” So he begins to search all his Sunday School memory banks and quiet time insights for a revealing Scripture to be used as leverage on the Almighty.

“Ah, Ha! That’s it,” he declares... “I think.” And then, in barely audible muttering, he recounts, “There was a fellow in the Bible who ran out of bread to make sandwiches for his guests and went to his friend’s place to bum a few slices. He eventually got the bread, but only because he persisted.” With renewed commitment to persistence, he forges ahead to find God’s will.

Days pass and the decision-making deadline approaches. Whereas initially his intensity was fueled with frustration, now there is another factor—fear. What in the world am I going to do? I don’t want to miss God’s will, he thinks. “And what will my fate be if I mess up?” he blurts out, thinking of the misfortune that will be his if he misses God’s best. Reverting to saner rationale, he contemplates, but how am I supposed to know what God wants me to do if He won’t tell me! “Lord God, can’t you just give me a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’?”

Nothing. Not a word. Not a sign. Not a sound. Not even a whisper.

“God, even a whisper would be OK. That’s the way you spoke to Elijah.” But it was in a gentle breeze, he recalls, and so promptly moves his quiet time outside to the patio. Now I’m in the right spot! OK, Father. I’m ready for your breeze.

And time ticks on. Hours pass into days as he tries varied and sundry methods for prying God’s will loose. He thinks, Maybe my friend Chuck can help.

“Hello! Chuck, my man. Hey, I need some counsel on discovering God’s will? It’s like He’s gone on sabbatical. I’ve asked Him for an answer so many different ways that I’m fresh out of methods. I’ve been persistent. I’ve looked for open doors. I’ve asked for a direct revelation. I’ve tried to find God’s peace. But nothing, not even a simple note. Got any ideas?”

“Wow! You’ve really been putting your time in on this. As bad as I hate to say it, there’s one thing you have not done: Before you can get God to tell you what His will is you’ve got to get rid of the sin in your life. It’s a simple matter of unconfessed sin.”

“Thanks, Chuck. Bye now.”

Jeepers! Sin in my life? Like I haven’t been asking the Lord about that for the last gazillion days. And so, he begins to confess everything that remotely resembles sin, even sin he has only heard about. Still nothing.

“Dear Lord Jesus, the ball’s in Your court. I don’t know what else to do. Amen.” This was the second shortest prayer he had ever prayed. The first was uttered three weeks ago: “Help!”

Trying hard to quash the questions and frustrations, he grabs a Diet Coke out of the fridge and settles into his favorite chair. All he really wants is a “yes” or “no.” Nothing fancy, like handwriting on the wall. But God has something more in mind, and only time could have laid the proper groundwork. For only now is he sufficiently weaned from his methods, his ideas, and his strategies to hear God’s voice.

A thought came into his mind: How do I know if the Lord speaks to me? The only way to know is to become very familiar with His voice. And the only way to do that is by spending time with Him.

God spoke, and he heard. He was shortchanging himself and God by limiting their interaction to a pedantic, black and white, yes or no, mechanical relationship when what God really wanted was time alone with him. Only in this way could He really be known.

For many Christians the motivating factor in their search for God’s will is to get the right answers so they don’t make any mistakes. If they can just do His will then they won’t have to worry about being in the wrong place, backtracking from a poor decision, suffering failure, or struggling to make the right decisions when every indicator is clouded with ambiguity. If they can just find God’s will they won’t have to fear the unpleasant consequences, or dread the decision-making process, or sad to say, have to put forth the effort required to build a relationship with God. Understanding God’s will is not a matter of playing your cards right; it’s not like looking something up with the right reference tools, then saying the right words, or acting just the right way. God is not a mechanical dispensary. His will is wrapped up in His Being. By knowing Him we know His will. By communicating with Him we discern His voice.

Yes, there is the biblical story of Gideon laying out the fleece in order to find God’s will. However, what have you gained in terms of relationship if all you hold in your hand is a fleece? While you may know the direction of your next step today, you don’t have anything telling you how to discern God’s will tomorrow. In this scenario, all you gain is the experience of what God did with your fleece, but you won’t know God any better.

Don’t misunderstand. God has a will and He expresses it regularly. But knowing God is not about getting His will straight. It’s about knowing Him. Perhaps the term “God’s will” does not accurately reflect the heart of God. Maybe “God’s ways” would more accurately convey His heart.

Let me illustrate: If I were to ask you if you know me, you might say, “Why, yes. You are the eldest of four brothers, born to Bill and Anabel Gillham in Ardmore, Oklahoma, deep in the winter of 1956. You ride a bicycle and write books and fly fish.”

All of this is true. But these are just informative things about me. There are lots of folks who know about me and what I do. I have a bunch of acquaintances, and a fair number of friends, but I count my confidants and close friends on one hand. These people are the ones who really know me and my ways. It is with them that I have shared my hopes and dreams, bared my soul, and opened my heart.

God does not intend to be intimidating. He wants to be called “Father.” Knowing Him is not presumptuous. It’s His idea! Quite literally, it is an invitation. Discovering God’s will is far more profound than doing the right things as a result of hearing God express His wishes. Knowing God’s will is really an invitation from God to discover His ways, discern His heart, listen to His dreams, understand His thoughts, and see through His eyes. If you have sat with God as He bared His soul and revealed His dreams, questions about His will become much less daunting and mysterious because you know Him more deeply than His will can reveal. You know Him and you know His ways.

What is the most dangerous aspect of attempting to discern God’s will? That we would become so focused on His will that we will miss knowing Him and understanding His ways.

© Lifetime Guarantee Ministries [published: 2003-11-01]
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