Do you have a big decision to make and don’t know what to do? You want to follow God… but you just have no idea what he wants you to do. When faced with a decision, it can feel so hard to know what God’s will is.
You can feel stuck in the indecisiveness of how you should move forward to follow his will. Others’ opinions, your own thoughts, reasoning, worry and fear can get in the way of you discerning God’s will, too. But you can figure out how to know God’s will for your life. God isn’t keeping it a secret. He wants you to follow his will.
He is proud of you—that you are seeking him and his plan for your life. And he will reveal it to you. God promises you that he will give you wisdom if you ask (James 1:5) and he will guide you and lead you (Psalm 32:8).
What Is God’s Will for My Life?
The bigger picture of God’s will for your life is clear in the Bible. He has created you to have a relationship with him, to glorify his name, to share the gospel, and to not walk in sin, to name a few. The Bible shows you the best way to live.
When faced with a big decision that is individualized to you and your life, first know that God sees you and cares. He will provide you with the guidance you need in order to follow his will when you ask. You don’t need to worry or feel confused; this is one of the benefits of doing the will of God.
You may ask yourself: “is everything God’s will?” Not everything that you want is going to be God’s will for you. This can be really hard to accept, but God has the best for you and his plans will ultimately make you happy.
It’s important to know that God’s will for your life will always align with the Bible. When doing God’s will, nothing that he asks you to do is going to go against his word or against who he is.
Knowing God’s will and actively pursuing it gives you the best life. It allows you to follow the greatest commandment in Matthew 22:37-39: to love God, love yourself and love people.
Knowing God’s Will for Your Life
Knowing God’s will for your life includes actively seeking him and reading the Bible to know his will. God can often, as you stay in his word, highlight verses or passages that can speak directly into your circumstances, showing you what you need to do.
You need to be praying, staying alert to the leading and guiding of the Holy Spirit. You can also ask others to pray with you for encouragement and to help you discern his will. You might hear something from God, and they may confirm it.
Try to take steps in a direction and see what God does, one way or another. When making your decision to see what God’s will for you is, you will have to walk out in faith.
“For we live by faith, not by sight.” (2 Corinthians 5:7, NIV)
When you do this, you can know God’s will for your life because you will see him open doors for you… or not. If nothing happens and he makes it clear not to do that, then you know it was not his will.
Taking steps of faith is scary but you can do it with God and trust he will show you the way. It will build your faith in him, too. You have to take action to know his will.
What steps of faith will you take today to walk in his will? He wants to show you the great adventure he has for you. Don’t plan, just seek him.
How to Know God’s Will for Your Life
If you have a big decision to make and want to know God’s will for your life, there are certain things that will help you in recognizing it. They are things that you actively experience when you are seeking “God’s will be done.”
God’s will for you is good and the more you seek him the more you will know it. He is with you in making this decision and he will show you the way. You are not alone; when you are not hearing his voice or seeing the door open, keep pressing into him. He will show you. Below you will find 3 tips to knowing God’s will for your life.
1. Peace
When you have a decision to make, notice if you are having peace. Your creator is a God of peace—if you don’t have peace in it, then it might not be his will.
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (John 14:27, NIV)
If it’s his will, he will give you great peace… even if what he is asking you to do doesn’t make sense to you.
Do you have peace? Ask yourself this when discerning God’s will in your decision.
2. Grace
Grace is God’s unmerited favor. You can figure out God’s will for your life by seeing if your path is full of his favor.
“And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.” (2 Corinthians 9:8, NKJV)
If you are not seeing his favor in a direction and he is closing doors then it’s not his will. God will do amazing and astonishing things when it’s his will for you. He will change hearts, make miracles happen, etc.
Sometimes you have to wait for his timing. When it’s his will you will see his grace. Are you seeing his favor?
3. Provision
Sometimes when you think something is God’s will, you will need him to provide in great ways for you to do it. He is the great provider—if something is his will, and you are walking with him faithfully, he will provide for you.
“And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19, NIV)
He will give you a way to pay for it or make the money if it’s his will. God will provide in every way for you to walk into what he is calling you to do. Are you seeing his provision?
When you are having a hard time making a decision, you can know how to know God’s will for your life. If you have peace, see his grace, and experience provision as you walk out in faith, you can know your direction is in God’s will.
God wants you walking in his will and he will show you when you seek him. He hasn’t abandoned you or forsaken you. He has such good plans for you. As you follow his will for your life, you can walk out the greatest commandment by loving God, then loving yourself and loving people.
