Article by Chew Phye Keat

Prologue: Recently from the pulpit our brother Wee Min shared on “Knowing God’s Will”. To develop further on the thoughts he has shared, I wanted to share below an adaptation of a talk I had given recently on the same topic. The thoughts expressed here are entirely my own and do not represent the church stand on the matter. Happy reading and feel free to interact with me on it at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Introduction

As disciples of Christ - we are required to make decisions in line with God’s will (Rom 12:1,2). A proper understanding of God’s will is necessary for this purpose.

Meaning of God’s will

From what I can gather from my study on this topic there seems to be 4 aspects (or dimensions) of God’s will:

1. God’s sovereign will – He is in control of and determines everything that happens in the universe. There may be a problem trying to reconcile the freedom of human action and the determinative sovereign will of God. There is also the problem of understanding natural calamities in the light of God’s sovereign will – did God “will” the recent earthquake in Padang to happen? For the sake of focus, a full discussion on these troubling issues will not be the subject of this paper but one need to uphold the truth that God’s will does encompass the various causes and effects which determines every incident in the universe.
2. God’s purposive will – His plan i.e. what he wants to do or accomplish in the universe, in this world and in your life. This is usually expressed as the building of God’s kingdom on earth. He wants to redeem for Himself a community of His people who will live out His values and act as salt and light in this world. This should formulate our worldview and dictate the way we live (and make choices).
3. God’s moral will – what He considers as right or wrong based on His holiness, righteousness and justice. We are guided on this by the commands and instructions as revealed in the Bible. Fundamentally, we are commanded “to be holy as He is holy” and we are to “love Him with all our heart, mind, soul and strength” and to “love our neighbor as ourselves”.
4. God’s specific will for the individual – what God wants you to do or decide based on the choices you can or have to make in your current situation. We are usually challenged on this when major decisions come our way and we want to know what God’s will is for us because we are afraid of the consequences of a wrong decision or because we want to be in God’s “perfect” will.

Application

When making decisions all the above aspects or dimensions of God’s will come into play. Consider the following key points:

1. God wants us to make our own decisions and not take the easier way out to “surrender” those choices to Him to tell us what to do. He directs our path by giving us options and choices we have to make and in so doing we find wisdom and grow in maturity.
2. When making decisions we clearly have to be in line with His moral will – what He considers to be the right or wrong thing to do. There is no need to” seek God’s will” about pursuing a serious relationship with a non-Christian. An understanding of His commands and instructions in Scripture already tell us what is the right thing to do. Also, motivation may make something that looks right become wrong – e.g. “I want to be a doctor because I want to be rich”. The “reason” to become a doctor itself may make such a choice questionable from a spiritual point of view.
3. For choices which do not conflict with God’s moral will we have the freedom to decide (based on certain principles as discussed below) in the sense that there is no absolute right or wrong or “perfect” or “imperfect” choice. God does not call us to look for a secret or perfect or specific plan He has designed for us and which if we fail to follow will get us in trouble or we end up with “second best”. This statement is often regarded as a departure from the traditional way of understanding God’s specific will and is open to debate.
4. In exercising our freedom to decide, He expects us to consider His purposive will – what is important to Him – the building of His kingdom on earth. Remember the words, “your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt 6:10) and “seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matt 6:33). For example on the vexed issue of migration, one needs to ask the question, in the overall plan of God’s kingdom and looking at what God wants to do in Malaysia, why would He want me to migrate?
5. Such exercise of our freedom will require spiritual wisdom. God will give us wisdom when we ask this of Him (James 1:5) and when we offer our lives to Him to as a living sacrifice and in so doing are transformed by the renewing of our minds (Rom 12:1,2). This will be contrary to the pattern of the world and therefore counter culture – this may be tough. Perhaps the training of our minds and hearts to be in line with God’s purposive and moral will in the context of our journeying with God and our growing in spiritual maturity is what God is more focused on than the actual decision to be made and the perceived consequences flowing from it.
6. Asking God for “special signs” or asking the local church pastor for a “word from God” should not be our “standard operating procedure”. In most cases God calls us to go through the process of making choices consistent with His moral will and in furtherance of His purposive will. In certain cases where some special calling will be required (like the case of Moses, Gideon, Elijah, Paul and others), God may confirm the decision to be made with some special, unusual or supernatural “sign” but the point being made here is that this should not be the norm.
7. Whatever the consequences from the decision taken, God promises that “in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Rom 8:28). He is able to “redeem” the situation where we have made bad choices (consider Joseph’s case in Gen 50:20), though we may sometimes have to live with some of the consequences. This brings us back to the sovereign will of God which puts everything in its proper place, in the final outcome. In this sense we pray for His will to be done, in spite of our actions and decisions we make.

Some further practical points:

• Be careful how you read circumstances including what is an “open door” and “closed door” in determining what God’s will is
• Few decisions in life are irreversible
• Enjoy the journey with God as he helps you explore yourself and the options
• Wisdom is the decision we make based on the application of facts and data – so get the facts and data
• Sometimes in making difficult decisions we seek to feel the “peace of God” but be careful that this is not just a psychological or emotional reaction
• Seeking wise counsel is very important
• Rest assured He promises the best for us but what He considers as “best for us” may not be what we thought or wanted!

Chew Phye Keat

October 2009