"If it’s God's will for me to go to Biola, he'll make it happen."
"If God wants me to marry Bryan, he'll work out the details."
Does God want you to go to Biola or NAU? Does God want you marry Bryan? Would God object to you going to Biola or marrying Bryan? I’d wager a bet that He wouldn’t. Maybe Bryan would be a great Godly guy for you to marry! Maybe you should pray for God to give you wisdom about how to proceed with your relationship and that you make wise choices throughout. Maybe you should pray that God could open a door for you to go to Biola and maybe He will. But are you going to be out of line with God's will if you go to NAU instead?
Early on in my life one thing I never could understand about the idea of God having a detailed will for us is what happens when we go the wrong way? What happens if His will is for us to go to Biola and we go to Arizona Christian instead? Is His will like a GPS unit that just automatically re-calibrates and comes up with a new route based on which turn we actually made? Does an entire lifetime of little details -- the guy you would've met at freshman orientation at Biola who would later become your husband, your five kids, your nursing career, your house on Maple St -- just disappear and suddenly a new plan is God's new will for your life? Or are you forever ruined because you made one wrong turn early on in your life? Seems a little problematic considering that we're all sinners.
I've come to realize that God's will for our lives is pretty darn simple. God's will for your life is that you become more like Christ. In his book Just Do Something Kevin DeYoung expands on this just a bit by saying that the will of God is:
That we live holy, set apart lives. (1 Thes 4:3)
That we always rejoice, pray and give thanks. (1 Thes 5:16-18)
That we are to know god's will so that we can bear fruit and know Him better. (Col 1:9)
That we be filled with the Holy Spirit. (Eph 5:17)
I think it's pretty plain and simple. That's not to say that we can't talk to God about any and every situation. God can, and does, open doors (or windows occasionally, maybe even a side gate). But I don't think that God is waiting for us to check-in with every decision we make. Go to Chipotle for dinner or Pei Wei? Hmm, what do you think God? Should I witness to that guy over there or no? Oh, you already answered that question in the Bible? Uhm...could you give me some sort of sign, just so that I can be sure? And what about dinner?
In my first few years of being a camp counselor I used to hate the God's will question. Mainly because I hadn't figured out the answer to the question myself, let alone well enough to explain it to someone else. It's somewhat sad that it took me so long to realize how simple it really is.
Side rant: My other issue with the first two statements in this post is the laziness involved in them. I hate it when people are being passive because they are "waiting on God to reveal His will". God has already revealed His will!
Questions that I think are worth asking:
Does this decision line up with what I know Biblically?
Does this decision bring me closer to God or distract me from Him?
But please, let's stop asking if it's God's will for you to go to Disneyland or not this summer.
One thing that I do take a lot of comfort in is the fact that God does grant us wisdom (see James 1:5)! One of my favorite things to pray for has always been to ask Him for wisdom for how to deal with a certain situation. Maybe if we spent more time asking for wisdom instead of praying for Him to reveal His will we'd end up a little bit closer to where we need to be.
