Ever so often people ask pastors how to discern, discover, understand, and/or know God’s will for their life.  Now that I’ve experienced a few things along the way, I think I may be just starting to figure out and understand for myself some of the ways that God works ever so often.  In other words, we’ll never understand God, why He does what He does, OR the reasons He does the way He does them.  Anyway…

Here are a few thoughts for consideration…

Thought 1. God reveals His will for our lives AS HE DOES HIS WILL IN OUR LIVES.

Thought 2. It is more important to be the kind of person that discerns what God is doing than figure out what to do.

Thought 3. Trust God AS He is working out His will in your life remembering you don’t have to understand everything (Pr 3:5).

Thought 4. Most of the time you will understand more fully God’s activity in retrospect rather than in the moment (Genesis 50:20).

Thought 5. Believe that whatever God is doing in working out His will in your life IS ultimately for His glory and your good.

I suggest those things as helpful because… 1) I believe they are consistent with the Scripture, 2) I have observed these things in the lives of fellow believers, 3) I have experienced them myself.  For instance…

Thought #1: The way God protected me was moving me after high school to Hattiesburg, MS.  Then He put me at Samford University to meet my future wife.  The way God put me in every church I’ve served can only be explained as GOD doing it (I couldn’t have orchestrated the things required to get there myself).

Thought #2: From my study of Scripture, when things I plan or hoped for didn’t work out or fell through, I chose to see them as The Spirit prohibiting them for reasons I don’t need to know.  This comes from Acts 16:7.

Thought #3: There have been MANY times that my life was out of my ability to control.  I could either be anxious, worried, and stressed… OR I could trust God.  I chose the latter most of the time…. and had to confess my failure when I didn’t.

Thought #4: Most recently I got this by looking back over how I left the last church… to serving as an interim… which was necessary for me t be pastor of Huffman Baptist Church.  When I look back now, the things that happened over the course of those 33 months between one church and Huffman Baptist.  I realized that God was doing His will in my life… and therefore revealing it AS He was DOING it.

Thought #5: God’s glory is more important than my (Or your) ease… comfort… safety… or happiness.  When I have that perspective on life, THEN I have MORE joy know that God is using me and my life for HIS glory.  That is a greater joy than anything else!

Okay… just my thoughts.  Hope you find some encouragement!