God's Will

Many Christians always ask (including myself) – What is God’s will for me:
Which job/career is the one that you have prepared for me?
Which university should I go to?
What subject/course should I study?

What is God’s will?
1) God’s sovereign will – it’s not going to change and will certainly happen / already happened
Acts 2
23 This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross.

Revelation 4
11 “You are worthy, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they were created
and have their being.”

Hebrews 9
27 Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, 28 so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.

2) God’s moral will – good and bad, what ought / not to be done
Romans 1: 21-32

1 Thessalonians 4
3 It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality;

3) God’s individual will – specific to individuals
Genesis 22
2 Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.”

Genesis 46
2 And God spoke to Israel in a vision at night and said, “Jacob! Jacob!”
“Here I am,” he replied.
3 “I am God, the God of your father,” he said. “Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there.

Typical answers to understanding God’s will (individual will)

Through	Issues
Bible	The Bible does not show God’s life plan to a particular individual as in Mr Mathew do this now and that later.
Prayer	To pray is to communicate with God.
Mental ability (logic, experience)	One cannot figure out God’s will but it is revealed by God Himself.
Elders’ opinions	This can help one to make a decision but cannot inform God’s individual will upon an individual.
Environment (eg: open/close doors)	Job as an upright and righteous man before God encountered suffering.
Inner feelings (eg: peace)	Caused by many factors such as psychological, emotional…

Arguably all these methods can help a person to make a decision but cannot help to understand God’s individual will on you. This is open for discussion.

Contradiction
Philippians 4: 6-7
6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Conclusion
Things that are recorded in the Bible are the most important and significant ones: It is in God’s special timing through specific individuals to do unique tasks. Therefore it is dangerous to generalise God’s individual will and apply it to yourself. Actually, the Bible does not teach us that God has predetermined a specific life plan that cannot be changed for every single person in the world. On the other hand, the Bible does give us the big picture (God’s sovereign will), principals and standards (God’s moral will). The sovereign will is determined by God and will not change, we have to make our own choice whether to follow the moral teachings in the Bible or not, and not everybody is given an individual will but only in very special cases. Essentially, God gives us free will to make choices.

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