What If... I Don't Know What God Wants Me To Do?

Trinity Church Tamworth

WHAT IF … I DON’T KNOW WHAT GOD WANTS ME TO DO? Trinity 2 Peter 1:3-15 28.2.24 Over the past few weeks, we have asked WHAT IF … My Prayers are not Answered? If I can’t Stop Worrying? If I can’t Forgive Someone? If I have Fooled Myself about Jesus? Today is the last in this series: WHAT IF I Don’t Know What God Wants me to Do? A lady was praying about what she should do for her holidays. She woke one morning as her bedside clock ticked over to 7.47. She took that as God telling her she should take a 747 flight somewhere. A man I knew in Adelaide had a similar question. He read in the Bible that God told Abraham to go east then south. Melbourne! A fellow student at Melbourne Bible Institute (MBI) in 1968, knew God wanted him there because when he was out running one night, the clouds formed the letters MBI. I wondered if he was dyslexic and if God was telling him to work for IBM. A church tower was struck by lightning and destroyed. Some people in the church concluded that God was saying that they should have built a bigger one. Others thought it was God saying that they should not have built one at all. What was he saying? It was announced one Sunday in the Church where I was working that Sue, and I were engaged. The next day one of the girls from that Church told me that that was a big mistake because the Lord had told her that she was to marry me. Christians want to please God and make godly decisions. Should I live here or there? Should I rent, or buy? Should I go to Uni or do an apprenticeship? A holiday in Bali or Ballina? Or give away my vacation money? If you are committed to following the Lord Jesus, of course you will. If he says to do something, isn’t that your top priority? But how will you know what he wants? Let’s answer 3 other questions first: 1. DOES GOD HAVE A PLAN FOR ALL MY LIFE? Are there some things that are accidents, unplanned or left up to us to determine? R C Sproul wrote “If there is even one maverick molecule in the universe – one molecule running loose outside of the scope of God’s sovereign ordination” … then “God is not God”. Of course he is God. Ephesians 1:11 says that he “works all things according to the counsel of his will”. Does that include where I live? The job I have? The day I die? The decisions I make today and tomorrow and next year. God says, “all things”. Of course, God has a plan for my life, from the huge to the minute things. 2. CAN I WRECK GOD’S PLAN? Might a stupid decision, a sinful decision, an ignorant decision where I don’t know all the implications of what I decide wreck God’s plan? I do not even know which decisions are the big ones. As Phillip Jensen says in his book on Guidance, deciding which job to take may prove not to be as big a decision as the one to play rugby one day when the scrum collapses on me and I end up with a broken neck. Of course, our decisions are limited, foolish or sinful. But what is as real and more important is the fact that, as Job says, “No plan of yours can be thwarted” (Job 42:2). 3. WHAT DO I NEED TO KNOW? I still need to make choices and decisions, and they need to be as wise and godly as possible. What do I need to know, to make them? Signs? Secret voices? Peace in my heart? In short, I need to pay close attention to what he has already said, not to what he hasn’t. Deuteronomy 29:29 reads “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of his law.” There are plenty of things in God’s secret will – the date of my death, where I shall take a holiday, the health issues I will face. If I needed to know all that he would have told me. The fact that they are “secret and belong to him” means I do not need to know them. As well as “secret things”, there are “revealed things”. Revealed where? Words in the clouds? In tests I invent … “If a red car comes around the corner, then I will know I should take this job, or if that girl phones before 9 o’clock, I will know she is the one to marry.” Or if I feel at peace about buying that house, I’ll know that’s God’s will.” We read earlier from 2 Peter 1. Peter writes that God has “granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of him” (v3). I don’t need to get more information to live a life that is pleasing to the Lord. I already have enough for “godliness”. Peter says that some of “the things revealed” are what he is writing – in Scripture. He says in verse 12 that he wants to “remind” us of what we have said, in verse 13 to stir us up “by way of reminder”, so that after he dies, we can “recall” what we have already been told. What do I need to know as I have to make decisions? Not the “secret things” that belong to God, but the “things revealed”. Am I saying that the Bible is enough to know the will of God for your life? That there is enough here to make a godly decision about who to marry, where to work, how to spend your money, what to do with your leisure time and everything else? That is exactly what I am saying. More importantly, it is what God is saying. Where does this all leave you? 1. MAKE DECISIONS OUT OF GOD’S REVEALED WILL I know what God’s will is for my life and for yours. He says in 1 Thessalonians 4:3 “This is the will of God, your sanctification (your being made holy): that you abstain from sexual immorality.” In v7 “God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness.” Don’t enter into an impure relationship or go looking where you will be immoral. Don’t make plans that take you into sin. Don’t see how close you can get to the edge of the cliff – but make decisions that keep you away from the edge. That is God’s will for you. What about decisions you must make about which job, marry or not, marry who, buy a new car or give your money away. You want to be holy, but there is no chapter and verse that tells you what decision to make in those areas. What about decisions we must make together – do we extend this building or do something else for future needs, do we try to start a ministry in the new nursing home, or give our energies to something else, do we ask these men to be elders, or those men? Some people think that making godly choices is like walking a tightrope. One bad step and you are “out of God’s will”. That is not only wrong, but also a recipe for introspective anxiety – and often an excuse for doing nothing, in case you take a wrong step. God’s will is not like that. It’s a broad road, with walls on each side. Any decision within what he has written is okay. When God told Adam and Eve they could eat of any tree in the Garden, except one, did they have to pray about which tree gave them dinner? Or whether they made fruit salad, dumplings or ate them fresh? No – God had said: “Any tree in here, but not that one over here.” If their choice is somewhere in here, they are living out of God’s revealed will. Any choice in here is okay. In 1 Corinthians 7, Paul speaks about the lady who is now a widow, and wondering whether she can remarry. Hed says in verse 39 “she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord.” If she marries again, won’t God have planned who she will marry? Of course, but how will she know who that is? She doesn’t need to know. She should marry who she wants to. Within the walls of what God has said, any choice is okay. Now that is liberating, isn’t it? God’s revealed will is enough, and his sovereign will means we can’t make a decision that will wreck his plan. Even an unwise decision fulfils it. This way is not only the way of freedom, but also the way of honesty and reality. In his excellent book on decision-making, Kevin de Young writes this: I’ll never forget my poor beleaguered roommate talking with me after he took a risk and told a girl that he liked her. They went on a long walk. He was pretty sure she would reciprocate. It turned out she wasn’t interested. … Instead of just saying “I am not interested” or “I don’t like you” or “Quit stalking me” or something, she went all spiritual on him. “I’ve been praying a lot about you, and the Holy Spirit told me no.” “No?” my confused roommate asked. “No … never” she replied. Poor guy – he got rejected, not only by this sweet girl, but by the Holy Spirit. The third person of the Trinity took a break from pointing people to Jesus to tell this girl not to date my roommate. I didn’t know that was in the Spirit’s job description.” (Just Do Something p48) Do we need a chapter and verse to say this is the right decision? Or a dream or a vision? No. We say we are withing the walls of God’s revealed will, and this seems a wise decision. Or if it is a decision about a personal preference, we say “I’m choosing to do this because I prefer books to movies, or onions to oysters.” We don’t have to say, “God told me” (when he did not), not when we live out of his revealed will. 2. MAKE WISE DECISIONS You don’t have to think about getting out of bed in the morning, being at church on time or asking after someone who has had a tough week. You don’t need wisdom for that … it’s just what you do. Some decisions require wisdom. Is it wiser to repair the car or trade it in? Is it wiser to do engineering or education at Uni? Is it wiser to go into the family business, or strike out on your own? Is it wiser to start a new youth group or strengthen the ones we have? Sometimes, spiritual wisdom is part of this: • Is it wiser to spend an afternoon on my own or take an hour or two of it to catch up with someone who has been missing from church. • Is it wiser to take a job that pays more, or to stay in a job where you have good friends who know no other believer but you? • Is it wiser to take a big holiday or invest the money in making the gospel known? Is any of those options godly and others ungodly? If they are all on the broad road withing the walls of God’s revealed will, then we do not judge others who decide differently from us. Some decisions are spiritually wise. Doing this rather than that means blessing for you, a friend, your church, or the spread of the kingdom of Jesus. Time into ministry in a small group over time at your hobby or more time at work, because it brings more blessing. Bible-time over Facebook time. Kids in a Christian School rather than a new house. Money left for Gospel ministry rather than to kids who won’t use it as you would. May a hobby and work and a new home and money for your kids all within God’s revealed will? Of course, so they are not wrong decisions, but they may not be wise. God has not promised to reveal the details of his plan, so you make the best decisions. Indeed, he has said he will not, but he has promised wisdom to those who seek it: “If any one you lacks wisdom, let him ask God who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.” (James 1:5) When someone asks you to help at SKIDS, or join a Philippines team, or keep an eye out for someone, you may respond “I’ll pray about it”. What do you mean? That you’ll ask God for a sign or a special word, so you’ll know whether to do it? Or do you mean you will pray for wisdom, so you’ll make a smart decision? Back to the question with which we started: What if I don’t know what God wants me to do? 1. I don’t need to know, beyond what he has revealed in his Word. 2. I can be confident that whatever I do within the bounds of his revealed will – all my decisions – are okay. 3. Because of his sovereign will, I can be confident that his plan will be perfectly fulfilled. Even when my decisions are sinful. 4. What I need, what we as a church need, within all these valid options is godly wisdom which God promises to give. Dear friends, God’s way of guiding us is so good. We don’t need to wallow in uncertainty or hesitancy. We don’t need to fear we’ll muck it up and that God’s plan will be wrecked. This is the way freedom, honesty, and delight. Let’s run with all our might.