Knowing the will of God
By Danna Demetre

back to articles

“IF I ONLY KNEW WHAT GOD WANTED ME TO DO, I WOULD DO IT!” I had made that comment a bizillion times in my Christian journey to find God’s perfect will for my life. In business, ministry and domestic challenges, my heart’s desire was to be in the center of his will. What frustrated me was the fact that I often felt like a little mouse in a cosmic maze. Much of the time I seemed to bumping my nose against brick walls. I just could not believe that God was playing a game with me. I knew in my heart, He must want me to make the right choices. So, why was it often so difficult?

Perhaps it wasn’t near as difficult as I was making it. In fact, that is my conclusion after sitting under the teaching of my pastor and radio co-host, Dr. Tim Scott for the past several years. As you will see, I’ve done some pretty dumb things in the pursuit of God’s will. In retrospect I’ve often hit myself in the head with a verbal two by four wondering, “What was I thinking?” Maybe like me, you’ve been trying to “read the signs along the way”. How do you know what new opportunities in business, ministry or some other area of life are from God? When “doors close” do you assume God is saying “NO”? Or, have you ever “put out a fleece” seeking God’s will?

I admit it…I’ve done it all. And for the most part, all I can say is…”What was I thinking?” Here a couple examples of how I’ve sought to discern God’s will in my life. I wonder, can you relate?

What job, what city, what house???
Fourteen years ago, my husband and I decided to relocate to southern California. The big decisions were: which job should he take (he had several offers) and should we choose San Diego or Orange County? We began to pray about making the right decision. In fact, on one frustrating weekend, we made down payments on two separate houses (one in each county). How’s that for covering all the bases? In the process of evaluating the Orange county area, we found what seemed to be a dynamic church close to the home we liked. I gathered some brochures and determined that to be our first church visit if we chose that home.

As it turns out we chose the home and job in San Diego. There was never a clear sign from God…so we just “stepped out in faith” as the cliché goes. Within a few short weeks we were plugged in to a wonderful church fellowship and had made several quality friends. “Whew”, I thought. “What would have happened to our lives if we had chosen “wrong” and ended up at the other church?”

About a year later, I was attending a Christian leadership conference and the guest speaker just happened to be the pastor of the “other” church in Orange County. He was on-fire and dynamic in his teaching. I had an interesting revelation as I sat listening. That is…God is not setting me up for failure. Either choice was reasonable and provided for a vibrant healthy church fellowship that was easy to "find". I realized that within his moral will, he has given me the liberty to make my own choices. Hmmm…what a remarkable God. He gave me a will not just to choose Him, but to make daily life choices as well!

How much should I give?
Growing churches have growing needs. As ours made plans for expansion, we were told to pray about how much we should give to the new building campaign. I wondered if God had a specific number in mind. How was I to know if my number and His were the same? What if I got it wrong? What if it was too high…too low? The evening we were to make the pledge, my husband had to go out of town. We still hadn’t come up with a number. He told me that he would trust me to make the decision. Whatever God told me was fine with him. Well, that was just a little pressure. I felt caught between pledging too much and my husband being mad or pledging too little and disappointing God. Of course, we all know that we can’t “out-give God”. So, I took an enormous “leap of faith” and doubled the number that had been spinning in my brain. The first number would require significant sacrifice and budgeting. The second would require a miracle. Is God in the miracle business? Sure, He is. But not this time.

As it turns out, we were able to give half of my “faith pledge”. Had I been disobedient to a “word” from the Lord? I don’t think so. I had taken a simple-minded approach to decision making. I had not used wisdom to count the cost of sacrificing income we didn’t even have. God had not given me an absolute and obvious sign that my “double-pledge” was His will. I had just assumed that God would be pleased with such a large pledge and provide. The reality was, He had more important things to teach me about stewardship, wisdom and discerning His will.

The mystery of God’s will…is not such a mystery
I am learning that God does not make decision-making and knowing His will difficult. I do that for myself. Sometimes the “road most traveled” in our modern Christian culture is the wrong road. I complicate things when I misread the “signs” along the way. God guides us very specifically through his Word. And when He doesn’t, we can rest assured that it is impossible to be outside of His providential sovereign will for our lives. As Dr. Scott often says, “Your life and circumstances will collide with His providence to bring about His sovereign will for you life. We are given the liberty to choose within His moral will. And that moral will is detailed fully in His Word.”

back to articles