The ‘will of God’ explained.
God’s will.
What God wants of us. What is best for us.
What we need.
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1. INTRODUCTION
This commonly used term can lead to quite a bit of confusion. Simply put, the “will of God” or “God’s will” refers to his view of what is ‘best for us’ and what he ‘wants of us’ individually and collectively as the human race. Really, it refers to ‘what we need’ rather than ‘what we want’!
I certainly believe that the effect of God’s will, in our lives, can be recognised at work there.
Please note that the image here in the intro has been borrowed due to its deeply meaningful message. That message, from Pastor Warren Wiersbe, offers a very positive ‘extension’ of the term, “Will of God”.
So, thank you Pastor Warren.
2. IT’S BASED ON GOD’S LOVE FOR US
The Lord can guide us individually, and as a whole, towards what he knows is best for us. That relates to both our short, and long term, “GENUINE NEEDS”. He can even ‘force us’ to go in a particular direction in life if need be.
2.1 God knows what is best for us
Yes, each of us do normally have ‘free will’ when making our choices in life. But, God can simply ‘orchestrate’ or organise events to override our plans when he KNOWS they will eventually cause serious harm to us or others. (That is, apply his ‘will’ to our life events.) I am particuarly referring here to his act of ‘closing doors‘. But, mind you, I am not suggesting this often happens in life. No, usually God just attempts to ‘guide us’ in our decision-making through his loving care.
To understand this stuff a bit better, just begin by reading the article, “God’s guidance“. It offers advice on how to successfully follow God’s methods of guidance there in our lives, THEN reap the benefits. In effect, as a result, we end up on the receiving end of God’s will. And yes, this can lead us to “the safest place in all the world” as Pastor Warren Wiersbe puts it. That is circumstances that meet our actual ‘needs’ in life.
From my own evaluation, God’s guidance and ‘assistance‘ does in fact provide strong evidence of ‘his presence in our lives‘ WHEN we know how to recognise it. Like a loving parent he truly wants what is BEST for each of us, so that we can have purposeful and contented lives.
2.2 What God really wants from us
So God loves us and is ready to guide us away from greed, self centredness, poor choices, bad habits and deeds etc, because they will negatively impact our relationship with others and indeed himself.
Within this context, God’s will is only that we become as good a person as is reasonably possible. (And remember the Bible is there to teach us ‘how to do just that’.) This in turn increases the likelihood that we will build a lasting and loving relationship with God.
Ultimately, that ‘relationship’ is what God WANTS from us above all else! Essentially that is WHY each of us do exist. And in effect, from our perspective, this all relates to our own long term contentment and purpose in life. For more on this subject, please read the article, “What does faith offer us?”
2.3 Tough times can also be in the plan
But look … this website definitely does not suggest that our lives will all be ‘smooth sailing’. No, bad stuff can and will most likely happen to each of us some time in life. For more information on that topic please see the article, “Suffering and evil?”.
As far as us ‘faithful’ Christians are concerned, God definitely is ready to help us during those times. Please read the article, ‘God during hard times‘ to understand how we can connect or engage with God, and receive the benefits of his loving care, during those tough times. Yes, that is part of God’s will for us too.
3. CONCLUSION
The will of God should then be understood in the context of ‘goodness’, and ‘what really is best for us’! It may well not relate to our ‘wants’ and ‘wishlists’ though. No, it is related to both our short and long term ‘needs’ and that of others who we have contact with. Yes, and it even applies to our future ‘eternal life’ with him. “Wowzers!” you may say. But yes, it is all related to God’s will for us.
Please note that this website also contains guidance on how to establish for yourself whether God does exist. Maybe, begin by reading the article, “How to believe in God?” It is all about how to identify evidence of God’s presence and genuinely evaluate it. We do this through the use of Christian faith in our lives and within the Church – thereby building up a body of evidence that will stand the test of time. The ‘stumbling block’ for most of us, when beginner Christians, is NOT knowing how or where to look for this potential evidence. (Please note that I am from a senior auditing background and the majority of my advisory team are Christian clergy. To glimpse the ‘who’, ‘how’ and ‘why’ of this website please ‘click here‘.)
The final section of the website, gives a simple ‘explanation of Christianity‘. This article is within that same section.