“What is God’s will for my life?
This is the question that many, if not all, of us try to search and find an answer to; we want to make sure that whatever we decide to do with our lives, it is indeed what God has planned for us to do while here on earth.
I was the girl who thought that there would be some special ‘moment’ when God would finally reveal to me what He had planned for my life. I didn’t exactly know how or when to expect this ‘moment,’ but I was just so convinced it would happen at some point in the near future – so, I waited.
And waited.
While in this waiting period, I ended up graduating high school, graduating college with two degrees in two completely different fields, and then began a career as an accountant at a clinic in Nashville.
Life didn’t make sense. I didn’t understand why I still felt so lost and confused of what my life should look like or what I should be doing. I felt the same as I did back in high school regarding God’s will for my life: confusion and no answer still.
Surely God wasn’t ignoring me. Rather, I had been ignoring God.
I began to be more intentional on seeking God, reading His Word, praying, and specifically asking Him to somehow show me and open my eyes to see what He wants of me and what He wants of my life.
“Surrender everything,” I felt the Holy Spirit put on my heart.
Surrender your life. Surrender your future. Surrender your job. Surrender your dreams. Surrender your goals. Surrender accounting. Surrender music. Surrender anything that this world has to offer you. Surrender what you think your Christian life is supposed to look like. Surrender any preconceptions you might have. “For your thoughts are not My thoughts and neither are your ways My ways.”
So, I did just that.
It hasn’t been easy, but if we are followers of Christ, we must pick up the cross daily. Die to ourselves daily. We need to have complete trust in Him and know that He is always with us – as a result, our desires will be transformed into His desires.
As I continued on this new lifestyle of intentionally seeking God, I discovered a truth. Indeed, I discovered the answer to this difficult yet very common question we all ask ourselves… “What is God’s will for my life?”
The answer was right in front of me all along.
His will for my life is to 1) love God above all, 2) love my neighbor as myself, and 3) make disciples.
In Matthew chapter 22, a Pharisee who was a lawyer asked Jesus,
36. “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law? 37. and He said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38. This is the great and first commandment. 39. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Matthew 28: 19-20 reads,
19. “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20. teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
This is a command that Jesus tells His disciples to do right before He goes to sit at the right hand of the Father sitting in His heavenly throne.
God has called us, His children, to love God, to love others, and to make disciples.
I had been so focused on trying to figure out exactly what God’s ‘will’ for my life is that I haven’t actually spent time with Him; after-all, a relationship with us is what He truly wants. And what happens as a result of said relationship? God changes us. God transforms us. God works through us and in us. God leads His people to where He wants them to be and leads them to go where He wants them to go. God answers.
Sure, I didn’t get the answer I expected. Sure, I didn’t get the, “Sarah, I want you to take this path and pick this career and you will be where I want you.” Even today, I have no clue what exactly is up ahead. But I know my God is with me, He is faithful, He is leading me – because His Word promises me this.
No matter what decision lies ahead, God is with you. Believe it. Live it.
Another thing I have learned is that sometimes when we arrive at a crossroad in life, we worry entirely too much about the possibility of making the wrong choice. We convince ourselves that if we make the wrong decision, we will miss God’s will for our lives. I know I did. God’s divine plan won’t be messed up because of you, my friend. Whatever happens, He knew from the beginning of time that it would – but rest assured that He is in control.
God is all-powerful, all-knowing and present everywhere; He gives you desires, passions, and skills and allows us to make our own choices – not so we can mess up, but so that A.) He can show you that He can use you however He pleases in whatever situation or circumstance you are in and B.) Because He is a loving God who gives us freewill to make our choices.
So, instead of asking “God, what is Your will for my life?” maybe we should start asking, “God, how can I be used today?“
This sort of ties back to my previous blog post about being present. Maybe if we focused on the time we are given today, not worrying about tomorrow, we would see that God is indeed with us, using us, and leading us in His will.
“For the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.”
Will you be a worker for the Lord, the King of Kings, by loving Him, others, and making disciples?
SDG
