Popular View: Find the Dot

adapted from Decision Making and the Will of God by Garry Friesen

God’s Sovereign Will

• God’s sovereign will is a detailed plan for all events in human history. Humans cannot fully understand it.
• We are not expected to find God’s sovereign will. But we have confidence it will always come to pass.
• It includes both good and evil events and we understand it after it happens.
• Though it includes evil and foolish decisions, ultimately God will bring good and glory out of it.

God’s Moral Will

• God’s moral will is a set of general commands, principles and proverbs for living a successful life.
• Believers are expected to learn and obey these commands and principles. But believers can fail to learn and obey them.
• The commands are revealed by in Scripture through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
• Its directives are general such that they apply to all believers (e.g. marry a believer).

God’s Individual Will

• God’s individual will is detailed plan for all decisions and events in a believer’s earthly life.
• Believer’s are expected to find and follow it, but we can miss it by failure to learn and obey.
• It is revealed through a variety of means including Scripture and the inward impression of the Holy Spirit.
• It’s directives are specific (e.g. marry the guy next door and move to Vermont).

Popular View: Finding God’s will for your life is finding the dot in center of God’s moral will. You know you’ve found God’s will for your life when all the “road signs” point in the same direction.

Biblical view: The Way of Wisdom

²Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, ³for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. ⁴And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. ⁵If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. ⁶But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. ⁷For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; ⁸he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. – James 1:2-8

• A trial is a circumstance that tests something to show what it is made of.
• The trial does NOT test my worthiness for salvation.  That test is over and we all failed.
• The question being tested is do we have real, genuine, saving faith or not.
• The testing of our faith produces perseverance and perseverance gains us wisdom.
• Wisdom is the skill to live life well or have a godly perspective on life.
• To be “perfect” (1:4) is not to be without flaw, rather it is to become that which you were meant to be.
• To lack wisdom is to be a fool.
• James is not talking about finding the “dot of God’s will for my life” rather he’s talking about gaining a wise perspective on life.
• In this context, doubt is wavering between two options and not committing to one or the other.   It is sitting on the fence and not committing to one side or the other.

Principles of Decision Making

adapted from Decision Making and the Will of God by Garry Friesen

• In those areas specifically addressed by the Bible, we should obey God’s revealed commands and principles.
• In those areas where the Bible gives no command or principle, believers are free and responsible to choose their own course of action within a worldview saturated by Scripture.

Bruce Waltke’s 6 steps to finding wisdom

adapted from his book Finding the Will of God: A Pagan Notion?

The order is crucial.  You must start at step 1 and progress through all steps.  NO step can be skipped. The order cannot be changed.  You cannot start in the middle.

1. Study the Bible.
2. Let what you learn from Bible study shape the desires of your heart.
3. Seek wise counsel.
4. Consider your circumstances.
5. Use your brain (which is now saturated in Bible study, prayer and wise counsel since you didn’t skip any steps).
6. Make a decision and trust God.

If you follow Waltke’s 6 steps in order without skipping any step, you are competent to choose.

Please listen to the podcast for more detail and explanation.

Next: 02 Understanding God’s Will in the church

Series: Understanding God’s Will

Resources: Handout

Photo by Ben O’Sullivan on Unsplash

Podcast season 10, episode 11.