Everyday Step with Jesus

Oftentimes we hear…let it be God’s will. Saying this or something along those lines is not just something we say for comfort when there’s uncertainty or don’t quite know what to do. So what is God’s will? Keep on reading…

Well that is a good question lol…in order to know God’s will, we need to know God personally. Not just know about Him, but know Him. He longs to have a relationship with us, and when we get to know Him through His word we will know His will. 

KNOWING 

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.” Matthew 7:21 NKJV

These words spoken by Jesus teach us that it is not merely enough to know about Him but we need to do the will of the Father. In order to know God’s will we need to know Him and be committed to Him. He needs our yes and He will guide us through the rest. Our yes is trusting in Him and being led by Him through obedience. He will then confirm to us that we are on the right path…doing His will. When He instructs us on what to do we need to obey and trust so that He can continue to give us instruction in the way we should go. We can’t go to step B or C without first completing step A. We need to set our hearts on obeying and trusting Him even in the small things. This takes commitment. He is a God of detail, so when we pay attention to the small details and follow Him in the small things He removes the confusion and gives us confidence about what His will looks like in our lives.

UNDERSTANDING

Jesus is our perfect example of what it means to let God’s will be done. Jesus has given us the most beautiful example of trusting and obeying the Father. Jesus knew that pain and suffering was ahead and He was in agony for what was ahead, but despite that He chose to obey and trust the Father. He knew why He was on earth, not for His own benefit but to do the will of the Father, to carry out the plan of salvation so that you and I won’t perish. 

“For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”John 6:38-40 NKJV

The ultimate will of God is that you and I won’t perish, that we may have eternal life and dwell in His beautiful presence for eternity. Anything that leads us to His ultimate will which is to give us eternal life is doing God’s will. Anything that gets you closer to Him and advances His kingdom is His will. Whatever lines up with His Word is His will. This is why in order to know His will, we need to know Him through His Word and have a relationship with Him. Otherwise trying to please others by doing their will or our own will, leaves us with a life filled with confusion and uncertainty.

Understanding God’s will is being aware that our sufficiency comes from God alone, that without Him we wouldn’t be able to do anything. The only way to know God’s will is through His word, through knowing Him because He is the Word. 

APPLYING

When we say let it be God’s will it is not an idle thing. It is making the commitment to trust Him, to obey Him, to know Him through His Word. To fully depend on Him even when we don’t understand or like the situation we are going through. As we know Jesus is our best example of this, despite the suffering that He knew was ahead He let God’s will take place in His life. 

“saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.”Luke 22:42 NKJV

What does that look like in our lives? 

It is taking action when He tells us to take action and being still when He tells us to be still. This means that we are led by His Holy Spirit…but we will only have this conviction from the Holy Spirit when we are near to Him otherwise when we aren’t abiding in Him it becomes easy to ignore the prompting of our Helper, the Holy Spirit. 

‭‭It is acknowledging God in every part of our lives and inviting Him to truly take the lead.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.” Proverbs 3:5-6 NLT

Including Him of course in the big plans that we have but also in our everyday life. He cares about even the smallest detail in your life. Make Him a part of it, He cares for you. We may not always understand what is happening, but as long as we understand who our God is we will be at peace knowing that we can trust Him. 

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9 NKJV

His thoughts and ways are way better than ours. We need to remember that we are limited and He is not! This is why we can trust that His will will always be better than our will and surrender our will to Him…to be led by Him. So when we say “let it be God’s will” we aren’t just idly sitting around doing nothing, but rather actively seeking His presence, trusting, and following His lead. So that we may say

“I take joy in doing your will, my God, for your instructions are written on my heart.” Psalms 40:8 NLT