By ARCHIE ENGLAND
How can I discover and do God’s will for my life?
The quest for knowing God’s will can be an consuming endeavor. It can be accompanied by agony, frustration, fitful prayer, and despair. Those seeking “God’s plan for their life” willingly (or woefully) make changes (careers, homes, churches, etc.) along this path of discovery. Is this what God wants from you during 2011?
Proverbs 29:18 pinpoints a particular tension that, when understood, directs Christians toward a better way of knowing and doing God’s will: “Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained (KJV: ‘perish’; NLT: ‘run wild’), But happy is he who keeps the law” (NASU). That tension is between getting a “new” word from God versus “doing” the Word of God that we already know.
The first half of this verse informs us of what happens when people lack vision (synonymous with prophetic insight or revelation): They act unruly. Hearing newly-revealed insights or fresh words from God’s prophets provides a certain motivation to stay the course. Without it, people lose heart, becoming unrestrained, unruly, running wild, or even perishing – because they become disobedient to God. Life can be quite disastrous when the Word of God is withheld.
But God has indeed revealed His Word: It’s the Holy Bible. Discovering God’s will for your life must then be understood in the light of the second half of Proverbs 29:18: The blessed life results from obeying God’s word – keeping the law. This explains the purpose of the tension: God does not expect us to live from one prophetic utterance to the next. No, God commands us to live continuously in accordance with His instruction, the Bible. Knowing what’s already revealed takes priority – for daily living – over discovering what’s next.
Happiness, or blessing, comes from living in compliance with God’s word. It’s just that simple. Our life’s work – buildings, kingdoms, fame, fortune, and more – are just not the focus of the Bible. That would be Jesus, the Messiah. In light of what He has done, this is what we must do: Obey His commandments, statutes, and ordinances. What the Bible says, do! And, then, the blessings of God abound to those “who keep the law.”
If you desire to discover and do God’s will in 2011, then read, study, and live His Word daily. That’s the best recipe for a happy and blessed year.
Archie England Ph.D. is director of the Baptist College Partnership and professor of Old Testament and Hebrew, occupying the J. Wash Watts Chair of Old Testament and Hebrew at NOBTS.