The Will of God

I've been consciously aware that I've been living the past six months of my Christian life with an eye and an ear towards God. I've been living with the intention of trying to discern God's will in real time, as he saw fit to give it to me. My thesis was that because we can usually see what God was doing in our lives in hind sight, there is a level of logic to his will that we can understand. If there is a level of logic to his will that we can understand, perhaps it is not too far fetched to understand his will in the present reality, perhaps in every thing we do. This line of thought was incredibly arrogant and misguided.

Now, I don't mean to say that none of his will is discernible or understandable to us. God has given us the Bible, part of his will that is readily available. However, a large part of his will is hidden and while we may be to able to partly discern that will, much of it will remain a mystery to us in the present time. In the way I lived my life, I severely underestimated the grace of God in revealing how he was working in my life after the fact.

In one aspect, we are seriously limited by our purview. We do not see how God is working because we can't see the big picture and therefore just cannot fathom what God is doing. In another aspect, he does things that transcend our understanding, like sending a righteous Son to die for unrighteous sinners. Again, we can't fathom what God is doing.

In short, it's not possible to completely know the will of God. So how do I live? How do I know if God is telling me something and what exactly is God telling me? Is there anything I can even do if God's will is absolute and he has ordained everything from before the beginning of time?

We can surrender to that will. Logically, that is about the only thing we can do if God's will is absolute. None of this trying to interpret stuff. None of that is important. Instead, I can surrender my life as a living sacrifice and maintain faith given by the Holy Spirit in the promises of God.

This one is particularly relevant to me right now: What is God trying to tell me I get along really well with a girl? I have no clue and I shouldn't pretend to know! There's the possibility that God has introduced her into my life so that we get married later. Sure. There's also the possibility that I'm merely supposed to be a vessel through which God can exhort and encourage her, that I am growing closer to her so I can protect her as a brother. There are many more possibilities and I have no idea which one is the "will of God". All I can do is surrender and have faith in the promises he has given me.

Promise. Matthew 6:33

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Thanks be to Brian Chen for illuminating this to me.