“If I only knew God’s will for me…” is often heard from the mouths’ of even dedicated Christians. We are not always privy to knowledge of His will and why He does a certain thing or allows a certain thing to happen.
What we know is that we have a complete revelation of His will in the law and in the scriptures. His plan for our lives and the principles we are to live by are written there for us.
“The will of God was to be recognized in His requirements (His law…over all created intelligences.)” (S.T. Sept 24, 1894) “The will of God is a perfect will and must be obeyed as it is set forth in His holy law.”(Ibid.) “The command to search the scriptures…lead(s) to an understanding of the revealed will of God.”(S.T. July 11, 1906) “The Bible is a guide book…it is a COMPLETE (italics mine) revelation of the attributes and will of God, in the person of Jesus Christ, and in it are set forth the obligation of the human agent to render whole-hearted service to God, and to inquire at every step ‘is this the way of the Lord?’”(BEcho July 20, 1896) “….(in the Bible) the great truths necessary for salvation are made as clear an noonday; and none need mistake and lose their way except those who follow their own judgment instead of the plainly revealed will of God.”(S.T. July 11, 1906) Truly “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path” as the statement of His will.(Ps. 119:105) “Christ’s obedience to His Father’s commandments is to be the measure of our obedience. Those who follow Christ, if they would be complete in Him, must keep their will surrendered to the will of God.”(OHC 107) We are told that “This law is the echo of His voice.”(OHC 213) We are told that in the scriptures we can “study the will of God.”(TMK 244)
Knowing that the Bible and His law are a complete revelation of His will, studying the Bible, not perusing or reading, but studying and applying the truths to our personal lives, is mandatory for us to know and be able to follow His will. Questions of “what should I do” can be answered by the Bible, but only if we have searched the scriptures and know what it says. Like the Bereans, searching for truth, we must “search the scriptures daily” (Acts 17:11).
One of the defining truths about the will of God is His goal for us- “This is the will of God for you, even your sanctification” (1 Thess. 4:3). “Our sanctification is God’s object in all His dealing with us.” (OHC 213) And what is sanctification? It is “being set apart for a holy purpose.” “Sanctification is nothing less than a daily dying to self and daily conformity to the will of God.” (TDG 251) So, in a perfect circle, His will for us is that we follow His will.
Following His revealed will, once we know it through Bible study, is the process of sanctification, of daily becoming closer to Him, and it is a process of surrender of our own will- this is the most difficult thing for us to do, but is absolutely the most important thing we do in this life, “letting go and letting God.” Over and over again we are counseled of the importance of this:
“God’s people are in danger of being separated from the Sun of Righteousness. ‘This is the will of God’ the apostle says, ‘even your sanctification.’ This sanctification means perfect love, perfect obedience, entire conformity to the will of God. We are to be sanctified to Him through obedience to the truth.” (YI Aug. 24 1899)
“Paul’s sanctification was a constant conflict with self. ‘I die daily,’ he said. Every day his will and his desires conflicted with duty and the will of God. But instead of following inclination, he did the will of God, however unpleasant and crucifying to his nature…We must show that we are emptied of all self.”(ibid)
“God’s people must have a fixed purpose. They will never be holy until they put all the energy of their being into the work of conforming to the will of God.” (ibid.)
“Only through the surrender of our will to God is it possible for Him to impart life to us. Only by receiving His life through self-surrender is it possible, said Jesus, for the hidden sins to be overcome.” (RC 377)
“The first step in the path of obedience is to surrender the will to God.” (BEcho April 6 1903)
“Whatever our position, we are dependant upon God who holds all destinies in his hands. He has appointed us our work, and has endowed us with faculties and means for that work. So long as we surrender the will to God, to trust in His strength and wisdom, we shall be guided in safe paths, to fulfill our appointed part in His great plan. But the one who depends upon his own wisdom and power is separating himself from God…” (DA 209)
“We are to surrender the will, the heart, to God and become acquainted with Christ. We must deny self…But how many wear the cross as an ornament on the person, but fail to bear the cross in practical, everyday life.”(LHU 245)
“We must have less trust in what we ourselves can do, and more trust in what the Lord can do for and through us. You are not engaged in your own work, you are doing the work of God. Surrender your will and way to Him. Make not a single reserve, a single compromise with self. Know what it is to be free in Christ…The mere hearing of sermons Sabbath after Sabbath, the reading of the Bible through and through, or the explanation of it verse by verse, will not benefit us or those who hear us, unless we bring the truths of the Bible into our individual experience. The understanding, the will, the affections, must be yielded to the control of the word of God. Then through the work of the Holy Spirit the percepts of the word will become the principles of the life.” (MH 513, 514)
“The will of man is only safe when it is united with the will of God.” (BEcho July 20, 1896)
“The follower of Christ must subordinate every power that has been bestowed upon him to the will of God.” (S.W. Oct. 16, 1906)
“And be ye not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”(
Even in heaven- “The angels of heaven attain unto no higher knowledge than to know the will of God and to do His will is the highest service that can engage their powers.” (Mar 79)
This surrender and following in all inclusive. “The will of God…we are required to render perfect obedience to the rule laid down by the apostle, ‘whatever you eat or drink, or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God.”(S.T. Sept. 24, 1894)
“When we place our will in unison with the will of God, the holy obedience that was exemplified in the life of Christ will be seen in our lives…”(OHC 107)
“Entire conformity to the will of our Father which is in heaven is alone sanctification. The keeping of all the commandments of God is..sanctification”. being “controlled by the will of God” Is to be “submissive to His Spirit.” (14 MR 313)
“When self ceases to wrestle for the supremacy, and the heart is worked by the Holy Spirit, the soul lies PERFECTLY PASSIVE (italics mine) –and then the image of God is mirrored upon the heart, the soul is in accord with the mind of God, and human identity is lost in Jesus Christ.) (9MR 324)
Christ’s life is the perfect example of total surrender to the will of God and because of this “His life was the mind of God expressed in humanity.” (R.H. Feb. 15, 1898)
“In order to have the will of God done in you, you must trust your heavenly Father as a child trusts his parent.” (UL 314)
How often we gladly follow His will when it is in accord with ours, but do not when it is not. We become our own “blind guides.” “In deciding upon any course of action we are not to ask whether we can see that harm will result from it, but whether it is in keeping with the will of God. ‘There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” (Prov. 14:12, PP 634) Balaam- “He did not seek to do the will of God, but chose his own course, and then endeavored to secure the sanction of the Lord; there are thousands at the present day who are pursuing a similar course. They would have no difficulty in understanding their duty if it were in harmony with their inclinations.” (CC113) Cain is a sad example of wanting to “do it my way” when the express will of God was plain before him.(Jude 11, MS 41 1897)
These things we know with a certainty.
Many things about the will of God we do not know, and since “God is God and we’re not” this is only logical! But how many throughout the history of the earth questioned God and his scriptures and how many times have we chosen to obey ourselves rather than God. Ridiculous is much too weak a word to describe this attitude. Following the will of the omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, Creator of the universe, who is also the author and very definition of love should be the most natural thing we do. We question God’s actions when He is the Old Testament God demonstrating justice mixed with love, and we accept Him when He is the New Testament God demonstrated through the life and teachings of Jesus. How Dare We! We are created beings who only know about God what He has seen fit to show us. How do you understand the ocean by standing on the shore and not seeing or experiencing the limitless expanse and depths and qualities that are out there? We have read that even the angels of heaven seek to know His will, and they live with Him.
Job tells us: “But as for me, I would seek God, and to God I would commit my cause-who does great things, and unsearchable, marvelous things without number..(Job 5:9) David tells us: “Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; and His greatness is unsearchable.” (Ps. 145:3). Paul tells us: “Oh the depth and riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out.” (Rom 11:33) Isaiah writes of God: “’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.” (Isa. 55:8,9) Job 37-41 is God’s answer to those who question his ways.
(We have no reference point to understand God, unless He gives us one. A simple example of this is in Malachi 3:6, where He states: “I am the Lord, I change not.” We cannot understand this from our experience. It is often said that “the only constant in life is change.” Cities change- a city block goes from houses to stores, to a vacant lot, to stores, to whatever men can desire, in the space of a few short years. The forest about us changes with erosion, storms, the ever widening and deepening cutting of it by streams and rivers, and the cycle of death and life. The mountains themselves change with the movement of plate tectonics and the constant forces of erosion. Our bodies change with age and the affects of life. Our opinions and knowledge base changes over the years. Even the stars change in their cycles. All we know is change. But God does not. We cannot really understand this, but what a wonderful basis for our faith in Him. We can always count on Him. He will always be there for us. He will never stop loving us. He always seeks our best good, our sanctification. These things never change. He is our rock and our anchor in our ever-changing existence.)
If we would only mean the oft-repeated words of the Lord’s prayer when we ask for “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven,” and do our part in searching out this will in the scriptures, and then surrendering our will to follow it so it happens in our lives in a very personal and real way. There is so much happiness and joy in this path- “Rejoice evermore, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Jesus Christ concerning you.”(Phil. 4:4, 1 Thess. 15:16-18) This surrender comes with the promise: “The world passes away, and the lust thereof, but he that does the will of God abides forever.”(S.T. Sept. 24, 1894, 1 Jn 2:17)
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