TODAY’S MEDITATION – How do you know God’s will for your life? (1 Thessalonians 4:1-18)

Many people want to know God’s will for them so they can live a life that is pleasing to the Lord. Today, let’s start meditating about the will of God itself. My brother, my sister, do you really know what the will of God is for your life? The will of God comes in at least 3 ways as we can see in the Scriptures: – THE SOVEREIGN WILL OF GOD, which is also His ultimate will, is clarified in Ephesians 1:11, as this is the will that tells you why you were born black and another was born white; why you are in the family you are right now and another in another family. Only God has control over this will, and in His sovereignty, this will is hidden from us, that is the reason why the Nigerian family who had a blond baby in London three years ago will never really understand why that happened! Medicine has tried to give them answers, but, my friend only God knows!!! It is His Sovereign will as He is the one “who works all things according to the counsel of His will” (Ephesians 1:11). – THE PERFECT WILL OF GOD. For us Christians, living according to God’s revealed will should be the chief aim or purpose of our lives. How? By presenting our “bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be 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” (Romans 12:1-2) So, for us to truly know the will of God, we should immerse ourselves in the written Word of God, saturate our minds with it, and pray that the Holy Spirit will transform us through the renewing of our minds, so that the result is what is good, acceptable and perfect for God… that’s living according to the will of God. – THE PERMISSIVE WILL OF GOD. The first thing to know about this will is that it starts when we choose to disobey God, in other words, it starts when we sin! To illustrate this better, let’s see what happened with Israel. God’s perfect will for Israel was that they enter into the Promised Land, directly from their departure from Egypt. However, they started sinning, whispering against God and ended up following God’s permissive will for their lives… and the journey they were supposed to do in a few days ‘God’s perfect will) ended up taking 40 years of wandering in the desert. Meantime, God continued to provide for them with the manna, etc… He did not leave them or forsake them, and their detour became a part of God’s plan for their lives, His (permissive plan). Now, let’s understand how we ourselves can move things from God’s plans for our lives: due to impatient, Sarah asked Abraham to take her servant to have a baby, Ishmael, they entered the permissive will of God, while the perfect will of God (Isaac) came to pass anyway to accomplish God’s sovereign will to provide Abraham a prosperity as He had declared… In other words, some people throw themselves in jobs, marriages or situations that our loving Father allows happen despite the fact that He still have a perfect plan for them. Unfortunately, mots people start getting contented to the permissive will of God, not allowing room for God to pursue His own plans for their lives. My friend, if you desire to truly live according to God’s perfect plan for your life, the only way to do so it to follow His will for you, which means to live according to His general will for all believers (read 1 Thessalonians 4:1-18). That implies regular times of prayer, fasting, Bible study and Christian fellowship. These biblically founded directives were designed to shape and renew your goals and desires, refresh your focus and priorities in life to enable the uncertainties and doubts that you meet in your walk with the Lord to take control of you. Stay blessed in Jesus’ name. [facebook] [retweet]