What Does God Want for Me?
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This is Part 4 of a 4-part series. If you missed last week’s word-offering, I would encourage you to begin there before continuing here.
Last week, Maggie dove into the question, What do I overlook? (As in, what things do I already have, that God has given me, that I overlook?)
This week, I have the honor of diving into the final question we observed at the Stonepoint Women’s Retreat, What does GOD want for ME? And initially, I was overwhelmed by this question because in truth, it stumped me. It’s one of those things that you know, but you don’t know… you know? So I am grateful to write this week’s Reach because I needed to wrestle with this question myself.
And God responded. Albeit, I am in a season where my quiet time is often interrupted, so I listen to Bible teachings and play Bible study videos to compensate for my unproductive quiet time. So, through my trusted Bible teachers, He spoke.
What does God want for me? And it is so simple… To be in His will.
What God wants most for me… is for me to abide in Him and be in His will.
To be in the will of God is the best place a human being, a child of God, can possibly be. To be in the will of God… is to dwell within the shadow of the Almighty… and beneath His wings is perfect peace; Shalom—the holy peace that surpasses all understanding. Peace is related to the will of God.
So what is God’s will and how do we discern it? His will is different for everyone, as we all have unique, God-given callings upon our lives—but His will does not and will not waiver in the following areas:
— His will for me will always be in accordance with His word. It will never contradict His word.
— His will for me may not align with human reason or appeal to human logic.
— His will for me will always be accompanied by complete and absolute peace.
— His will for me will always yield the fruits of the Spirit.
— His will for me will always require obedience to Him.
— His will for me will always require aligning myself to Him in and through prayer.
I am certain this list will become more nuanced as I continue to mature, but my main two takeaways in this study have been prayer and obedience. Being in constant communication with God, carving out time for prayer—time alone with our Father to listen to Him—immediately places us on the narrow path to the will of God. And then obedience, doing what He says—doing what His Word says—lands us right in that precious, sanctified place of His Will. Prayer and being in His Word keeps us there.
When we yield to the will of God,
“Not my will, but thy will be done,”
our lives will yield much fruit.
Another component of being in the will of God… is our knowing of who our God is. The knowledge and understanding of His attributes. The less we know God, the less likely we are to be in His will, let alone have a desire and a resolve for it. What do I mean by this? For example, the less I interact with and get to know my husband, the less likely we are to have a bountiful marriage.
As I was washing dishes the other day, allowing my mind to ruminate on this writing, I felt the Holy Spirit speak to me. God wants me to know Him. To truly know and embrace the character of my Father. To know His attributes, and believe them. As we begin to celebrate the birth of Christ this month, I am reminded that Jesus came not only to save all of mankind, but to reveal the true nature of the Father.
His nature is also comprised of this thorough, although incomplete, list of attributes (you can find the link to study them and their respective summaries HERE
1. He is Eternal
2. He is Goodness
3. He is Grace
4. He is Holy
5. He is Immanent
6. He is Immutable
7. He is Justice
8. He is Love
9. He is Merciful
10. He is Omnipotent
11. He is Omnipresent
12. He is Omniscient
13. He is Righteous
14. He is Self-Existent
15. He is Sovereign
16. He is Transcendent
When we know our Heavenly Father—truly know Him—it’s easy to abide in Him, because we trust Him. Knowing and believing the character and attributes of Almighty God will always draw us in closer to Him and His will for us. And as a result, His peace will follow and permeate throughout all areas of our lives.
As the heart of the holiday season approaches where peace is a prominent word this time of year—as the Lord kindly reminded me… I would like to share the same truth with you. Peace is not found in our circumstances. Like the three women we have been studying the past four weeks—Ruth, Abigail, Esther—their peace did not come from their circumstances, but the Shalom that came from their knowledge of and trust in the One True God. These women had the Word of God written on their hearts… and the Spirit stirred in them to act in mighty ways when it came time for them to act.
Were their circumstances perfect? No—they were actually quite stressful. But it was despite their circumstances that they chose God’s way. Every time a child of God chooses God’s way, the will of God, He honors them significantly, as He did Ruth, Abigail, and Esther.
I fight this mental mouse trap every single day… “If my home were immaculate and perfectly organized without a single article of clothing on the floor, THEN I would have peace”; “If my children would eat every single meal I made from scratch for them and not put up a fight, THEN I would have peace”; “If I had a perfectly built wardrobe that didn’t consist of just leggings and T-shirts, THEN I would have peace.” Be it what it may, these are false, idolatrous statements used to distort reality and distract God’s children from what God wants for us… which is being in His will and experiencing the fullness of peace that is ours in Christ Jesus if we choose.
Fixating on our circumstances only offers a conditional, counterfeit peace that does not last; we will never be fully satisfied when our peace is determined by “If, then” statements.
Last week Maggie wrote, “Challenging circumstances hit each one of [Ruth, Abigail, and Esther’s] lives differently and challenging circumstances hit us still to this day. But when hard seasons come, how are we going to choose to respond? When the struggles this life will undoubtedly throw at us hit, what will our next move be?” Her charge to us leads beautifully into our question, What does God want for me?
As it pertains to being in the will of God, what is our next move when the hard seasons come? The beautiful seasons? We praise. We lift up our souls in praise to our Father. Despite our circumstances—He knows the intricacies of them all, and He allows them. When our fixation on our Father is greater than our fixation upon our circumstances and/or ourselves, we will find ourselves rooted in His will—where peace abounds.
Isaiah 26:3 reads:
“You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.” NKJV
Other scriptures that direct us to the will of God are as follows:
“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.”
Psalms 1:1-3 | NKJV
“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is the Lord. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river, and will not fear when heat comes; but its leaf will be green, and will not be anxious in the year of drought, nor will cease from yielding fruit.”
Jeremiah 17: 7-8 | NKJV
Before we conclude, I deem it important to note that peace does not necessarily mean the absence of conflict. Conflict can and will ensue, but Jesus addresses this in John 16:33 NKJV:
“These things I have spoken to you that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” *Boldface added by me.
In all circumstances, we will find ourselves tucked safely in the will of God when we find ourselves in prayer with our Father, in obedience to our Father (choosing His way), praising our Father, and having a heart posture of gratitude and giving thanks. So that when those hard seasons come, as they inevitably do, our leaves will remain green and we will not cease to bear fruit. We will always have the gift of peace—that surpasses all understanding—in Christ Jesus.
“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 | NKJV
He is for you. He loves you. He wants what is best for you. His will for us, though perhaps it may not align with what we think is best for us, is irrefutably the best place we can possibly be. He is good and He is faithful—always. I pray the peace of God blesses and surrounds you this season as we celebrate the birth of our Savior.
