God's Will For Your Life

As I study the Word of God I can't help but notice so many new beginnings. Noah looking out of that Ark after the water had ceased; Moses going from being a shepherd to leading the Children of Israel out of Egypt's bondage; Abraham leaving his country and going wherever God leads him; Paul after his conversion on the road to Damascus, the examples are endless.

Often times I hear folks say, "how can I know God's will for my life?" I remember asking that question many years ago and struggling with the answer for quite sometime. Then, as I was studying Scripture, I came across 1 Thessalonians 4:1-12:

"1 Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more.
2 For ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus.
3 For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication:
4 That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour;
5 Not in the lust of concupiscence, even as the Gentiles which know not God:
6 That no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter: because that the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also have forewarned you and testified.
7 For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.
8 He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given unto us his holy Spirit.
9 But as touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another.
10 And indeed ye do it toward all the brethren which are in all Macedonia: but we beseech you, brethren, that ye increase more and more;
11 And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you;
12 That ye may walk honestly toward them that are without, and that ye may have lack of nothing."

I think too many times we are expecting God to send us a burning bush or strike us down with a bright light and a loud voice or some other major life altering intervention to reveal His will for our lives. But, while God has and does work that way, it does not take some major revelation to know His will because it is plainly written in His Word. If we would all feed on the Word we will understand His perfect will for our lives.

In 2 Timothy 3:16-17, the Apostle Paul writes to his son in the faith, Timothy, these words:

"16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works."

My dear friend, though those words were written nearly 2,000 years ago, they still apply to Christians today. We must continue in His Word to understand His will for our lives. If we do that, everything will work out in His appointed time. - Bro. Byron Chesney, Pastor.