Discovering God’s Will

To pray, “Thy will be done” is to seek the heart of God. The word will means “strong desire.” It is where we learn what God desires. What is his heart? His passion? He wants you to know it.

Shall God hide from us what he is going to do? Apparently not, for he has gone to great lengths to reveal his will to us. Could he have done more than send his Son to lead us? Could he have done more than give his Word to teach us? Could he have done more than orchestrate events to awaken us? Could he have done more than send his Holy Spirit to counsel us?

God Uses Other Believers to Reveal His Will to Us

God is not the God of confusion, and wherever he sees sincere seekers with confused hearts, you can be sure that he will do whatever it takes to help them see his will. That’s what he was doing on the road to Emmaus:

Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; but they were kept from recognizing him. – Luke 24:13-16

They saw the death of Jesus as the death of the movement, and they packed their bags and headed home. And that is where they were going when Jesus appeared to them. How sweet is the appearance of Jesus on the road. Let a lamb take the wrong turn and miss the pasture and our Shepherd, unwilling to let him wander too far, comes to guide him home. How does he do this? How does he reveal his will to us? You might be surprised at the simplicity of the process.

The first mistake of the duo was to disregard the words of their fellow disciples. God reveals his will through a community of believers. On the first Easter, he spoke through women who spoke to the others. “Some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive” (Luke 24:22–23).

His plan hasn’t changed. Jesus still speaks to believers through believers. “Speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work” (Ephesians 4:15-16).

What About You?

Who in your life has helped make God’s will known to you? Take time in the next couple of weeks to send them a thank-you note for their involvement in your life. Ask God how he can use you to help build the body of Christ.

Drawn from study notes in the Lucado Encouraging Word Bible, NIV Edition.