Discerning God's Will

Rutledge says the coffee question bothered him for several years, and he felt guilty about being in "God's permissive will, but not his perfect will." Finally he decided to make it a matter of prayer.
"I have access to the God of the universe," he says. "Why not ask his opinion?"
He received his answer during early-morning prayer in the guest bedroom of his home. He rushed out to Starbucks and ordered a guilt-free grande latte.
"It was one of the great moments of my life," he says. "I knew without a doubt that I was in the very center of God's will."
But the relief didn't last long. Rutledge soon began to wonder if God minds if he adds sugar to his latte, and how many packets God prefers him to use, and whether Rutledge should use white sugar, unrefined sugar, Equal or even Sweet'N Low. Rutledge has made it a matter of "serious prayer" and is confident he'll receive an answer, since lately God has also helped him choose which kind of toothpaste to use, which side of the bed to sleep on, and whether to watch Hannity & Colmes at 6 p.m. or 9 p.m.

That humorous parody does raise some interesting questions. For instance, does God have a detailed script already written for our life? If so, how do we discover what it is? Is there a difference between God's sovereign will and His specific will? Does God have a specific person that we're supposed to marry? Does He have a specific job that we're supposed to be doing? How do we really know whether or not we are truly following His will for our life?

There are plenty of good books available for those who are interested in thoroughly studying this subject. I simply want to point out that if I've done my homework correctly, the New Testament puts the emphasis (with regard to the will of God) on our character. For example, in I Thess. 4:3 the Apostle Paul specifically says, "For this is the will of God, your sanctification..." In other words, when it comes to applying God's will for our life, God is far more interested in what we are than what we do. We are human beings, not human doings, right?

God's will centers around the kind of person we are. People often worry, "Is this where God wants me to be?" It's not about where we are, it's about who we are.

I heard a terrific illustration of this a couple of weeks ago while listening to James MacDonald. He described God's will as being like a lush, green pasture that is surrounded by the fence of His Word. There is tremendous freedom in that pasture. Just stay inside the fence and have a great time, enjoy your life. As long as we're doing what God's Word says, we can be confident that we're doing God's will.