My pastor counsels many people each week. And, without exception, every week he encounters a young person asking him the same question:
How do I find God’s will for my life?
This question is often worded in many different ways:
• Should I accept this job?
• Should I marry this person?
• Should I go to this college? Different ways of asking the same question.
I think my pastor has the right response when someone asks for clarity for the direction of their life. More often than not (unless he receives some kind of divine revelation), he’ll respond with the following statement:
What was the last thing God told you to do? Keep doing it.
From what I've experienced, God rarely tells me the specifics. He rarely points one thing out and says, “Do that.”
No, usually God speaks to me in vague terms:
• Love me.
• Love your family.
• Be grateful.
• Respond, don’t react.
Outside of one or two times in my life, God rarely shines a spotlight on a specific task. Burning bushes aren't the norm. But what God has revealed can be applied constantly.
Recently, one of the truths God has shown me involves my everyday relationships with people—friends, co-workers, family, etc. I believe that God is constantly at work with people whether they acknowledge it or not. He guides our lives despite ourselves. Not in a controlling, manipulative way. But He uses our experiences and relationships to reveal who He is.
And because God is guiding these things in our lives, I can be part of it. With every interaction I have, every person I meet, I can ask God this question:
God, what are you doing in this person’s life? What can I say or do to validate or confirm that?
When I ask this question, I become God’s partner to speak to this person. I get to cooperate with His Spirit in order to bring truth, change and love—both to and through someone else.
