Ministry Resources

60 Seconds – Determining the Will of God

Author: Dave Arnold

There are two particular storms in the Indian Ocean – typhoons and monsoons. The peculiarity about them is that they do not move very fast. Actually, they do not move practically at all from east to west, or north to south.

Instead, they play around in a circle. A sea captain stated that before navigators understood this about these storms, if they tried to come out of them, they foundered. “Now,” he said, “when we run into a monsoon, we locate its center, and we go around it. Slowly, we narrow the circle, and when we get into the center, we are in a dead calm.”

To be out of the will of God is a destructive force. Get into it, and there is a calm. In Ephesians 5:17, Paul admonished us to “understand what the will of the Lord is.” The word for “understand” gives the idea of “bringing together,” meaning putting all the facts together, and arriving at a sound, reasonable conclusion. “The will of the Lord speaks of “a desire from the heart of God.” He is saying that we are to gather all the information available concerning God’s will for us, so we can make a sound conclusion.

George Mueller, who in the mid-1800’s cared for thousands of orphans in England, when asked how he determined the will of God on any matter, gave the following principles:
1. “I get my heart into such a state that it has no will of its own in regard to any particular matter.”
2. “I do not leave the result to feelings or simple impressions. That can make one open to great delusions.’
3. “I seek God’s will through or in connection with His Word. If you look to the Spirit without the Word, you open yourself to delusion.”
4. “I consider providential circumstances (God-controlled circumstances).”
5. “I ask God in prayer to reveal His will to me.”
6. “I make sure I have a clear conscience before God and man.”
7. “Every time I listened to men instead of God, I made serious mistakes.”
8. “I act only when I am at peace, after much prayer, waiting on God with faith.”

“O Lord, grant that I may do Thy will as if it were my will; so that Thou mayest do my will as if it were Thy will” (Augustine).

Take just 60 seconds, and have something to think about all day! Stimulating articles written by Dave Arnold.

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