D.L.

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Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, so that by testing, you may discern what the will of God is, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
(Romans 12:2 ESV)

How many times in your walk with Jesus have you asked: Lord, what is your will for my life?

This is a powerful and dangerous question to ask.

The Bible repeatedly teaches that the Lord guided his people and that many of God’s heroes found God’s will, purposes, and call in their lives. Some were chosen before birth, and others left people, countries, and boats to follow and obey God’s will.
What is the will of God? The will of God is God’s intended purpose, and he wants to accomplish it in your life. The best definition I have heard about this is in Ephesians chapter 2:10, where Paul says that we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we should walk in them. I love this verse because God’s intended plan is not just one thing; Paul says that we are set apart in Jesus so that we can do the work he prepared for us so that we can do them, plural.

Yet, before we get too excited about it, we need to be able, as Paul says, to discern what his will is. Discernment is essential because we are asked to test the voices constantly speaking to us. Yes, that is true; we have our own internal voice, the world’s voices surrounding us and the enemy’s voices.

Discernment is essential; Jesus knew this when he said, “My sheep, hear and listen to my voice, why because they have come to know the shepherds’ voice, and they would not listen to any other voice. I know this is true. We have the most friendly dog at home; he is a joy but so pleasant that he is useless as a guard. Yet he stops and looks for me every time he hears my voice. He knows my voice. If this is true in the natural world, it is true of every human. I can distinguish the voices of people we are familiar with. My mum passed away some time ago, and I came across some videos of when we were together. I heard her voice again, knowing it was my mother. I discerned.

We are invited to have the same level of discernment with the Lord, and that means one thing: We are to get used to and familiar with his voice, and we find his voice as we cultivate a strong desire to be with the Holy Spirit.
God’s will is first to discern the voice of the Spirit, which is the voice of Jesus and the voice of God. Once we grasp how important this is, we will be open and ready to ask, “Lord, what is your will for my life?” His will, as Paul says, is good, acceptable, and perfect.