The will of God is already in front of you
What on Earth does God want you to do? Good question, and we’ve all asked it. This is going to sound a bit simplistic, trite even. (Trite – that’s the first time I think I have ever used that word in writing!) I wonder if we’ve made the will of God into something it was never meant to be: an anxiety-inducing quest for personal certainty, as if somehow, if we don’t ask the right questions in prayer or read the right verse at the right moment, we’ll miss the divine satnav and spend the next decade spiritually lost. We reach for signs, fleeces, confirmations, as if God is playing hard to get. But He’s not hiding. He never was.
Take Gideon. That ‘mighty warrior’ has been turned into a spiritual prototype for indecision. People love the dead-sheep fleece story. Lay it out, wait for the dew, check the ground, reverse the test just to be sure. Rinse and repeat. But they forget the context, and it was an important one. This wasn’t about establishing a principle. Gideon wasn’t trying to decide whether to go on LinkedIn and take a new job, move cities, or join a bigger army. He wasn’t asking God whether to join the band or the welcome team (but please do that). He was called to lead Israel into war. That meant leading his people potentially into pain, blood, tears, anguish… death. He was terrified. He already had a word from God; what he didn’t have was courage. That fleece wasn’t a model of discernment. It was God’s mercy and patience with a hesitant leader in a national crisis. It’s not a biblical method for life decisions. And it certainly wasn’t about choosing between an authentic NewFrontiers style checked shirt or a plain one on Sunday morning.
The truth is, most of us already know what God wants. You do. The problem isn’t uncertainty. It’s reluctance. We squint for detail to avoid the demand of obedience. We say, “I’m seeking the will of God,” but what we mean is, “I don’t want to move until I’m completely comfortable, convinced, compelled.” But faith doesn’t work like that. Faith moves. Faith obeys. Faith serves. The life of faith isn’t fuelled by endless personal clarity – it’s fuelled by trust in the character of God, revealed most clearly in Christ. What God probably has for you, wants for you, is what you are already good at!
God’s will isn’t a hidden track under your feet, one wrong step away from catastrophe. It’s not fragile. And it’s not as specific as we often wish it were. Most of what we need to know has already been shown. Scripture is not silent. Live a life worthy of the calling. Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, work with your hands, and love your neighbour. Devote yourself to the fellowship of the saints. Use your gifts to serve the church – don’t sit there passively whilst claiming to be charismatic. Be holy. Be thankful. Be generous. Be faithful. There’s no mystery in that.
What we’re often asking for is not guidance – it’s a guarantee. We want certainty before we commit. We want to know the outcome before we act. But God isn’t in the business of pre-approving your comfort. He calls us to faith and obedience. Whilst it is rarely the easiest option, it is right, and He walks with us through it, even when the path is not fully visible.
Often, God’s will for your life is what you already like doing! Who do you think put that interest, that focus, that inspiration in your heart in the first place?
Don’t be in a rush. You don’t need to map out your entire future to be faithful today. You don’t need a prophetic word or a detailed word of knowledge about the picture in your Bible by your bedside to sign up to serve in your local church. You don’t need an angelic visitation to start using the gifts God has given you. Sometimes the most spiritual thing you can do is simply get on with it. Show up. Love people. Do what your hand finds to do. Ask if you can help, and do it with joy, not waiting for the perfect fit or the glowing confirmation.
Too much emphasis on finding the will of God can bring a paralysis of faith and become a convenient way of avoiding living it, whilst others are faithfully getting on with it. We end up waiting for God to reveal more, while ignoring what He’s already made plain. He hasn’t asked you to have it all figured out. He’s asked you to be faithful and that faithfulness will look very ordinary most of the time. Turning up. Serving others. Dying to self. Living with integrity. Being slow to speak. Quick to forgive. Committed to a people, not just a project.
The turning point is that once you are doing these things, you may find God creating opportunity, favour, and space for other things – things tailor-made for you. Brace yourself – there’s never going to be a big hand appearing and pointing like a lottery advert!
The Spirit leads us, yes. He prompts. He convicts. He gives wisdom. But He rarely hands over a blueprint. He trains us to trust, not to predict. And that trust grows best in community, not in isolation. The local church isn’t a holding pen until your “real” calling begins. It’s the place where your life gets shaped, where your gifts find purpose, where you learn to prefer others, where the will of God gets worked out in real time with real people.
You don’t need another fleece. You don’t need to wait for a sign. You need to move. Get off of your little bottom and walk humbly. Serve faithfully. Love sacrificially. That is the will of God. It’s enough.