The Sunday Mail
WELCOME to the chilly month of June.
Most young people struggle with finding their place in life so this month, we will spend some time talking about your purpose in God.
Beneath is Pastor Chris Russell’s article that I have paraphrased, read on.
1) Walk with God
For starters, if you are interested in knowing God’s plan for your life, then you must learn to walk with God. You need to develop a relationship with Him.
Christianity is all about relationship rather than just religion. You will cultivate that relationship best by spending time in His Word, taking time for prayer, and taking every opportunity you can to be involved in church and small group Bible studies. When you seek these disciplines in your life, God will begin the first steps to revealing His plan to you. Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”
2) Surrender your will to God’s
Many times when we say we are seeking God’s will, what we are really saying to God is, “God, here’s what I’m planning to do. Now I need you to rubber stamp this.”
This is not really effective in finding His true will.
Before God begins to reveal His will to you, you must be committed to doing whatever it is that He desires for you to do. Romans 12:1-2 says, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” Jesus was willing to die for us, so we should be willing to live for Him? When we surrender to Him that is when He really begins to direct our steps.
3) Obey what you already
know to be God’s Will
Many people seem to want to know what God’s plan is for their lives, but they overlook the fact that 98 percent of His will is already revealed through His Word. God is very clear about many, many aspects of His will. For instance, His plan is that we abstain from sexual immorality (1 Thessalonians 4:3). If we do not obey the things that God has shown us clearly to be His will, why would we think He would reveal any further information regarding His plan for our lives? Obedience should be first.
4) Seek godly input.
One key component to finding God’s will is to seek the input of godly advisors in your life. If you don’t currently have three to four godly mentors, then I would highly recommend that you seek them out right away. Think of it this way: you should understand that you are basically a composite of the five people you spend the most time with. So, then, it is vital that you choose those five people well.
If you choose to surround yourself with godly advisors, they will be instrumental in helping you discern God’s plan for your life. But if you surround yourself with people who are far from God, your hope of finding His best for your life will be greatly diminished. Proverbs 11:14 says, “Where there is no counsel, the people fall; but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety.” The church is designed to help you greatly with this. The more you involve yourself with a community of believers, the greater your chances will be of finding godly men and women who can help you discern God’s will.
5) Pay attention to how God has wired you
God has created you to fulfill a specific role in this world. There is no one else who can achieve completely what God has purposely created you to do. 1 Peter 4:10 says, “As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.” His plan for you will always be directly related to the gifts that He has bestowed upon you.
6) Listen to God’s Spirit
I take time to listen to what God might have to say to me during my prayer times. Practically, the way I go about this is to bring a notepad with me when I sit down to pray. Then I write at the top of several pages things like the following: “What is the next step in my career, ministry, family, marriage, education, finances?” During my prayer time, I meditate on questions such as the above. Often, God will start flooding my heart with ideas and information regarding one or more of those questions. I write as fast as I can as He speaks to my heart. Through experiences like this, He has shown me many times with great clarity what His will is for my life. John 10:27 says, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.”
7) Listen to your heart
In addition to listening to the Spirit, I also recommend listening to your heart. To understand my point here, consider the following passage: Psalms 37:4-5 says, “Delight yourself also in the LORD, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.” When you are close to Him, He actually begins to shape your desires so that you desire the things that He has already called you to do.
8) Take a look at your circumstances.
God often clearly demonstrates His plan for our lives by lining up circumstances in obvious ways. And He also shows us what His will is NOT for us to do in that same way. Over the years, I have discovered that God is pretty good at opening and closing doors.
He even did that for the Apostle Paul and his entourage in Acts 16:6-10. So, even Paul had to face closed doors in his ministry. God often uses closed doors to show us clearly what He does NOT want us to do. And He also uses open doors at times to show us what He DOES want us to do. Of course, this does not mean that every open door is definitely God’s plan, but it does help to give you some basic direction. We will pick this topic up again next week from a different angle, till next time God bless.
Tinashe Zinyemba is a pastor with New Life Covenant Church. Email feedback at [email protected]
