How to Understand God's Will? What is God's Will?
God's will is his will in relation to all things. Through His will He decrees and permits every action that takes place in the existence of the universe. God is sovereign and nothing can escape his will. This means that nothing happens outside of God's will. If any activity could take place beyond God's will, then God would not be God, for there would be something over which He would not have dominion.
So if God's will extends over all things, it is understandable that many people are concerned about how to understand God's will. This is indeed a valid and important concern. But first it is necessary to consider what the will of God really is and what that will has to do with us.
What does the Bible say about God's will?
The Bible talks a lot about the will of God, so as to make it clear that this will is the ultimate cause of everything that happens. In Scripture we read that all things were created by the will of God (Revelation 4:11).
Furthermore, the continued existence of everything that exists is due to God's own will. The apostle Paul writes that God “works all things according to the purpose of his will” (Ephesians 1:11). Notice that the apostle uses the present participle to teach that God's operation in the universe according to his will is an ongoing activity.
Everything that happens, both on a general level and on a personal level, is subject to the will of God. On a general level, the history of humanity progresses and develops according to the will of God. God is the one who has dominion over the kingdoms of men (Daniel 4:32). He is the one who “changes times and hours; He removes kings and sets up kings; and He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the intelligent” (Daniel 2:21).
On a personal level, all events in our lives occur according to God's will, so we should never think that we have any absolute control over what we can and cannot do. So the best thing is to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that” (James 4:13-15).
The Different Aspects of God's Will
A very important distinction about the will of God is that which distinguishes His secret will from His revealed will. Many biblical texts talk about these two aspects of God's will, but there is one in particular that punctuates this issue in a very objective way.
In the book of Deuteronomy we read, “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the revealed things belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this Law” (Deuteronomy 29:29). Notice that in this text Moses speaks of “hidden things” and “revealed things”.
The Secret and Decretive Will of God
The "covert things" that the text of Deuteronomy speaks of are the secret will of God which includes the details of how He governs the universe, and which obviously also encompasses future events. So the secret will of God concerns his hidden decrees. That's why it is also called "decretive will".
Therefore, when God decrees something, in fact what He decreed happens. This is unavoidable, for if God's decreeing will could be prevented, He would not be God (Job 42:2).
We usually only know about God's secret will after the events He has decreed have taken place in time. So it's no use trying to “discover” God's will in this regard, because that would be a futile search. The biblical text says that “the secret things belong to the Lord”, that is, they are none of our business.
But unusually God resolved to reveal to us, by His Word, some of His secret decrees. Here it is worth emphasizing that it is not man who has discovered part of God's secret will, but God is the one who has freely decided to remove the veil and make some of His secret decrees known to man. As an example of this, we can cite biblical prophecies about future events.
It is also important to understand that God accomplishes His decretive will both causally and through the free action of His creatures—although this does not negate human responsibility in the process.
There is a Bible verse that clearly shows this truth: “Him was handed over to you by the determined counsel and foreknowledge of God, whom you took and crucified and killed by the hands of the unjust” (Acts 2:23). Note that the biblical text says in the same sentence that Christ's suffering took place by the decretive will of God, and that those who crucified and killed him were responsible for the injustice they did (cf. Acts 4:27,28).
The Decretive Will of God and the Existence of Evil
Here it is clear that God's decretive will often includes the sinful acts of His creatures as well. However, it must always be kept in mind that this never goes so far as to make God the author of sin and make Him one who delights in wickedness.
We really can't fully explain how this could be possible. But in the Lord's mind – which is infinitely greater than ours – this makes perfect sense. For now, most scholars hold that God's will regarding sin is permissive rather than causative. In other words, God allows sin, but He does not effect sin. Furthermore, even though God's will permits sin, it does not mean that He takes pleasure in sin.
Therefore, in His decretive will God can use even bad things to fulfill His good purpose. The story of Joseph of Egypt is a clear example of this, in which it was part of God's secret will to turn the evil done by Joseph's brothers against him for good (Genesis 50:20).
In that same vein, it is often God's will for believers to suffer (1 Peter 3:17). But at the same time, we know that all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to his decree (Romans 8:28). So in God's decrees, even suffering is useful to perfect the character and mature the faith of the redeemed.
The revealed and preceptive will of God
The text of Deuteronomy also says that there are things that have been revealed by God. These things “belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this Law.” So God's revealed will generally contains His precepts for His creatures. That is why most of the time it is also identified as the “preceptive will”.
The preceptive will of God is the rule of life which the Lord has ordained for his creatures; it is what God wants us to do; they are the commandments He wants us to obey. Unlike God's decretive will, which is irresistible – that is, it is always fulfilled –, God's preceptive will can be resisted – that is, it is frequently disobeyed.
How can we understand God's will?
We have seen that we can speak of the will of God in different aspects. But many people overlook this when they ask how to know God's will. It is common for people to want to "discover" God's will for future events in order to determine what decision to make in the present.
First of all, there is no such thing as "discovering God's will." Man does not discover anything about God. He only receives what God himself has decided to reveal about himself. So the correct thing is to speak of “understanding the will of God”.
Consequently, secondly, it is useless to want to speculate on the secret will of God, for no one has the authority to reveal it but God himself. Since information about future events is part of His secret and decree-making will - and most of these decrees are actually hidden from us - we should seriously be suspicious of anyone who claims to have a new revelation of God's will, whether for our lives in particular, whether for the direction of the Church or the world. Everything that God actually wanted us to know about his decretive will is revealed in the Bible.
Therefore, third, the only reliable source of revelation of God's will is Scripture. It is the will of God revealed in the Bible that we must seek to understand and obey. If on the one hand the Bible reveals only part of God's decretive will, on the other hand it fully reveals what His preceptive will is.
Therefore, the Bible contains everything we need to know about what God wants us to do. But that doesn't mean we can find in Scripture a list of "can's" and "can'ts" about every everyday situation in our lives. In fact, it clearly and objectively brings a series of general principles that, through the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit, we can apply to our lives - whether in the decision about a marriage, a new job, a move to another city, etc.
Living and Understanding God's Will
We must dedicate ourselves to obeying God's will expressed in His commandments, as we trust that His secret will for us will be carried out in accordance with His holy, wise, loving, and righteous nature. God's will will never be contrary to his nature.
When we find ourselves in the midst of a painful and difficult situation, we must know that nothing is apart from God's will. As Louis Berkhof says, “God has his reasons for willing as he wills, reasons which induce him to choose one end over another; and a series of means to an end, in preference to other means” (Systematic Theology).
Furthermore, the Bible says that we should trust the Lord with all our heart, for He wants to guide our ways (Proverbs 3:5,6). While we trust that He is best dealing with the things that are hidden from us, we should delight in His preceptive will which is revealed in Scripture, and meditate on it day and night. In so doing we will be blessed and separated from the wicked (Psalm 1:1-4). The apostle Paul sums up what this will of God is for us by saying, “This is the will of God, your sanctification” (1 Thessalonians 4:3).
Finally, if you want to know what God's will is about who to marry, what job to take, what city to live in, submit your choices to God's preceptive will revealed in the Bible. Then you will be able to make a decision that does not disobey the Lord's commandments. And if there is more than one option that is not contrary to the moral and spiritual principles of the Word of God, then you are free to choose whichever suits you best.
When we seek to know what God's will is, we do not walk blindly, for His Word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our paths (Psalm 119:105).
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