Do you have an intentional process that you go through in your mind when you need to make an important decision?  Arguably, the most asked question that people solicit God for is something like, “What should I do in this situation?”  The situation might be a job, a relationship, a relocation, a school, a purchase, etc.  We want to know God’s will.  And we get frustrated, thinking that God is being evasive.  We wonder why God would not just reveal His specific will for our specific situations, especially when we’re asking Him for it and we’re only too willing to follow it.  After all, doesn’t He seem to care a lot about us listening to and following Him?  Then why does He make it so difficult?  How can we discover God’s will in our lives?

Two Good Choices
Most people are fairly competent at finding and/or knowing God’s will when faced with right and wrong decisions.  However, the challenge arises when we’re faced with two or more good choices.  For instance, God is quite clear with us about what His moral will is for our lives.  I can go to His Word and know immediately that in every situation, He doesn’t want me to be unjust, cruel, unfaithful, impatient, unrestrained, quick-tempered, and so forth.  But what about His will in the specific situations in my life which the Bible simply doesn’t address?  Which job should I take?  Which person should I marry?  Which school should I go to?  I don’t know about you, but it seems that in my experience I often don’t receive an upfront, clear communication from God about the best choice to make in the specific decision I am faced with.  Why?

Why isn’t God louder and clearer?
At the risk of being too brief for a satisfactory answer, let me just say that God wants relationship.  It becomes all too easy to begin thinking of God as one of the old ticker tape machines (Ancestor to the modern computer printer) which would spit out stock prices over a long distance through telegraph wiring.  Or we might think of the current stock tickers and news tickers which stream by at the bottom of news shows, giving the latest updates on quotes or scores.  I find that seeking God’s specific will in my life is more than a matter of reading ticker tape.  It’s pursuing a relationship with God.  It’s becoming familiar enough with Him that I’m able to discern His voice from the multitudes of voices vying for attention in my mind.  Remember Jesus’ words in John 10:3-4,

“The watchman opens the gate for [the shepherd], and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.”

How I listen for God
While it is certainly possible, it does not appear to be normative that I actually “hear” God speaking through my physical ears.  Then how does God speak to us?  Though there may be more, I’ve identified five biblical avenues through which God speaks to me and gives me direction for how I out to make decisions.  These are the primary ways which I look to discern God’s specific will for in my specific situations:

1. My desires & passions.  The God who I long to be directed by in life decisions is the same God who “created my inmost being [and] . . . knit me together in my mother’s womb” (Ps 139:13).  It seems quite likely to me that what God calls me to (e.g., vocationally) will significantly line up with how He hard-wired me in the first place.  So, I ought to see some clues of God’s will in my desires and passions (especially if my desires and passions have already been submitted to Him). 

If you’re trying to decide what area of study or profession to go into, ask this question of yourself: “What can I sit down and do, and when I look up, several hours have just passed by?”  What things do I naturally engage in and find fulfillment in doing?

2. What skills do other people recognize in me?  Somewhat related to the above point—the gifts that God has built into me are sometimes recognized best by others.  I believe it will be obvious to others when I operate in my top gifts and abilities.  So, what things do people come to you about asking you to do?  Do people tend to be drawn to you for excellence in a particular task?  Look for a pattern.

3. Guidance & Counsel.  Proverbs 20:18 reads, “Make plans by seeking advice; if you wage war, obtain guidance.”  There is a general biblical principle that in order to become wise we must rub shoulders with those who are wise.  Wisdom is caught as much as it is taught.  I also have specific people I have identified in my life to whom I look for that advice and instruction.  They are those like my parents and close, long-term friends who both love God and love me.  These people know me well—my strengths as well as weaknesses.  I have no doubt but that they have my best interests in mind.

There are also many wise people whom I will never meet personally, so I must meet them through their writings.  I have identified certain authors whose track records are not built through their eloquence with words, but with a seasoned consistency in their Christian walk.  This is what we are doing when we read the Hebrew Proverbs (though there is a divine author as well) which teach us general truisms for godly living.  Find those who have lived life well and surround yourself by these people.

4. Circumstances.  I regularly pray and ask God to direct me by “closing the wrong doors,” and “opening the right doors.”  We can, at times, discern the hand of God through both opportunities presented as well as opportunities withheld.  It may be that I can make certain decisions simply based on what I am capable of following through on. 

5. What impression do I have from the Holy Spirit about where God is leading me?  This subjective element may not always be there.  Or, if I do believe that God’s Spirit is “speaking” to me, I could be wrong or misinterpreting one of my own thoughts.  I must always remind myself that my interpretation of God’s leading is not divinely inspired and without error.  But it seems to me that the best way to navigate through this subjective element of knowing God’s will is by becoming familiar with God’s “voice.”  And this only happens by walking with God through the seasons of life.  I have certain friends and family members who don’t even need to say their names when they call me on the phone because I recognize their familiar intonation, inflection, delivery, or accent.  As referenced above from John 10, we must learn to “know” Jesus’ voice as discernable from the other illegitimate voices that call to us.

Disclaimer: a note of caution
I should also note that none of the above points can stand alone.  It seems quite dangerous to make any significant life decision on the basis of just one of the above signposts.  Rather, I think they work together.  They are individual words which make up a sentence, and help bring meaning—God’s meaning I hope—into my life.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. Besides the above 5 points, are there others ways that you seek to know God’s specific will in your life?
2. Have you ever felt that God was being “evasive” in withholding His will in your life?  How did you process through that experience?
3. Can you identify people in your life who have a seasoned walk with God as well as a love and knowledge of who you are?  Have you allowed them to speak into your life?