What Is God's Will For Me?

What is God's will for me? What is God's plan for my life? Where should I go? Where should I live? What career should I have? Who should I marry? Lord God direct my paths and show me!

These questions and these prayers are oh so common. I rarely meet someone under the age of 40 who doesn't blurt out that they're struggling with these questions. The only reason I don't hear individuals over 40 mention it is they're usually too busy raising families to worry about these kinds of questions, or they are too afraid to admit they're wondering themselves!

Being someone in his mid 20s I have to say I get it. I know exactly what God has called me to be, but still I struggle and have to remind myself of the scriptures he's given me, daily!

What were we created to do?

It really is easy to get caught up in this world and all that is "required" of us. We need to make it through school, pick the "right" college with the "right" major so we can get the "right" job, or pick the "right" trade that can lead to the "right" career. Once you've done this you have to meet the "right" person and then have a family and grow old until you feel comfortable passing along to heaven.

The only problem with this train of thought is that it's not very well supported in the scripture.

Jobs &Career

What was man's first job? It was a grounds keeper (Genesis 2:15). Adam was placed into the Garden of Eden to take care of it. If you notice it never says Adam applied for the job, or that he spent years training for it. It simply states God placed him there.

What if when we received a job that covered our needs we accepted it? Of course we're blessed enough that we're able to strive for "bigger and better things," but from the beginning it was not God's design for us to spend our lives worrying about our career paths! We were created to take care of what God has made.

Couldn't you take care of what God has made in most jobs? Whether it's taking care of your own body by eating healthy at work, to loving and caring for those in the cubicles next to you, to actually caring for the grounds and land you're farming and landscaping, you can always find a way to take care of God's creation. This can look very different person to person, place to place.

Mr. & Mrs. Right

This is something I have to personally admit I've struggled with immensely. How do you know they're the right one? Who is it that God perfectly designed for me and how do I find them?

In just the first few pages of the scripture we find the first couple - Adam and Eve. It's interesting because this first couple doesn't come together through the wonderful cat and mouse - chasing one another for years - finally embracing and kissing in the rain love story we are use to in today's world. God could see man shouldn't be alone, so he took from Adam's own body and created Eve to live and work along side of him. The two together united to become "one flesh," neither with greater value. (Genesis 2:18-25)

What does this teach us? Maybe we are looking too deeply into who's the right one for us? Doesn't God give suitable helpers to those who need them? Should we be basing our relationships so strongly on attraction, which often times caused the greatest personal issues in the scripture (Jacob & Rachel, David & Bathsheba)?

Yes marriage is looked at as a good thing (Proverbs 18:22), however it is also something that we don't necessarily need (1 Corinthians 7:8-9). Maybe you don't feel called to be with someone because you aren't! Nothing says you need to be married.

Now the bible never says "choose a spouse by beauty and the butterflies they give you," so we need to stop acting like it does! What the Bible does is it tells us what a Christian man and woman should look like. It also tells us to not be unequally yoked forming partnerships with those who aren't righteous (2 Corinthians 6:14). I can't think of a more important partnership than marriage, so let's stop trying to partner with non-believers or those who are not committed believers. Some details of what a woman should look for in a believing man is found in Titus 2:2,6-8 and some of what a man should look for in a woman is found in Titus 2:3-5 and Proverbs 31:10-31. Also, girls you have one perfect example to compare men to - Jesus himself!

It seems impossible, but what if we controlled ourselves and kept our desires for only other believers, believers who actually have fruit, and believers who reflected what the scripture guides us to look for and expect? Could you imagine the baggage we'd save ourselves from and the possible growth we might experience?

I'm not saying it's not important to be attracted or excited by the one you're choosing or hoping to spend your life with. Still, what if we got excited over others' godliness and the beauty of their heart? What if like learning to eat healthy we could train our eyes and hearts to enjoy everlasting beauty that will be healthy for us in our relationships?

I know this was a long winded response to the "who" and "how" can I find the right one, but it is the answer. We aren't called to get married, but it is a good thing if we do, and if we don't there is a blessing in that all the same (1 Corinthians 7:7-9)! The scripture doesn't tell us we have any "soulmate" besides Christ himself (Colossians 2:10). It doesn't tell us to find our partner through beauty and excitement. However, it does show us what to look for and expect through passage after passage and the perfect example of Christ Jesus.

Why am I created

This is one of my favorite verses in the Bible "everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made (Isaiah 43:7).” We were created for God's glory. It's as simple as that. What are the things that fulfill us the most? A new car and house are nice, so are personal records in the gym, and so is a great vacation - don't those highs only satisfy us so much? When we bring joy to others, when we know we helped someone pay their bills, gave the hungry food to eat, these are the moves we make that lift our souls to new heights! You don't need to be a Christian to feel the soulful joy from serving others. It's probably why most religions point to "good works" as a major component of their practice, the uplifting nature of service is undeniable. However, we as believers know the real reason it brings us so much joy - it glorifies God.

By having a servants attitude we're directly imitating Christ, our Lord, the Son of God (Philippians 2:5-7)! We are instructed as believers to be doing exactly this - live like Christ (1 John 2:6). How better to glorify someone than to love them and happliy do what you know pleases them (1 John 5:3).

Wrapping up

I plan on taking a deeper dive into what God's will and plan is for us in upcoming messages. However, it does all come back to one thing: "So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31)." As long as you are striving to glorify God you are doing exactly what you were made to do. It doesn't matter where you live, what your job is, how old you are, if you're married or not - from choices and actions big and small, aim to glorify God and you can find comfort in knowing you're doing exactly what you're made to.

Thanks for your time, and believe me everyone falls into this struggle. Just remember, this life isn't what we're living for. We're living for the life after - a life spent in paradise with our incredible Father where there's now pain, sickness, sorrow, or end.

#whoamIcalledtobe #Godswillforme #WhatamIsupposetodo #WhywasIcreated #Godsplanforme