Am I Doing This Right?

How do I know that I am doing what God wants? It is a tricky question. I mean I pray that God will have his will with me, but then I question if I am really living it out? This is a question that I have been asked recently and I gave my best answer I could on the spot. But, then after thinking about it I realized there is a whole lot more to be said on the topic and I can point you to some more informed people than myself to help too. Some of the concepts that I will write about are from a sermon that I recommend you listen to called Decision Making in the Will of God by Ben Stuart from Breakaway Ministries. Here is the link http://www.breakawayministries.org/j/content/view/50/51/
I also learned a ton from John Piper's Don't Waste Your Life chapter 5 titled Risk is Right: It is Better to Lose Your Life Than to Waste It. So, that being said let us endeavor to unpack this important question of how do I know I am doing God's will? The first piece of advice I will give is that if you are a God fearing Christian that has given your life completely to God, if you have been baptized, if you tithe 10 percent of your income, if you study the Word, if you love Jesus and what he did on that cross, then your mind might be under attack. When a good Christian brother or sister has doubts on if they are in the will of God it might be because Satan has employed all of his cunning abilities to discourage a servant of the Most High God. Satan wants to make us doubt our commitment. He wants us to be downtrodden, to be upset, to be uncertain, and to question our decision making. If he can make us immobile with fear, he wins. Be aware of that spiritual aspect. I realize however that some of you reading this are not under attack but actually don't know God's will so let me give you some sage and practical advice... search the scriptures. If you want to know what God desires for your life, he isn't trying to be tricky. He actually wants you to understand his plans and purposes so search his scripture. Do not make uniformed decisions. All too often Christians will make really poor decisions because they have no clue what God says about a subject. They don't know that he has a strong and important opinion on certain things and it is for your benefit if you listen to him. Search and know what God says and you will be more qualified to know you are in the will of God.

Live life. That is my second big piece of advice. Sometimes you pray, read the scripture, and then you live life. There is a saying written by a theologian that says, "God doesn't steer a parked car." Sometimes you just have be moving and be confident that God will direct your steps (Proverbs 20:24). This is displayed in a few bible stories that I want to share with you. In 2 Samuel 10 Joab is the commander of Israel's army. There are two opposing forces on two sides of them. So he tells his brother Abishai to take some men and to lead them against one group while Joab himself takes some others to fight against the second group. He says that if one sees the other faltering that they should aid one another. But, he says these important words in verse 11: "Be strong and let us fight bravely for our people and the cities of our God. The Lord will do what is good in his sight." He made no promises of victory. He made no bold claims on behalf of God. He just said, "this is our plan... the Lord will do what he wants with us." Live life, God will do what is good in his own sight.

Another story that has the same impact on me is that of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego found in Daniel chapter 3. The king had issued a decree to worship an idol that the king had fashioned and these three vowed not to bow to anything other than the Living God. So the king threatened their lives saying that he would throw them into a blazing furnace if they would not worship the gods he served or bow down to this gold idol and their response continues to blow me away:

"O' Nebuchadnezzar(The king), we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from you hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up."

What?!? They didn't know what was going to happen to them!? "Our God has the ability to save us... but even if he doesn't, we will not bow down." That is a bold faith. Uncertain of what God will do these men made the God-honoring choice to serve him and not a created image. That is the sort of faith that I want you to experience. One where you are uncertain of what the outcome will be yet you commit to the plans God has laid before you. You might not be certain of the outcome of your actions but you know you serve a God that is mighty and able to rescue you from the flames of the furnace! And, that is exactly what happened. The angry king ordered the furnace to be heated as hot as possible and threw those three men in. The furnace was so hot that the soldiers carrying out the orders were killed by the flames and heat. But, the three men were spared... not only three men but a fourth was in the furnace with them that "looked like the sons of the gods." The king realized that those three served the real and living God. But, isn't it interesting that they were promised nothing. They didn't have a revelation from heaven that things would be fine. They didn't know what the outcome would be yet they remained faithful even to the point of death and God spared them!?

Sometimes we need to just live life courageously. Pray, obey the scriptures, walk with Jesus, and then live. Don't be a Christian that makes the mistake of leaving the last part out. Don't be timid with your faith but instead make decisions that honor God and then walk them out boldly! God will direct you.