This article is based on Pastor Adrian Rogers' message, Dealing with Discouragement.
If Jesus Christ suddenly appeared bodily before you, you would do two things. First, you would fall on your face and worship in adoration. Then, overwhelmed by His glory, you would likely ask Him this question:
“Lord, what do you want me to do?”
That is one of the most important questions you could ever ask.
Christians do not have to fear making tough decisions, because God has promised to guide us.
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them (Ephesians 2:10).
In plain English, God has a plan for your life.
God’s will comes to us in three ways.
God's sovereign will is always done. You cannot stop it. God's sovereign will is mysterious and known entirely to God alone. You will be a happier person if you understand God is God! Not a blade of grass moves without His permission.
There are certain things that God says are right and wrong. It is wrong to commit fornication, to steal, murder, lie, etc. But love, righteousness, honesty, kindness, etc. are right.
God’s moral will is found in His Word. It is not going to change for anyone. There is a fixed standard of right and wrong, because God has said so.
God has a specific will for you.
For instance:
God's moral will for you, as His child, is that, if you are to marry, you should marry a Christian. (See 2 Corinthians 6:14.) But God’s particular will for you could include the particular Christian you marry.
God’s will for you can be found in the big decisions as well as in some of the small details of your daily life. He may guide you to a particular place to share your faith with a particular person, just as He guided His disciple, Philip, to speak to the Ethiopian Eunich in Acts 8:26-40. Seek God’s guidance continually and you will experience the joy, and sometimes even the thrill, of His particular will.
Too many of us want to do our will and have God rubber stamp it.
When Saul asked, “Lord, what do You want me to do?” (see Acts 9:6), that presupposed that he would do what God wanted.
We are to present our bodies as living sacrifices to God. We say, “God, I just want to know your will.” But are you ready to do it when He shows it to you?
God is in control. You are not. You must be humble and meek—which means you are teachable. “The humble He guides in justice, and the humble He teaches His way” (Psalm 25:9). Are you truly trusting God’s guidance?
Do not say, “If God wants to show me, He can.” Have you earnestly, sincerely been in prayer for discernment in making a decision?
You may think you cannot find the will of God. Ask yourself: how is your closeness to God? How much time are you spending alone with Him with your Bible open?
Saul was steeped in the Old Testament, and it is the Word of God that guides us to closeness with God.
Much of the will of God for your life is found in the Bible.
Now there was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias; and to him the Lord said in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” So the Lord said to him, “Arise and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus, for behold, he is praying (Acts 9:10-11).
God told Saul, “I will show you my will” (see Acts 9:6), but God also used Ananias to confirm that will to Saul.
“For by wise counsel you will wage your own war, and in a multitude of counselors there is safety.” (Proverbs 24:6). Do not be so proud that you are afraid of godly counsel from other Christians.
And Ananias went his way and entered the house; and laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came, has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 9:17).
From that time on, the Spirit of God was leading this man, Saul—the same who later wrote, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God” (Romans 8:14).
God does not shout and shove; God whispers and leads His sheep to the pasture. Be sensitive enough to hear the voice of the Spirit of God.
Opposition to God’s will is always there—but that does not mean that God is not for us, nor that you are not doing God’s will for your life.
Then Judah [one of the Jewish leaders] said, “The strength of the laborers is failing, and there is so much rubbish that we are not able to build the wall.” (Nehemiah 4:10; words in brackets added).
When did this discouragement come to the Jews? When they were half done, right in the middle of the work. (See Nehemiah 4:6.)
You cannot build without stones, and those stones are sometimes buried in rubbish. But you cannot build on rubbish, either. If the devil cannot laugh you out of service to the Lord Jesus Christ, then he will try to discourage you. Do not let the devil talk you out of work for Christ!
Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, “Come, let us meet together among the villages in the plain of Ono.” But they thought to do me harm. So I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down. Why should the work cease while I leave it and go down to you?” (Nehemiah 6:2-3)
There are those who wanted to distract Nehemiah from the work, but he would not be moved.
The Church is here to magnify Jesus through worship and the Word, to move believers in Jesus toward maturity and ministry, and to make Jesus known to our neighbors and the nations.
This is why we pray for discernment in making decisions and stick to the plan once God has clearly directed us.
Every one of the builders had his sword girded at his side as he built (Nehemiah 4:18a).
They were building and battling at the same time. The Bible says be “not in any way terrified by your adversaries” (Philippians 1:28a).
What do you do when Satan comes to frighten you? Do what Nehemiah did. Reflect on the issues at stake.
And I looked, and arose and said to the nobles, to the leaders, and to the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, great and awesome, and fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses” (Nehemiah 4:14a).
The way to understand the part of the Bible you do not understand is to obey the part you do understand. The way to know about the future is to obey God right now. Keep this in mind as you pray over daily life, and you will have the peace of God about wise decisions.
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:6-8).
Ephesians 2:10; Psalm 25:9; Acts 9:10-11,17; Proverbs 24:6; Romans 8:14; Nehemiah 4:6,10-18, 6:2-3; Philippians 1:28; Philippians 4:6-8
If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, if you extend your soul to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul, then your light shall dawn in the darkness, and your darkness shall be as the noonday. The LORD will guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought, and strengthen your bones; you shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail (Isaiah 58:10-11).
The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law (Deuteronomy 29:29).
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God (Romans 12:12).
The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD, and He delights in his way (Psalm 37:23).
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 (Proverbs 3:5-6).
