Finding God's Will

Sometimes I am asked by Christians, "How can I know the will of God for my life?" My answer is that God has given us three means of confirming the will of God for our lives. The first is through the Bible. Secondly, there is the inner prompting of the Holy Spirit. And third, there is the aligning of outward circumstances.

F. B. Meyer was a great preacher in England. Years ago he was returning home after a preaching engagement in Northern Ireland. The ship that he was on from Belfast to Liverpool was approaching the harbor at night time. The lights on the shore of Liverpool began to sparkle and twinkle way ahead. Dr. Meyer and some others were standing on the deck just near the bridge. It was a very dark night and the sea looked oily and ominous and as the ship neared the port the thousands of yellow lights along the city front and the adjoining coastline all made shivering reflections in the greasy looking water. As Dr. Meyer looked at the many thousands of lights he went to the bridge and wished to ask the captain a question. He said, "Captain, how do you know which way to steer, with so many confusing lights in front of you?" The captain said, "You see, sir it's really very simple and I'll show you how. Do you see that big light over there to the left? And do you see that other big like over there to the right of it? And now do you see that third outstanding light further still this way? Now keep your eyes on those three lights, and see what happens. So Dr. Meyer did that. Soon the big outer life on the left gradually moved in until it coincided with the middle one; then, as the ship slowly veered further, that light gradually merged into the third. "Now," the captain said, "all I have to do is see to it that those three big lights become one; and when they have become one, then all I have to do is go straight."

Likewise, when the Word of God and the inner prompting of the Spirit, and the outward aligning of the circumstances become one -- when those three become one -- do not fear go straight ahead God's will is clear! That is God's means of divine guidance in his children's lives. But this divine guidance requires that as Christians we walk in the light as 1 John1:9 tells us to do. Knowing God's will is simply a matter of being filled with the Holy Spirit and walking in the light of his Word and keeping our eyes open to the sovereign guiding of the circumstances around us and God's will for our lives cannot be missed!