In the human pursuit of the will of God it is common to ask the question about some particular perceived course of action, "is it the will of God for me to do this or that?" Whether the inquiry be the purchase of a new car, a new cup of coffee, who to date, or whether to pursue a degree, change a job, or move to a different city, we spend much of our time focused on discerning the will of God on these crucial decisions of our lives.
A short glance through the book selections at most bookstores (online or brick and mortar) with a Christian section will almost certainly include books designed to help the person making a decision to pray through the different options. We talk to our friends, our co-workers, our families, we spend time alone in prayer, we journal at length, we enter into a period of discernment with trusted friends, we spare no amount of emotional or psychological effort in the desire to find the will of God.
I was raised in a Christian environment that automatically assumed that this practice was normal. I went to a Seminary on the other side of the country that also functioned under this paradigm. I went to a church while at Seminary that also operated with a heavy dependence upon the perceived and discerned will of God for guidance in almost all its critical and non critical decisions.
The desire is to live the way God wants us to live. The fear is that we will make a decision that is not, as the language says, "according to the will of God." Everyone is consciously aware that Scripture is incredibly limited when it comes to actually offering advice though on how we discern the will of God. So we trust our emotional instincts, we search for internal peace, we try to recognize the voice of God in prayer, we do all these things -- but the argument from Scripture for them is implicit at best.
There is something that doesn't match up here, and this blog post is a small attempt at providing another alternative when it comes to knowing the will of God.
The thing that doesn't add up is the sheer lack of Scriptural support for having the lives of communities and individuals dominated by a spirituality that insists on discerning the will of God constantly. The other thing that doesn't add up is the emotional stress that is placed -- both on the decision makers and on the people that go along with the decision that is made. Drawing the line here between human group dynamics and the actual discerned will of God is nearly impossible. Saying that we know we are right because we have “faith” that God has spoken and that we have heard Him is psychologically dangerous and irresponsible.
By contrast, Scripture does say that we all (by virtue of our having been created by God and by virtue of how God self reveals in Scripture as the one who liberates the unliberated) have both a responsibility and a desire to do acts of Justice, of Mercy, and of Kindness to our fellow humans. I'm aware that that was a long sentence, so let me try to break it down a bit.
What I'm saying is this: to be a human that follows God in the world is to do acts of Justice, of Mercy, and of Kindness. Why? Because God created us and because God reveals himself as the one who liberated the oppressed Jewish people from their slavery, giving them a land all their own. We are correct to infer that every human has a very human right to their own sustenance, their own shelter, and the preservation of their own life. Christ reveals himself especially in Mark as the one who heals the Leper, heals the shriveled hand in the synagogue on Sabbath, binds the wounds of the broken, and sets the captives free.
When we seek to follow this Christ, we do the same. End of story. To close, there are a few very basic guiding questions we make ask in regards to any decision. None of these questions assume, however, that God desires us to either buy or not buy the car, date or not date the person we like, pursue or not pursue that job or that degree. In the final analysis, an answer that provided a yes or a no in one of these situations always runs up against the things above that don't add up about asking these types of questions in the first place.
1.) does this activity provide a chance for me to act more justly in my life? In other words, can I remove the suffering of someone, can I fight against stigmatization, can I work to make right that which is wrong?
2.) Can I do acts of mercy? Are there people who are suffering and who probably brought the suffering they are experiencing upon their own heads -- can I remove their suffering anyway? Can I give them the unexpected and desired something (whatever it is, in whatever their situation is) that will cause them less pain, less torment, and less suffering?
3.) Can I do acts of kindness? Can I look out for myself and for others in a way that increases their love, that treasures them as people, that walks with them on their journey and carries their burden with them? Can I surprise them with joy? Can I appreciate with them the dreams they don't dare to hope for anymore?
I think these questions have biblical support. I think these questions do real and lasting good in a person or in a community's life. I think these questions don't create emotional stress and don't rely on an internal "presence of peace". I think these questions don't focus on me and my future -- instead they focus on the life, wellbeing, and health of those around me.
In conclusion, in discerning what path to take, look for these opportunities. Look for a way to answer yes to at least one of these questions in your quest. It isn't as if, if you do, you'll know the will of God for that decision -- but it is the case that if you can answer yes to any of the three questions I posed I suspect that your eyes will be opened in such a way as to easily see how God is moving in your life and the lives of those around you.
