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No one understands God's perfect ways or even why God acts in such a way for some and in another way for others. How do we even know for sure we are walking in His will?

We can't see the future. Our feelings are fickle. We can't control other people's decisions. So how do we find the path where God’s word is the light for it and the lamp for the feet? Of course that question suggests that we must know which direction to take in order to be in His will. I don’t think we really ever need to know exactly which direction we are supposed to go. It is something we must step out in faith in order to exhibit our faith, if that makes any sense. To bring God glory we must be obedient to His will and in order to have a good understanding of His will, we must study His will for others. We get that lesson by studying His word. Therein lies the principles of life. When we adhere to those principles, then we are never far from the perfect will of God.

We live in a very imperfect world and since we don't control other people, we can't be responsible for their choices. The only alternative we have, then, is to walk the closest we can to the Lord God Almighty and expect Him to turn us from the wrong direction.

See that word “expect”? It is defined in many ways, such as looking forward to, or supposing something will happen. It also defines faith.When we expect something, we have faith that it will come to pass. God is never capricious, He is always the same even though He may treat each child differently according to His good purposes.

We have His guidebook, His Word. We have the Holy Spirit. Combine this with our love for our Father and a deep desire to do His will and it is a fairly reliable recipe for following His will.

It is only when we let our own desires get in the way that we veer off the path and stretch our leading strings. I fully believe that God allows us an exploratory romp or two down side paths because this is how we learn God's guiding hand on our reins. We learn the feel of His gentle hand leading us the way we should go. If we don't acknowledge the gentle tug to the left or right or the signal to stop, then God will get more urgent and sometimes the bit will dig in and hurt. It isn't God that is causing the hurt, it is stubbornly ignoring His guiding signals. Some would call it disobedience. Some have called it sin of omission. Some call it just plain laziness.

We can't walk in His ways unless we know Him. We can't know Him unless we study His Word. We can't study His word unless we take the time. We can't take the time unless we make it a priority. Therefore, priorities are crucial to knowing God's will.

I heard someone say that the difference between the ethical man and the moral man is simple. The ethical man will pause to consider the rightness or wrongness of committing adultery and knows there is absolute right and wrong. The moral man looks to society and culture for the “norm” of whether adultery is acceptable or not. That is another key to following God's will. Never allow consideration of doing something that is contradictory to His commands. In God’s world, there are absolutes of Truth and Righteousness and always tempered with Love. That part is simple enough. Knowing His will is never simple because our desire to please him is always filtered through our desire to please ourselves which is the nature of the flesh. We are at war. Therefore, in the heat of battle, we should never lose sight of what is righteous and good and pleasing in God’s sight.

Psalm 37:4 says that when we delight in the Lord, He will grant us the desires of our hearts.

How precious that God gives us our desires when we delight in Him. That means those desires are not harmful. They are good for us and others. That means that our hearts are pure. What a joy to have a pure heart. That also means that our prayers are righteous and the prayers of the righteous avails much. We have a responsibility to dive into the middle of God's will and to delight in Him.

How precious it is to sit on His feet.

Each second in time, God has provided for all eventualities. He knows who will refuse to obey Him and He provides for His will for the obedient children regardless of obedience or disobedience of others .

Several years ago, I didn't get married. That does not mean that my engagement was not God's perfect will for that time. I believe beyond any doubt that it was His will. In fact, I believe that God provided the perfect plan for our marriage. Everything fell into place for a great future for us. My intended didn't see it. He "looked down the road" and just didn't see himself "happy." But, God had provided a wonderful future. That does not mean that God cannot provide a better future for me down this particular path where He is leading.

I trusted God to protect my heart. It was broken, but not shattered, and I felt pressed, but I was not crushed. He did protect my heart, but He allowed hurt. Some Christians think that belonging to God means no hurt and everything rosy. Nothing could be further from the truth. It is an extremely costly (worldly costs) way to live and pain is a major part of it.

I had the gumption in the middle of the breakup to ask God for His best for me. If that meant suffering through more of the same so that His best would shine in the end—I was ready to walk through the valley of the shadow of death for that best.

God's best for us does not depend upon fickle man.

Since God knows what will happen, how it will happen and who will do what, He plans accordingly. All I must do is be ready, willing and able to bend my will to God's. That means I must want the best He offers no matter the cost.

That is a huge and scary thing. No matter the cost. Do you cringe at the pin pricks? Do you run from the sword stabs? No matter how tormenting a situation may seem... it is always for our best interest. Whether God allows us to endure consequences of our bad choices, or whether God pours out blessings on our choices based on His guidance... the outcome is the same. It is for our best.

"'Winging It" from Stan Smith

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