Thank you, my dear friend, for this excellent question. The truth is that God’s will is not hidden from us, and in fact, God desires that in all instances we both seek and act in faith upon His will. There are several OT verses which I believe underscore this thought, and the following will hopefully make my point more clearly. Psalms 32:8 assures us, “I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with Mine eye.” In Proverbs 3:5-6 we read, “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.” One of my favorite verses is found in Isaiah 30:21 where we read, “…thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it…” These verses are assurances from God to His Children that He both knows and cares about how we are doing on the pathway of faith, and more than that, He promises to reveal His will to us when we seek His guidance.

Through the prayerful reading of His Word, and the work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts, the Christian can discern the will of God, but we must first truly desire His will and be willing to act accordingly (Psalms 119:97-105).  We must seek to learn God’s will, we must ask Him in faith to show us His way, and then we must follow His guidance. I often think that for the believer, one of the greatest barriers to truly seeking the will of God is self-will, that is, wanting to do our own stubborn will. It can become “my will versus God’s will,” and which will we go with. When we approach decision making for matters of serious concern based on our own desires and preferences rather than upon the Word of God, we will likely stumble and could eventually wander far away from God’s loving plan for our lives, though it might not seem so to our minds at the first. When we choose our own will over the will of God, there will always be sad consequences, and these can be very harmful to our personal testimony as Christians, and as well to the testimony of the Church as a whole. Failure to follow God’s plan, as revealed in His Word, can have tragic and far-reaching consequences. There can, as a result, arise disputes about the right way to go, possibly leading to contentions and the eventual breaking up of Christian fellowship. The solution, I am convinced, begins with committing our way to the Lord in all things, and trusting in His loving will and power for the guidance that we need, come what may (Psalms 37:5). When in doubt, bring it to the Lord in prayer (James 1:5).

My dear friend, God wants us to know and to follow His will (Philippians 2:13; Jeremiah 29:13). It is for this very reason that He has given us the written Word of God, the Bible (Psalms 86:11; Jeremiah 29: 13). And how do we know that we have His will? He will make it known to us by the assurance of His Word. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 assures us that “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” As I stated earlier, Isaiah 30:21 tells us, “And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it…” God has given us all that we need to know His will (2 Peter 1: 3,4; Psalms 119: 9-10).  (SF)  (715.4)