“What is God’s will for me?” we sometimes wonder.
We may question what God wants of us in our life or in a certain situation, often focusing on the big issues. We don’t always have a big issue at hand, but there are always little issues day in and day out.
Moment by moment we can seek God’s will. As believers, we often do know what God wants – the Holy Spirit is at work within us and reading God’s Word gives us direction. The reality is that we have to choose to do God’s will.
We can start with considering our routine, daily decisions. Our attitude throughout the day sets the tone for our thoughts, actions, and interactions.
Awakening with a sense of gratitude for a new day can direct our thoughts toward the Lord. As God’s creation, we should be responsible with what he made. Remembering that God wants us to take care of the body he has given us can help us make choices that honor his handiwork.
Taking time each day to read, pray, and praise God is certainly doing God’s will. He wants our attention. Our relationship with him is pivotal and needs to be nourished in order to grow. With everything else seeming urgent in our packed days, we need to be careful to make God our priority.
Interacting with our family gives us opportunity to choose to do God’s will. Are we kind and thoughtful, patient and helpful? Do we encourage them to act in ways honoring to God in the scope of family, school, work, and activities? God is relational and wants us to value each other as he values us. We should be so glad that God is not distracted, as we sometimes are, when he sees and hears us.
Accomplishing our various daily responsibilities, we can do God’s will by working with an attitude of serving him. We can find something for which to be thankful in the task, and we can do the task well. God does not do anything half-heartedly; he follows through with what he says he will do.
When we catch ourselves thinking, “What is God’s will for me?” remember these statements about God’s will for each of us in any situation: always rejoice in the Lord, pray, and give thanks (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18) and do not conform to the world, but rather transform our mind in the Lord (Romans 12:2).
Let’s let our daily decisions reflect what God requires of us: to do what is right, to show mercy, and to walk humbly with him (Micah 6:8).