How Do You Know if Your Decision is God's Will?

Inside: You have a tough decision to make, but you aren’t sure of the answer. You desire to do God’s will, but how do you figure out what He wants for your life?

Making Decisions According to God’s Will

Do you ever feel led by God to do something but then question your motives? You think, “Maybe that nudging wasn’t from God. Maybe it was me wanting this.”

How can you tell the difference?

Or you have a decision to make, and you can’t figure out if saying yes or saying no is God’s will.

Sometimes you know what the next step should be, but you want someone else to tell you what to do or confirm your choice.

Maybe you get advice from multiple people to see what the general census is.

You pray and wait for an answer. But, God doesn’t provide a billboard with his answer.

Some decisions are hard to make, and you question what is God’s will for your life?

How do I know if I should give this person a second chance?
How should I handle a disobedient child?
Should I go back to school?
Am I supposed to leave this relationship?
Should I take the job offer that is in a different city?
Should I get another job?
Should I move my kids to a different school?
Does God want me to repair this relationship?
Should I date/marry this person?

Most will tell you that you’ll know it’s God’s will if the Bible confirms it. Or put another way – God won’t tell you to do something that’s at odds with his Word (or not in the Bible). And that is true!

But we often run into problems with that advice.

But sometimes you can’t find the answer to your question or problem in the Bible. For example, the Bible doesn’t talk about whether you should go back to school or buy a home in a new neighborhood.

Even if the Bible did spell out God’s will for you, most of us don’t know our Bible well enough to know if our desire contradicts God’s will.

So, what do we do? How can we figure out what God’s will is?

Ways to Determine God’s Will

God’s Character

We can figure out some decisions based on God’s character, even if your problem isn’t in the Bible.

For example, God himself says he is compassionate, gracious, slow to anger, overflowing with love, faithful and forgiving. See Exodus 34:6-7.

The more you read the Bible, the more you’ll understand God’s character and be able to discern through different circumstances. In addition, knowing God’s character will help you develop a personal relationship with Him that will guide your decisions.

Holy Spirit

Ensure you aren’t downplaying the role of the Holy Spirit in your life. You can always ask the Holy Spirit for direction and to guide your decision-making process.

The Holy Spirit is known as our helper and counselor (along with many more characteristics) in the Bible.

Sometimes the answer you’re searching for can only be found in the quiet spaces between you and Holy Spirit.

The Journey

Sometimes God is less concerned with your choice and more concerned with your response through your choice.

Will this option make you bitter or grow your relationship with the Lord and his people? Perhaps what God wants to see is if you’ll be faithful regardless of the circumstances.

Examine the fruit

If both roads are equal, instead of making a pro/con list, make a list of all the fruit that will come from your decision.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. ~Galatians 5:22-23

For example, if you take that new job, will it have a more significant, positive impact on new co-workers and your family? Or will it cause stress to your family?

Will your move allow you to be closer to bridge a relationship with a family member, thus bearing positive fruit? Can you see yourself growing in that new neighborhood, or will staying put give more glory to God?

The Best Move You Can Make

The best thing you can do is love Jesus first and follow him, not anyone else’s voice. Sometimes that means leaving relationships. Sometimes that means staying during difficult times.

Ask yourself what is the most loving decision and when in doubt error on the side of love.

Determining God’s will in your life is time spent seeking God’s desire for you. In return, your life’s choices will begin to fall within God’s pleasant boundary lines (Psalm 16:6) and begin to make sense again.

$How Do You Know if Your Decision is God\'s Will?$

How Do You Know if Your Decision is God’s Will?