How Do I Know it is the Will of God??

• Posted: 2:27 PM
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• Author: Jayson Pagan

Am I going the right way? Am a thinking too much? Why does the "will of God" have to be so frustrating? Sounds like many of the questions I have asked myself over the past 5 years of my life. I just had another conversation about the will of God with my Pastor this afternoon. It doesn't have to be such a hard topic.


I have been anxious so many times. I have listened to opportunity after opportunity knock, call after call, friend after friend speak to me of different 'open doors'. I have waited on a call I was sure would come..and days turned into weeks and months. I'm still waiting on that call!!! It is embarassing to think of how, at times, I would jump when any number would show up on the caller ID that I didn't recognize hoping it was someone calling about the right place for us. Those times were necessary and I am grateful for the gracious leadership in my life that helped me to work through them. They have been an experience I needed to learn a good deal...

I CANNOT REPLACE THE PAST 8 YEARS. They have been a time of incredible learning, growth, maturity, and have given me life experiences that have groomed me for the future. They have taught me that WHEN GOD DOES NOT DO WHAT I THINK HE SHOULD HAVE DONE HE WAS REALLY JUST PROTECTING ME AND MY FAMILY. I have learned that where I am now is the perfect will of God, and there is no timetable for how long I will remain here. I am happy to be in His will.

One of the greatest things I have learned is to truly know my wife and myself. I have no doubt about where God has me or is taking me because I have had a good deal of time to know us much better. The God-brand of us.

1. I know that I will Pastor. I know it is where I fit in.
2. I have learned my limits and the telltale signs of different areas of failure.
3. I know my leadership style - my strenghts and weaknesses, as well as my wife's.
3. I know I will work with a bi-lingual culture. I know my gifts, callings, and talents.
4. I know when my motives are about the kingdom - and when they are not.

Before you can know what the will of God is... YOU MUST GAIN A KNOWING!! Many people can have opinions and ideas about you... but they are not you. YOU must know in your own heart the things that God has placed in you and how He wants to use you in those gifts and callings. It takes time to learn your DNA.



GOD DOES NOT IGNORE THE GIFTEDNESS HE HAS PLACED IN YOU WHEN HE PLACES HIS LEADERSHIP UPON YOUR FUTURE. He always equips - and then He leads you to the place where you can use that equipping in His perfect will.


GOD ALWAYS PREPARES THE MAN BEFORE HE PREPARES A PLACE FOR THE MAN. It was the case with Moses, the disciples, and countless others. God puts in and takes out what he needs to - making you to match the future he has for you.

RIGHT NOW I HAVE A NEW SECURITY IN WHO I AM AND WHAT GOD HAS GIFTED ME TO BE IN LIFE. It is my opinion that your future will be very blury until you are in a place long enough to really truly evaluate WHO YOU ARE in life and in ministry. Until this happens in you - you may have hopes of being something or doing something that is wonderful in your eyes, but not in the mind of God at all. The last place you want to be is where you are not called to be or gifted to function. It may look pretty, but you probably got that pretty picture from seeing someone who was right where they needed to be working the will of God in symphonic harmony and wonder. If you don't know yourself well then you will imagine yourself to be in places where you have no business. You will become discontent with where you are right now and it will make the future even more of a blur. You need to get to know yourself. You are no accident - so see what it is God has naturally placed within you and you will have a more realistic view of where God may be directing your future.

OPPORTUNITIES WILL COME YOUR WAY - HOW WILL YOU KNOW WHICH IS THE WILL OF GOD?

Ask yourself the RIGHT questions. Not the wrong ones. Do not ask how will it benefit yourself?.. are you moving up or down?.... is it good timing for you?, etc.

I am 32. I am blingual. I have many talents and gifts, and so does my wife. Opportunity knocks often. We have a lifetime of ministry ahead of us - we just want to make sure that it is not just opportunity knocking, but GOD knocking.


1. Did this opportunity beging with me or did it begin with God?
I have learned that just because I catch a fish doesn't mean it was the will of God. If you bait the hook and put it in the water - most likely, given time, a fish will take the bait. If you are asking about opportunities - they will come. Their arrival doesn't mean it was the will of God. It is my experience that ALL opportunities that begin with ME are dead-ends - period.

Thessalonians 5:24 says, "He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it."
Simply put, if God has called you, He will do it. If it began with God then you have the responsibility to pray about it.

2. Am I as willing to stay where I am as I am willing to go to the next place?
Discontentment can have many motives. If I am honest with myself, I can ask myself this question and find out if I am willing to do anything God wants or if I am just willing to get away from where I am for any opportunity that comes along. God wants to know our willingness - to stay or to leave. If we are unwilling to stay where we are we may need to check our motives and ambitions.

3. Is it time or not? I once had a vision of my future. I have not gotten there yet. That was 17 years ago. Just because something moves your heart and you are willing to do it doesn't mean it is the will of God - or that it is the will of God for RIGHT NOW.

On the other hand, sometimes God shows me something that seems to be bad timing in my eyes or someone else's eyes. When it comes to timing, no one knows but you and God. You have to find a place on your face before God and seek his perfect will. If your motives are pure and your heart is in the right place, He will speak to you one way or the other. WHEN IN DOUBT, DON'T DO IT. Stay where you are until you know. Period. God is not intereested in anyone's timing but his own. Look at which decision will bring him more glory...

4. Would this opportunity be wise? Wisdom is critical in making the right decision about the will of God.

James 3:13-18 (NIV)
13Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. 14But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. 15Such "wisdom" does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. 16For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.
17But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. 18Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.

Notice that worldy wisdom often shows up as a good counterfeit for Godly wisdom. I have often found myself asking about potential pastoring opportunities by wondering how the town was in population, was there a University, what was the income going to be, and the list of questions goes on and on. GOD DID NOT SAY THAT YOU COULD LOOK AT THE RESUME OF EACH OPPORTUNITY AND THEN HIRE YOURSELF A CITY TO PASTOR IN, DID HE? No - He has a will. I have had more of my share of selfish ambition than I would like to admit. It is very earthly.

Then James goes on to say that spiritual wisdom from God is pure, peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. WHEN LOOKING AT ANY OPPORTUNITY AS THE POSSIBLE WILL OF GOD YOU NEED TO FIGURE OUT IF GOD IS SAYING ANYTHING TO YOU PERSONALLY THROUGH THIS VERSE OF SCRIPTURE. It helps to keep our hearts in check.

5. Do I choose or does God choose? I only write this from my personal experience, and so it may seem out of line to some, but this has been my journey. Sometimes God will allow opportunities to come in order to check who is doing the choosing. Are you choosing or are you allowing him to choose? I have had opportunities come my way that were, in the earthly sense, much more appealing and wonderful than where I am currently. I could have chosen to go the other way, but I knew what God's choice was. These opportunities prove to noone else but ourselves the status of our character and the level of our integrity. Today I have confidence that God truly knows my heart and motives are about Him, not about my personal desires. I may have never known that if I hadn't had the opportunity to refuse the 'greener pastures' for the place I am now.


The bottom line is - life and ministry will take you to many places of uncertainty. If you cannot trust God for your future (and stop trying to figure it all out), then how can you preach to others to leave their future in the hands of a sovereign and wonderful God?

I have learned that if I just chill out and live what Paul told that young preacher, Tomothy..."I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to guard what has been entrusted to me until that day."... that I can escape discontentedness, discouragement, anxiety, etc... because because I will live my life and ministry believing God. Isn't that what we are supposed to do anyway?

Sooner or later, since much of ministry is about your future, you are going to have to learn to believe God. This doesn't mean don't think about it or look at doors when they open, but just believe God to work His will. I have a feeling this principle will serve me well all of my days!

I have tried to trust myself. I have tried to trust minister friends. I have tried to trust my Pastor. I have tried to trust in new methods, creative tools, map reviews, and I have come to one conclusion - I MUST TRUST GOD HIMSELF ALONE AND HIS WORD FOR MY FUTURE LIFE AND MINISTRY. I CAN TRUST HIM.

If God opened the door - he will guide you through it. Quit sweating it. If God wants you where you think you should be, then you will get there. Stop the fretting! From the womb God has called you...and the greatest gift you can give your spouse, your mentors, and the people you lead now and in the future is a leader who is secure in who he is and who knows how to trust Jesus Christ. You need this one under your belt - you can't afford to not have this testimony in your future ministerial handbag, because it is the center of all we preach and teach as Apostolics. If you don't get a grip on trusting God now, you will not have the passion, the clarity, and the confidence to preach it with conviction when the people you lead need to hear it.

TRUST IN GOD was what took David forward to slay the giant. It is the most important lesson you can learn today.

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