I always thought the point of being a Christian was to do God’s will. Which means, figuring out what His will is. Or at least not going against strong indications of what His will is.
I think I sought information about God’s specific will the same way as other Christians who believe they have a personal relationship with Jesus/God. I would pray and notice how my attention was drawn or not drawn to certain ideas. I would read the Bible and see what popped up in my mind as a result. I would pray about specific things that were going on in my life and the lives of those I interact with the most and see what came to mind.
I would set aside thoughts and ideas that seemed to contradict the BIble outright. Then from the rest, I would try out the ideas that seemed good to try, and see how it went. I would pay careful attention to the outcome and draw conclusions from that. Ideas which led to surprisingly good outcomes presumably really were ideas God had wanted me to try out. Ideas with unforeseen bad results were probably not from God. Although – I did believe he could work with the mess I created, when I made mistakes, and turn it into something beautiful. Here’s a lovely Bible passage from Isaiah about how he can and will do that (Isaiah 60:1-3)
The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,[a]
2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the Lord
for the display of his splendor.
For what it’s worth Jesus quoted the beginning of this passage, according to the gospels, as – so I was taught – a hint that he was Israel’s Messiah, finally come to save all of them.
Ah I should mention that as a Charismatic Bible-believing Christian, which was how I started out my conscious Christian life in 1984 – I also believed in ‘signs’. That God could and might use anything in the universe to point out what God’s specific will for me is. Like – ok this will sound dumb – I take zumba classes a lot (now they are mostly over zoom but anyway) and the teacher gives cues, like thumbs up to mean “keep going, you’re doing great!” Usually it’s just a thumbs up but, sometimes I will get distracted into thinking “Does God want me to keep doing such and such?” and then next moment when my attention is back on the teacher she will give a thumbs up and – only in that context, in that moment, it means yes from God, keep going on that project.
That method of sensing God’s will is so – out there – that it was not at all emphasized in the evangelical non-Charismatic churches I went to. It’s also absolutely a sign of mental illness to think a random thumbs up on my zumba class teacher, which she commonly does, could be a message from God to me. But, well, that’s exactly why sensing God’s will is confusing for me at this time.
Anyway these methods of determining God’s specific will for me were somewhat hit and miss but seemed to work – at least when I was well. However, when I got ill, it seemed like there was nothing I could rule out as not God’s will. I would never have hurt my own children but I read about Abraham taking his son up the mountain early in the morning to sacrifice him and think “Wow, such great faith! How can I do something that amazing for God?” And I also felt like I was too able to manipulate things to get my own way at that time to assume the Bible would prevent me doing something way out of line.
I asked a Christian I trust yesterday, how can I discern between what God wants me to do and what ‘manic-brain’ wants? The person helpfully answered with:
Here are a few simple suggestions.
(1) If the idea conflicts with Scripture, reject it.
(2) If the idea would take me outside my normal responsibilities or relationships, don’t rule it out but be skeptical.
(3) If the idea would be opposed by the people I trust most and love most, be skeptical.
(4) If the idea appeals to my innate selfishness, be skeptical
(5) If the idea would force me to do something secretive, be skeptical.
This answer means a great deal to me because, actually, I don’t feel I have many (any?) other Christians in my life at the moment that I could have asked that question, and got a serious answer from.
(1) is hard for me to apply because I am too able to manipulate the words of the Bible for my own ends. Although I do feel like I have a sense of when something is sort of ‘in tune’ with the Spirit of God inside me. So perhaps the two – the Word plus the Spirit – can help.
I really appreciate how (2) through (5) are guidelines – cautions – rather than outright commandments “Do not…” Since part of the challenge is that, what if God really does want to do something new and different? Jesus as a child was lost then he turned up sitting in the temple learning from the wise people there. Some of those wise men must have been rather taken aback later when he showed up and was very angry, shouting at them all about what hypocrites they were. If the status quo is wrong then the only right answer is to question and challenge it.
But (2)-(5) help me to be careful. The person who wrote it probably is not (I hope they are not!) super-familiar with the symptoms of being manic. I can add to their list that manic-brain wants to do everything right now. So a really good test is, “Yes this seems important – but let’s see if this can wait. What else am I supposed to be doing right now?” With God a day is like a thousand years and he can make sure that everything won’t go to hell in a handbasket while I attend to my normal life responsibilities. I don’t need to be on 24/7 watch. Because he’s God and I’m not. People are dying while I’m doing dishes but that’s not my fault
So I needn’t feel urgently called to do things for God that seem – unusual? However, it is likely that He – since Jesus is the author and finisher of my faith – gave me the idea of helping Him in unusual ways and therefore, it’s not unreasonably to work on that, in between my other things. Since that is where the most joy would come from – from being able to help do something big, like turn the tide of the Arrogant Ones, in order to heal us, our country, the whole world. God is in charge and he has allowed Covid to reign. When are we going to join the dots and see that that was not his Plan A? That whereas we were asleep when it happened, he wasn’t because he never slumbers nor sleeps. Psalm 121: 4 says
Indeed, the one who guards Israel never slumbers, never sleeps.
The Guardian was not asleep so how did Covid get in? He must have let it in. I don’t like to think of it that way but it’s the only conclusion I can come to. Meanwhile I do what I can to wear a mask (it occurred to me the other day, was it lack of faith in God to keep me safe, wearing a mask? But then (although I didn’ t have that list yet, (4) came to mind and I couldn’t but regard it as innate selfishness not to wear a mask if that put me at risk of infecting anyone else.
One day several months ago I helped one person get vaccinated. It doesn’t feel like much but I’m doing what I can. The small things make a difference too. The boring things in life are important too. That’s how I do my best to understand what God’s will for me is: I don’t set aside exciting ideas, but I do put them on hold when I know something boring comes first.
The part that is different in 2021 as compared with 1984-2001 is that this time, I really really believe I can’t mess up any of God’s important plans. And they are probably all important to God. So I need not worry, but simply take one step in what feels like the right direction. Because if it’s not I can trust him to well, literally hit me with a car (when I was 8) – to make sure I get where he wants me to be. I don’t understand that particular intervention but the point is, he will not let me mess everything up. But it’s definitely best if I take one step at a time, because then there is less course correction needed.