How Can I Know God's Will for My Life?
From the "Questions That Christians Ask" Series
Ask any pastor: the question, “What is God’s will for my life?” consistently ranks among the top five concerns of believers. It’s a timeless cry, echoing from the human heart across generations. Picture ancient peoples gazing into a star-filled sky, whether on a frozen European tundra or a sun-scorched African desert. Feeling small yet aware of a greater power, they whispered their longing to know the unknowable. Fast forward to today, and the question remains just as urgent. Move from the tundra and reindeer to Interstate 10 as it ends in Los Angeles, amidst the spaghetti of highways and byways. There, the great-great (to the fiftieth generation, about 500 BC) grandson of our man on the tundra faces the same question.
A Story We All Recognize
Greg, a young husband and father in his mid-thirties, races down the San Bernardino Freeway in his prized used Volkswagen. A middle manager at a marketing firm, he’s just received life-changing news: a significant promotion. As he downshifts through traffic, his mind buzzes with possibilities—a new home, a bigger paycheck, college savings for his kids, and maybe a new car for his wife, Sally. “This is it!” he thinks, his heart soaring.
Then, a quiet doubt creeps in: Is this God’s will? The question nags like an unwelcome guest. Greg tries to dismiss it, reasoning, “God wants me to provide for my family, to succeed” (1 Tim. 5:8). But as a Christian, he knows better than to brush it aside. At a stoplight, with the golden California sky stretching above, Greg prays aloud: “Lord, is this promotion right? What about Sally and the kids? Another move, another goodbye to friends, and a school change for Jill and Jake. Father, if only I could know Your will!”
Greg’s crisis is ours. His question transcends time, culture, and circumstance. Like our ancient ancestors staring at the heavens, we too ask, “God, what is Your will for my life?” Playing a fortune-teller feels wrong, yet ignoring the question isn’t an option. Can we truly know God’s will? The answer is a resounding yes—but it requires approaching Scripture with clarity and humility, like a weary traveler seeking a well-marked path.
Understanding God’s Will: Three Biblical Categories
The Bible reveals God’s will in distinct ways. Scholars often identify two categories, but I find three particularly helpful for our pursuit: God’s decretive will, preceptive will, and dispositional will. Let’s explore each.
1. God’s Decretive Will: His Sovereign Plan
God’s decretive will refers to His unchangeable decrees—what He has ordained to happen. As Moses declared to Israel, “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law” (Deut. 29:29, ESV). These “secret things” are God’s sovereign plans, like the creation of light (Gen. 1:3) or His choice of His people before the world’s foundation (Eph. 1:4). They unfold without fail, yet remain hidden until they come to pass.
Trying to guess God’s decrees—say, whether He’s ordained a specific job or spouse—is futile. Deuteronomy warns us not to peer into what’s unrevealed. Instead, we trust that God’s sovereignty works through His direct commands and our responsible choices, never compromising His goodness (1 John 1:5) or our freedom (Josh. 24:15; John 19:11).
2. God’s Preceptive Will: His Revealed Word
While God’s decrees are secret, His preceptive will is knowable through Scripture. As Moses continued, the “revealed things” belong to us (Deut. 29:29). These are God’s precepts—His commands and principles in the Bible’s sixty-six books. King David rejoiced, “The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart” (Ps. 19:8, ESV).
How do we apply these precepts to daily decisions? Through Word, Sacrament, and Prayer. The Word—encountered in preaching, teaching, or personal study—saturates our minds with God’s truth. Sacraments like Baptism and Communion draw us to Christ, reorienting us to His cross (1 Cor. 11:23–26). Prayer unites these, inviting God’s Spirit to guide us. As Proverbs promises, “For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding” (Prov. 2:6, ESV). James adds, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him” (James 1:5, ESV). By diligently seeking God’s revealed will, we gain clarity for life’s choices.
3. God’s Dispositional Will: What Pleases Him
A third category, God’s dispositional will, highlights what pleases Him. While rooted in His decrees, it deserves separate attention. Scripture shows us what aligns with God’s heart: “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Mic. 6:8, ESV). Passages like Ephesians 5:10 and 1 Thessalonians 4:1 urge us to live in ways that honor Him.
For instance, the Ten Commandments reveal our need for a Savior and guide us toward what delights God (Ex. 20:2–17). As John Calvin noted, this practical use of the law shapes our lives to reflect God’s priorities.1 By aligning our decisions with His revealed desires, we walk paths that glorify Him, trusting that “whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31, ESV).
Wisdom: The Key to Applying God’s Will
The indispensable tool for accessing and applying God’s will—from His Word to our lives—is wisdom. Wisdom is not merely knowledge or the accumulation of data. Wisdom is knowing God’s revealed will in His Word and applying it rightly. So, we can see why Solomon urged his sons, “The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom, and whatever you get, get insight” (Prov. 4:7, ESV).
Wisdom cries aloud:
Wisdom cries aloud in the street,
in the markets she raises her voice;
at the head of the noisy streets she cries out;
at the entrance of the city gates she speaks:
“How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple?” (Prov. 1:20–22, ESV).
Once you know God’s revealed will in His Word, you turn to Him in the name of Jesus Christ to seek His presence and power. Wisdom applies knowledge to gain insight. This, too, is the teaching of God’s Word. Look at the introduction to the “Book of Wisdom,” Proverbs:
The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel:
To know wisdom and instruction,
to understand words of insight,
to receive instruction in wise dealing,
in righteousness, justice, and equity;
to give prudence to the simple,
knowledge and discretion to the youth—
Let the wise hear and increase in learning,
and the one who understands obtain guidance,
to understand a proverb and a saying,
the words of the wise and their riddles.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;
fools despise wisdom and instruction (Prov. 1:1–7, ESV).
Note verse 5: “Let the wise hear and increase in learning, and the one who understands obtain guidance.” Wisdom is the key that unlocks the door to guidance. And guidance is the prize we seek in knowing God’s will.
How does wisdom come? By faith in God, studying His Word, and seeking His wisdom in prayer. We long to hear: “Go this way, My son. Follow this pathway, My daughter” (cf. Isa. 30:21). But we receive the Word of the Lord in the Bible and the help of the Holy Spirit as we read and pray. What is biblical wisdom?
Wisdom, in the biblical sense, is not merely intellectual acuity or practical prudence; it is a sacred gift of discernment, cultivated through reverent seeking and graciously bestowed by God. It is the Spirit-endowed means by which the Word of God is woven into the fabric of our decisions and the details of our daily lives. What we often call “common sense” may echo its voice, but true wisdom is uncommon in its source and transformative in its effect. It does not simply inform our choices—it forms the chooser. As wisdom matures in the life of the believer, it saturates the soul, shaping instincts, inclinations, and inner resolve. Thus, the seemingly ordinary processes of evaluating options and assessing outcomes become, in truth, the outward expression of an inward life aligned with the heart and mind of God. In short, we could say: True wisdom is the Spirit-shaped instinct—cultivated through faithful obedience and divine endowment—to apply God’s Word in God’s way at God’s time.2
“True wisdom is the Spirit-shaped instinct, cultivated through faithful obedience, to apply God’s Word in God’s way at God’s time” (James 1:5; Proverbs 3:5–6).
— Michael A. Milton, PhD
My Aunt Eva, who raised me, bore no credentials to mark her learning. Born in 1897, she was just thirteen when she left school in 1910 to tend her six younger siblings, her childhood eclipsed by duty when my grandmother lay ill after birthing the youngest. Her dream of teaching home economics—a quiet ambition to shape young lives with practical grace—faded into the demands of love. Yet, in rearing her siblings, including my father, and later sheltering countless children who called her home their own, she wove a legacy of care. When my father entrusted me to her, I witnessed something unforgettable: grown men—some bearing titles, others the quiet wealth of our rural community—kneeling at her feet, heads bowed, sometimes weeping, pleading, “O Aunt Eva, what must I do?” Even during my own wanderings—studying for a PhD across the sea in Great Britain—I would return to her, now frail in her late nineties, and ask, “Aunt Eva, how should I face this trouble?” I never left Aunt Eva’s counsel without the sense that I had heard from heaven—delivered through diminished whispers and fading eyes.
As the Psalmist sings, “The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple” (Ps. 19:7, ESV). Her simplicity was her strength, for she leaned on God’s revealed will—His precepts and promises—and the Spirit shaped her counsel to meet life’s questions. Aunt Eva was no scholar, but her wisdom, born of walking daily with the Lord, unveiled God’s will like a lantern in the dark.
Can you possess such wisdom? Wisdom is not a cryptic initiation into an inaccessible guild. It is the fruit of faith, prayer, and the work of the Holy Spirit, who “will guide you into all the truth” (John 16:13, ESV). Thus, the answer is an unequivocal “yes.”
Applying God’s Will to Greg’s Dilemma
Back to Greg, idling at the stoplight. He doesn’t need a crystal ball or a divine telegram. The Bible sermons he’s heard, the men’s Bible study at the coffee shop, and the quiet moments at the Lord’s Table have equipped him with God’s truth. With Sally and perhaps a trusted pastor, Greg can weigh his decision through Scripture, prayer, and godly wisdom. Is the promotion consistent with God’s precepts? Does it reflect what pleases Him? These questions, not guesses about God’s secret decrees, guide his path.
Trusting God’s Promises Amid Uncertainty
What if Greg makes the wrong choice? Even in our earnest pursuit of God’s will, we’re human. We misread Scripture, get bad advice, or let selfish desires cloud our judgment. Here’s the good news: God’s sovereignty catches our mistakes. His decretive will ensures that “for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose” (Rom. 8:28, ESV). Believers are “sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,” guaranteeing our inheritance (Eph. 1:13–14, ESV).
This truth points to the cross, where God’s will was most profoundly revealed. Jesus wrestled in Gethsemane, praying, “Not My will, but Yours, be done” (Luke 22:42, ESV). The cross seemed like failure, abandonment, and death. Yet God transformed shame into glory, defeat into victory, and death into eternal life. That same power works in us.3 Our missteps and even our defeats, like the cross of Christ, become part of God’s redemptive plan. Remember that “all things work together for good”—though the “things” may sometimes be bad. We live our lives shaped by the ruling motif—the pattern—of the life of our Lord (Phil. 2:5–8).
A Final Word to Greg—and You
Greg, weigh the promotion carefully. What are the variables present? Think it through. Wisdom increases with knowing more of God, revealed in His Word and experienced in following Him. Consider Sally, your children, and your calling to glorify God. The answer may be yes or no. But be sure that the time spent wrestling with God’s will is never wasted. You can know His will through His Word, Spirit, and wisdom. And you never need to look further than the cross, where God’s love secures your path. The will of God is not a mystical butterfly to chase and catch. His will is revealed, knowable, and applicable. His Spirit applies His truth to your life as you follow the Lord Jesus Christ. “He has told you, O man, what is good” (Mic. 6:8, ESV): He has given you the Scriptures, the opportunity to gain wisdom, and the Holy Spirit to comfort and guide, always pointing you back to the cross of Christ.
The essence of the matter is reduced to “trust and obey.” That is, after all, the faith that saves. Repent. Confess Christ, the wisdom of God, as the resurrected and living King of kings and Lord of lords. If you have never been baptized, present yourself to a minister of the Gospel, acting for the Church catholic (the one, true Church of believers throughout the world and throughout time). Seek God in the Word and the Table (Holy Communion) and in the fellowship of those who follow the Lord Jesus. Immerse yourself in God’s revelation of Himself, the Holy Bible. Seek God’s revealed will diligently and trust His sovereign grace to guide you home—step by step, day by day.
O God, early in the morning I cry to You.
Help me to pray and gather my thoughts to You; I cannot do it alone.
In me it is dark, but with You there is light;
I am lonely, but You do not desert me;
My courage fails me, but with You there is help;
I am restless, but with You there is peace;
In me there is bitterness, but with You there is patience;
I do not understand Your ways, but You know the way for me.
Father in Heaven, praise and thanks be to You for the night.
—Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906–1945), Morning Prayer for Fellow-Prisoners, copied by his friend, Eberhard Bethge (1909–2000)
John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, trans. Henry Beveridge (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1989), Book II, Chapter 7, Section 12. Calvin articulates the third use of the law, noting that it guides believers to align their lives with God’s will, fostering obedience and holiness.
It seems appropriate for me to add a thought about one phrase: “Faithful obedience” is an activity that extends from gratitude and love to God for His great salvation through Jesus Christ.
The cross’s apparent failure, abandonment, and death are expressed in Jesus’ cry of forsakenness (Mark 15:34) and the world’s perception of folly (1 Cor. 1:18; Isa. 53:3-4). Yet God transformed shame into glory (Heb. 12:2; Phil. 2:8–9), defeat into victory (Col. 2:15), and death into eternal life (John 11:25–26; Rom. 6:4; 1 Cor. 15:54–55). This same resurrection power operates in believers (Eph. 1:19–20; Rom. 8:11; Phil. 3:10–11), shaping our lives through Christ’s triumph.