How Do I Know If This Is God’s Will or My Will?

In talking with people, I hear this all the time and I have to say that I used to wonder this all the time myself.  Step 11 says to pray for knowledge of Gods will and the power to carry it out.  For a long time I had no idea of what Gods will was.  I thought if things went well for me then that was God’s will and if they didn’t work out that it wasn’t Gods will…somewhat confusing to say the least because I never knew if it was God’s will or not until I saw the results.  It was a sigh of relief to learn that I really could know Gods will and that God wanted everyone to know it.

As I sought God more, I learned that the meaning of “ Testament” is will or covenant.  I thought about how when my daughter was born my husband and I decided to get our Wills made up. In case anything ever happened to us, we wanted to decide who would care for her.  It was our will written down by a lawyer so that after our death someone could carry out our wishes.  I learned that the Bible was Gods will written down by men so that we could know what He wants us to do. There is His Old Testament and His New Testament or you might say: His Old Will and His New Will.  To learn God’s Will, I just needed to read the Bible but I had no idea where to start.  I had heard that in the early days of AA, before there was a Big Book, that they read from the Book of James so I started there.  I realized very quickly that a lot of what I was reading was principles I had learned and had already begun practicing in the rooms of AA.  But, I still had that nagging question: How do I know if I’m really hearing God or if it’s just me.  Then I was shown the answer.

For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.  Hebrews 4:12 NLT

The Word of God, the Bible, is the way to discern whether or not it’s just me or its God.  The Word is sharp enough to cut or divide between my soul and my spirit.  My soul is my thoughts, my will and my emotions.  My spirit is who I really am.  I am a spirit with a soul and I live in a body.  The Bible says that the word of God is so sharp that it can actually divide or cut between my soul and my spirit.  If my actions and thoughts line up with the Word which are Gods thoughts then its God.  If my emotions and thoughts don’t line up with the Word then it’s my will.  Simple, yes.  Easy..no. So now you  might ask.. How do I know if my thoughts line up with God’s word?  Well..that means that you must spend time reading it.  You can read it by book or you can look up topics just like some of our popular meditation books.  We don’t have to wonder whether something is Gods will or not we can go to His Will and look it up.  He wants us to know His will so that we know what to do in EVERY situation we find ourselves in.  God has something to say about everything we face..anger, loneliness, love, frustration, jealousy, relationships, sickness, money, family, children, employment etc.. You might try looking in your bible for topical references to find the scriptures that deal with what you need. If you need help, just message me and I’d be glad to help. 

Next up: My Will, Your Will or Gods Will


by Cheryl O.
http://www.cherylsbookmarks.com