Seeking God’s Will

Only, may the LORD grant you discretion and understanding, that when he gives you charge over Israel you may keep the law of the LORD your God. Then you will prosper if you are careful to observe the statutes and the rules that the LORD commanded Moses for Israel. 1 Chronicles 22:12-13

Whenever I’ve been working on big life decisions, I’ve always gone to God, asking his will. I don’t know what to do and I don’t want to screw it up. So, I go to God whom I believe to have insider information for me. He knows the future and he knows which decision will be better, right? So, I go to him, hoping for some supernatural decision-making help. Admittedly, I’ve done this at times when I wasn’t following God’s will in my day-to-day living. I once went to God, asking if I should take a job in a far-off state. At the time though, I was considering a move to that far-off state to run away from my opioid addiction. So, even though I claimed I wanted to follow God’s will regarding the big decision – the move to another state – I wasn’t willing to do what it took to follow God in my daily life by going to treatment and getting sober.

To know and live in God’s will, we must seek his will not just in the really big decisions, but in the little day-to-day decisions as well. This is the lesson of today’s passage, in which King David passes on the duty of building of the temple to his son, Solomon. In the story, David asks God to guide Solomon but also charges Solomon with following the statutes and rules of God. Solomon couldn’t hope to know God’s will in the big things, and he couldn’t expect to experience God’s blessing if he didn’t follow God’s day-to-day instructions.

So, now, when I’m met with a big life decision, and I want to know God’s grand will, I must first go to God, asking if I’m following his daily, mundane will for me. Most of the time I know how he asks me to live – Stay sober, love your family, love God, and serve your neighbor. Am I doing those “little” things? If so, then God’s will in the big things usually comes into focus a little more clearly. If I’m not following God in the little things, then I probably have no business pretending to want to know God’s will in the big things.