(Pastor Chen)
One of the things that I constantly hear from believers is, "How do I know the will of God for my life?" I believe this is the number one question in the heart of every born again believer. I remember before I was saved, I had no concern at all about the will of God. I was only concerned about what brought me the most pleasure, and what I could get out of life. I lived a life of self-indulgence. But the day that I received Christ into my life, I was consumed with wanting to know and to do the will of God. I believe God places this yearning in our hearts to know His will when we become His child. And God did not place that desire in our hearts without the full intention to reveal His will to us.
There are many good books and messages on how to know the will of God. We all have been taught on the importance of the Word of God and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. We all are very well versed in this subject. However, I have found that many people still struggle in this matter. Now I do not consider myself to be an expert in this area, for I am still learning, often, in the school of hard knots. But there is a key that I have found to be of an absolute necessity when it comes to discerning the will of God for our lives. It is also an area that many people bypass in seeking the will of God. This key can be readily found in the lives of men and women of God who are greatly used of God, and it is the key of total consecration of our lives to God.
Romans 12:1-2 state, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." I believe these two verses are the foundation of knowing God's will. We know that the Holy Spirit will never contradict the Word of God. As our mind is renewed with the Word of God, we can discern the leadership of the Spirit more readily. Therefore, we have often concentrated on the second verse. However, I believe verse one of this chapter is equally important, if not more important. We are to present ourselves as a living sacrifice, in other words, total consecration to Him.
We need to realize that God is more interested in us being in His will than we are. He is more eager to reveal His plan to us than we care to know. But more than that, He is interested in us personally. Unlike the devil, He will not force His will into our lives. He wants us to freely choose Him and His way. He wants us to be totally yielded to Him. In other words, He wants us for Himself. He is not so much interested in our service to him but rather our devotion to him. God knows that if He can get us to yield our lives to Him, He will get our service. Our service to Him becomes a by-product of our total commitment to Him. So our consecration requires more than our willingness to serve Him, but rather our complete surrendering to Him. When our walk with Him becomes more important than our performance for Him, we are on our way to hear clearly.
The first step to this total consecration is the willingness to commit our lives to God. This has nothing to do with our emotions. This is where most people missed it. If we have to wait until we have some kind of feelings, we will never make this kind of commitment. It is a choice that we have to make and often independent of our emotions. We have to be willing like Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane cried out, "not My will, but Yours, be
done." When we make this kind of declaration from our hearts on a regular basis, we open up ourselves for the Holy Spirit to work that quality into our lives. It is not just by our sheer will that we consecrate our lives to God. Simon Peter will be the first one to tell you that even our will can buckle under pressure. It is by the grace of God that we consecrate ourselves to God. This grace that enabled Jesus to go to the cross and taste death for every man is also available to us. The only requirement for this grace to be in our lives is our willingness to be totally committed to Him.
Begin today by making the declaration of your consecration to Him from your heart. God will perform the rest. You will find your desires begin to line up with His desires for your life. This is the beginning and the foremost of finding the will of God for our lives.