What Does God Want?

Last week’s post was about determining God’s will. If you missed it, I encourage you to go back and read it.But there’s an important aspect in hearing from God that a lot of Christians miss. I’ll often have people ask to meet with me to help make a big decision, something that could be life-altering (job change, relocation, new relationship, etc.). And I’ll hear, “‘I’ve been praying, but I just don’t know what to do. I wish God would write it in the sky for me."Well, the Lord does not work that way. But he does speak, and he wants to guide. The trouble is, we often miss him in the fray of everything else that is going on in life.Here’s the problem. I see it all the time. And sadly, I often see it in me. We want God’s guidance when it comes to the big things, but we ignore him in the little things. In a lot of things, he has made his will abundantly clear. He’s told us that he wants us in his Word. He wants us praying…daily. He wants us tithing and giving generously of our resources. He wants us to make gathering with other believers a top priority, not just a matter of convenience. He wants us treating each other with love and kindness, getting along with family members and co-workers (especially the hard-to-love people). These things are all God’s will.But if we are not doing what he has already made clear, why would he reveal more? Why would he trust us with new direction when we haven’t paid attention to the direction we’ve already been given? If you refuse to get baptized, even though that’s a clear command from Jesus, and then you ask him what job you should take, or whether or not you should relocate, why would he tell you? You’ve not listened to him about the easy matter of baptism.When you gave your life to Christ, you entered God’s kingdom, recognizing him as your king, your Lord. That means you promised to let him be in charge. Ecclesiastes 5:4 says, “When you make a promise to God, don’t delay in following through, for God takes no pleasure in fools. Keep all the promises you make to him” (NLT). Are you keeping your promise to do what he says?God cares about the big decisions you have to make. He does. But he cares a lot more about all the regular stuff. Being faithful to church, giving generously, representing him well in the workplace, loving your spouse, refraining from gossip. If you are faithful in obeying him in the little things, he’ll be more than happy to let you in on wise decisions for the big things.