What has God called you to do? What is His perfect will concerning your life?
Right off the top, we can find some general direction for every believer. There are certain assignments and commands that apply to all of us.
We know that every believer is called to:
Live holy (1 Peter 1:16)
Evangelize (Mark 16:15)
Worship (John 4:24)
Pray (1 Thessalonians 5:17)
Know God’s Word (Colossians 3:16)
Demonstrate love (Luke 10:27)
Serve in the Church (1 Peter 4:10)
But beyond that, specifically, what has God called you to do?
When looking to answer this question, there are two traps about which you need to be aware. While seeking God’s will for you life, you must avoid both presumption and paralysis. Both presumption and paralysis will keep you from fulfilling God’s perfect will for your life.
The trap of presumption works by luring its victims into using a pace of life that is too fast to allow for a pause in which one can hear the instructions of God. The presumptuous rarely pray about their decisions. They forge ahead without checking the map. They may move quickly and they may even build something that appears to be fruitful. But if you rush ahead of God’s instruction, you also rush ahead of His protection, provision, and peace. Never really taking the time to establish a foundation for any one phase of life, the presumptuous have to keep stumbling forward in order to catch their footing. The high-pressure cycle destroys their joy and gratitude.
The trap of paralysis works by holding its prey captive to fear. So afraid of doing something that God did not call them to do, the spiritually paralyzed settle for doing next-to-nothing at all. They embrace fear and call it wisdom. Like the servant who buried his talent, the fearful assume that God will reward their play-it-safe strategy - but that’s not the case.
Of course, there’s a Biblical balance to all of this.
I believe in taking action, moving forward, and even in taking risks. Otherwise, where would be the need for faith? But we must avoid presumption.
And I believe in the process before the platform. I believe that God uses seasons of hiddenness to prepare His servants for ministry. I believe in being attentive to hear God’s instructions. But we must break free from spiritual paralysis.
So how are we to move forward? The answer, of course, is seen in scripture.
Next Paul and Silas traveled through the area of Phrygia and Galatia, because the Holy Spirit had prevented them from preaching the word in the province of Asia at that time. Then coming to the borders of Mysia, they headed north for the province of Bithynia, but again the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them to go there. So instead, they went on through Mysia to the seaport of Troas. (Acts 16:6-8, NLT)
The Lord had to correct Paul’s course. The fact that Paul had to change directions in the middle of his journey proves to us that he didn’t pray about every detail of his missionary journey. Rather, he saw where there was a need and then sought to fill that need using what God had entrusted to Him.
We are instructed as we Go.
So those who lean toward being presumptuous are rescued by the voice of the Holy Spirit. So long as they remain attentive to God’s voice through a lifestyle of prayer and the Word, they have a safety net. God can correct them as they move.
And the paralyzed don’t need to be immobile. They don’t have to believe those superstitious, unbiblical myths about God being easily angered by our missteps. They can just look for the need and seek to fill it with what God has given to them.
Now, how do you fulfill the specific, perfect will of God for your life? You take all that God has given to you - time, resources, influence, talents, gifts, energy - and you use it to further the gospel. Your specific abilities being used to fulfill God’s general mandate - that’s the perfect will of God. It’s that simple. So long as you remain attentive to His voice, He can correct your course. But you need to be going to be guided.
Thankfully, we need not to trust in our own ability to know God’s will, but rather in His ability to reveal it.