Trying to discern God’s will can feel like trying to find a needle in a haystack—a near impossible task fraught with frustration. But God never intended it to be that way. In this message, Dr. Stanley explains that the Lord wants the best for your life, and He’s more than willing to show you exactly what that is. Learn to trust God and follow His guidance as He illuminates the path before you one step at a time. Trying to discern God’s will can feel like trying to find a needle in a haystack—a near impossible task fraught with frustration. But God never intended it to be that way. In this message, Dr. Stanley explains that the Lord wants the best for your life, and He’s more than willing to show you exactly what that is. Learn to trust God and follow His guidance as He illuminates the path before you one step at a time.
[Music]
timeless truths
a collection of classic sermons from dr
charles stanley
today’s selection recorded in 1997
he will show you his will
[Music]
my father died when i was about nine
months of age and so
those are pretty tough years for me
because i was sort of pushed around to
this one and that and somebody to keep
me while my mother worked
i don’t remember anything much about
those years except that i do remember
feeling very lonely because i would come
home and my mother was gone because she
had to work and
she was not there not because she didn’t
want to be but because she couldn’t be
my only remembrance of those early years
was that i felt
real empty and all alone and then when i
was 12 years of age
the second row where i usually sat on
the edge i stepped out one sunday
morning
fell on my knees and asked the lord
jesus christ to save me and
immediately without anybody ever telling
me
somehow i had this awesome sense of
feeling
god not only has saved me but god
has something to do in my life god must
have a will or plan a purpose in my life
never heard a sermon on it never heard
anybody explain it
it was just a witness of the spirit that
god had something in mind for me
two years later when i was 14 years of
age i knew that the lord wanted me to
preach the gospel it’s the only thing
i’ve ever thought about doing
the only thing god ever impressed me to
do never doubted it one single time from
the moment i was absolutely sure
did i know how to find the will of god
in those days probably not
and in my ignorance of just asking the
lord what do you want to do with my life
i’m sure that he impressed me so
strongly
so clearly so simply so early in life
he knew that i would never doubt what he
was saying in my life
but i remember that after i was saved
that i didn’t feel all that long anymore
all of a sudden
this god who is out of reach and totally
beyond my comprehension those days
suddenly he’d come into my life and as i
began to read the scripture
things started looking a little
different i began to understand things i
didn’t understand before
began to read how he worked in the lives
of of jesus and how he worked in the
life of the apostles and i wasn’t too
much into the old testament those days
then later on but i knew that god was
saying something to me and speaking to
my heart and getting me ready for
something
and i think one of the most overwhelming
assuring encouraging things that i’ve
ever learned in my life is
god has a will and a plan and a purpose
for every
single one of us no matter who we are
i don’t know of anything much more
exciting than to know that the god
who created all of this has you in mind
has me in mind has a purpose and a plan
and the wonderful thing about it is he
doesn’t keep it a secret
when the bible talks about the mysteries
of god it’s certainly not the mystery of
his will and his purpose
but your life in my life god’s will
could be divided generally into his
moral will
in his personal will and if we get
beyond that in his providential will
that is the way he’s going to operate
creation
and all those things above and beyond
their understanding
but in his moral will that deals with
those things those do’s and don’ts
some things we know fit into his moral
will thou shalt not steal
lie cheat commit adultery murder have
other gods before us
then there’s his wonderful personal will
for our life
that is what god’s agenda is for your
life as a person
what he has in mind when he created you
and so what i want to talk about in this
message
listen not only the fact that he has a
will for your life but you can know
the will of god for your life the will
of god
he will show you his will for your life
so i want you to turn if you will to
ephesians chapter 5
and i want to look at a couple of past
couple of verses here
in this fifth chapter paul has been
talking about our relationship to evil
and
sin and how we should um lay those
things aside that do not fit who we are
in christ jesus and
so then he comes down to this 15th verse
and here’s what he says
of ephesians chapter 5. he says
therefore based on all the things that
he’d said about laying aside the old man
and so forth
he says therefore be careful how you
walk
not his unwise men but his wives making
the most of your time because the days
are evil
so then do not be foolish but understand
what the will of the lord is now my
friend
god has a personal plan and purpose for
your life
and so the question is well can we know
what god’s will and plan for our life is
yes we can not only does he have one but
he we can know it
why would he say so then do not be
foolish but understand what the will of
the lord is
would god tell us in his word to
understand what his will for our life
is he says we’re not to be unwise as the
world is
walking as the world walks walking is
unbelievers walk he says
we’re to understand what the will of the
lord is that means
that not only does god have a plan and a
purpose for your life in mind but we
have the wonderful privilege
of being able to understand what it is
now that’s just as consistent with god
as knowing
that he has a plan that he is willing to
show us what that plan is
because you see it’d be inconsistent for
god to say i have a plan for your life
but i’m not going to tell you what it is
here’s why i want you to live a certain
way but i’m not going to tell you how
i have a purpose for your life but but
you have to figure that out
it would be totally inconsistent for god
to require
of me something and and then not tell me
what it is nor
enable me to do it because you see the
truth is you and i cannot live a
spiritual life in the flesh
the god who has a will and a purpose and
a plan for our life also is the same god
who has promised to enable us and equip
ours not only by spiritual gifts
but also by the fact of the indwelling
presence of the holy spirit listen
anything and everything you’ve heard me
say this over and over again
because i want you to understand it
anything and everything
god requires of us to become or to be
that is to be
or to do god has committed himself
to enable us by his indwelling presence
to do that in our behalf
for us through us to us and in us he
knows that apart from us we can never
discover his will
apart from him we can never discover his
will nor could we ever do his will
therefore we have the wonderful
privilege of knowing that he has a will
for our life
and the wonderful privilege of knowing
that he has assumed responsibility
for revealing his will to us and so god
has not said
you figure it out he says for example
the holy spirit is the one who discerns
the mind of god and he’s the one who
speaks through our spirit and enables us
to know
and sometimes when a child trusts the
lord jesus as their savior at six or
seven or sometimes five
i’m sure that sometimes adults say well
how in the world could they understand
what god is doing in their life at five
never underestimate the power
of almighty god to speak to a child as i
think about at the age of 12
i think some of these five-year-olds and
six-year-olds know who do a whole lot i
know a whole lot more about
what jesus is all about than i did at
the age of 12
because they’ve got godly parents and
they’ve come to sunday school and
they’ve heard
a good teaching of the word of god
throughout those early early years of
their life
probably learning a lot more than we
realize and so you never underestimate
the power of god to make himself known
to a child as well as to an adult now
how is it that god shows us and reveals
his will to us well i want you to listen
carefully because i want to give you
several things
the first step i believe and the most
important step in understanding the will
of god in any particular area
or big major issues in our life is go to
the word of god now listen carefully
i do not mean that the things i’m
getting ready to share with you
that all of these you have to go through
some ritual to find the will of god
i’m not saying that but i’m saying in
major issues of life
all of these things are important listen
and when this begins to be a habit of
our life what you’re going to discover
is
that finding his will in those daily
decisions would just be just like this
you’ll know what to do why because you
are in the habit
you’re in the habit of reading and
listening to the word of god you’re in
the habit of discerning and
understanding the principles of god so
you will listen automatically react by
the spirit
to understand what he would have you to
do i want you to turn to psalm 119 for a
moment
psalm 119 and i want you to look at
verse 105.
the 119th psalm and the 105th verse
listen to what he says
i’m going to give you a moment to find
it 119th psalm in the 105th verse
listen to what he says he says thy word
is a lamp to my feet and a light to my
path
what does that mean it means that the
word of god
will listen we’ll lighten our path
will show us the way and in the king
james i believe it is the 130th verse
you may want to look at that
uh in whatever translation you have in
the same
in the same chapter 119th
the 130th verse says the unfolding of
thy word gives light or
the entrance of thy word gives light
that is the word of god listen the word
of god
lightens the way the though the word of
god shows
us the way if i want to know what god is
thinking about
listen in any given area i know exactly
where to turn
open the book and find out what is it
that god said
about this situation or something so
similar to it that the principle is here
and so the word of god is full of the
wisdom of god because it’s the unfolding
revelation of god himself
that’s the first step the second of
course is to pray
bible know the lord’s mind about
something get on my knees and ask him to
show him you say well you have to get on
your knees no you don’t
well can you stand up yes you can sit
right yes you can but you know what
there is something about
kneeling before god humbling ourselves
before him and saying father
i desperately need your direction
i need wisdom i humble myself before you
if you’re too proud to get on your knees
more than likely
you’re too proud to listen to what he
has to say and so we need to humble
ourselves beforehand in prayer
asking the lord to give us direction now
praying isn’t doing all the talking
praying is telling him what we think how
we feel and listening
backing off and listening that’s why
it’s so important
that prayer involves meditation reading
the word of god
being quiet listening lord what are you
saying to me in this
and sometimes god will just stick me on
one passage of scripture or one or two
verses and sometimes one verse
sometimes a week sometimes two weeks
sometimes longer than that
and i know when i can’t get away from
something god is trying to say something
to me
well you say well why can’t you get it
the first time same reason you can’t
and that is we don’t always understand
exactly up front
what god may be saying to us and none of
us have any insight on god
all of us have the same holy spirit
living on the inside of us
god deals with each one of us in
relationship to how he knows us and so
sometimes
you get me in some passage and i think
well lord what are you saying
prayer seeking listen spending time with
god i want you to get this there is no
substitute in all of life for spending
time with god
in prayer with an open bible and people
say well i pray
how much how much time do you spend
reading the bible and praying well you
know i i just pray
all the time that’s not the issue well
listen what gods
are praying what gives validity to our
praying
is the word of god now once in a while
somebody will say well i like the
sermons you preach that helps me
understand get my needs met but these
doctrinal sermons sometimes they go over
my head no they don’t go over your head
here’s the important thing about
doctrinal messages
in order to listen in order for the
message
about meeting our needs to have validity
and strength
you’ve got to understand who god is you
must understand those basic truths about
god this is why people get all emotional
jumping up and down praising
the lord and hallelujah and praising god
have a nervous breakdown you know why
because they are living on emotion not
truth not listen not abiding rich
deep theological truth that is the truth
of god
and so that’s why i don’t want to always
talk about getting this need met that
need met but who is god
who is the lord jesus christ what is the
work of the holy spirit what is his way
how does he operate in their life then
we understand we
when you begin to see our needs we we
seek
god to meet our needs based on solid
biblical principles not on some oh lord
bless me good hallelujah praise god well
listen
when your feet hit the ground the truth
is are you on truth
are you on some emotional bend you want
to walk in truth the bible says we’re to
walk in truth
walk in love walk in light not walk
listen walk in joy yes but not walk in
some frivolous kind of emotional
upheaval
which is up to day and down tomorrow on
our face before almighty god the third
thing that’s so important is this now
listen carefully
listen if i want to know the will of god
listen not only must i be in his word
and in prayer
but listen now listen carefully i must
focus on my relationship with him now
listen carefully
god is not an information center he’s
not an information center
waiting for us to tap into him god is
our father
what is it he wants he wants a
relationship with us so therefore
if i want to know the mind of god if i
want to know his will about something
then what i want to do
is i want to pursue my relationship with
him at
some given point about this particular
situation lord let me speak to my heart
what do you want to say to me about you
what do you want me to know about you
that
that has to do with all this you see
he’s not interested in just dishing out
information
he’s interested in drawing us to himself
he’s interested in conforming us to his
likeness
he’s interested in building a
relationship with us so here’s what i’ve
discovered
and i’m discovering and that is simply
this if i want to know the mind of god
about something
i don’t have to make a big issue about
about what that is
what i want to do is focus on father
what do you want to say to me about my
life
what is your will and purpose and your
plan here i want you to
show me how to love you show me how to
express my love and devotion to you
show me how to walk in your you know
what it’s it’s very clear
the the will of god and the purpose of
god the plan of god begins to unfold
as i find myself being enriched in my
relationship and deepened in my
understanding of who he is
he doesn’t keep secrets from his
children more than willing to show us
and so what happens oftentimes we just
come to him and say
lord here’s the decision i have to make
and i need some direction here what do
you say god
and god’s real son you know why because
he’s not an information center he’s not
an operator sitting on the other end
god is a lover he is the chief of all
lovers and he loves us and he wants
us for himself and the unfolding of his
will for us is an expression of his love
and so therefore god’s not interested in
handing out information
with no relationship and this is why
people say i prayed and prayed and
prayed and prayed
and god hadn’t said a thing you know why
because praying and praying and praying
is not the
issue it’s relationship remember that
if i wa if i want to know god’s mind and
heart i focus on the relationship
not on the particular issue that i’m
after the fourth thing is this
one of the ways that he reveals his will
is through circumstances sometimes
god closes the door sometimes he closes
his door and opens this door
so often times he will reveal his will
and purpose of planning a given
situation for your life
by opening a door or closing a door
anytime listen any time
watch this anytime god closes the door
it’s for your protection
anytime he opens the door it’s an
invitation
and sometimes you and i may run right up
to a door that looks open to us
and slam right in front of us why
heading in the wrong direction
something about that appeal to us it
wasn’t the will of god and in his love
he slams the door
what is he doing protecting us from
making a wrong decision
so somebody says well i i wouldn’t make
a decision but i’m afraid you don’t have
to be afraid
if you genuinely with all of your heart
surrendered and yielded to him make a
decision
and it’s the wrong decision listen god
will
rescue you out of a wrong decision if
your heart was committed to being
obedient to god
and for some reason out of any
experience or ignorance you misread
what the will of god was you weren’t
trying to indulge yourself you weren’t
trying to have your way
you really believed that was the will of
god didn’t seem to work out the way you
expected it to
god listen if listen if god closes one
door he’s got
something better all i have to do is to
be responsible to be obedient to what he
says do
and trust his reasoning is far greater
than my understanding
and so it’s so very important i think
that you and i understand that
well of course one of the things that
you and i can depend upon to some degree
is godly counsel
sometimes you and i will talk with
someone else
maybe not even bring up the issue at
hand and god will use that person to say
something
exactly what we needed to hear and so
godly counsel is certainly one of god’s
ways of revealing and unfolding his will
and purpose and plan
for a particular area or or making a
decision for us
now a lot of other things i could say
let me bring this to a close
how can i be sure ask myself seven
questions
how can i be sure that i’ve heard what
god has said
so if you just jot these down number one
is what i believe i’ve heard consistent
with the word of god
and this is why it is so very important
that you and i not only know
verses but we know the principles is
this consistent with the word of god
second question i ask myself is this and
that is
listen is this a wise decision
and you know you and i deep down inside
we know one of things wise when it’s not
wise
and does he not say here in in ephesians
he says
be not foolish but he says the
understanding what the be wise be
understanding what the will of god is is
this decision a wise decision the third
thing is this
can i confidently ask god to enable me
to do this
if something is not the will of god and
i say well i have confidence i’m going
to do that
listen the spirit of god will bear
witness with your spirit with
static there’ll be conflict in your
spirit when you say
when i say well can i can i confidently
ask god to enable me to do this watch
this
there is no way for me confidently i
have any confidence to ask god to enable
me to do something that’s not his will
i won’t have any confidence i can try to
muster it up all i want to i’m not going
to have
confidence to disobey god i’m not going
to have assurance to disobey god
the confidence comes in knowing the mind
of god
and listen if it’s in keeping with
scripture if it’s in keeping with
scripture
if it’s a wise decision if i can
confidently say god
you must enable me and i’m asking you to
enable me to do this
then the fourth question is this do i
have the witness of the spirit
is does this is the spirit of god giving
me a quiet
sense of affirmation on the inside now
watch this somebody says well
as soon as i get peace i’m going to do
it you know what sometimes we start to
think we’ve mustered up peace
listen you can’t go by feeling it must
be the witness of the spirit you will
know in your spirit when the spirit of
god has affirmed
for you this is the mind of god this is
the will of god
you are free to move in this direction
the next one is this
i have to ask myself this question this
question if i believe this is the will
of god does this fit who i
am as a child of god does this
does this conduct does this purchase
this does this act
is this is this in is this in keeping
with the mind of god
does this fit who i am does it fit who i
am
is it a violation of scripture is it who
i am i’m coming back to illustrate that
in a moment the next question is this
does this fit god’s overall plan for my
life somebody says well i don’t know
what god’s overall plan for my life
as well listen does it fit the scripture
does it fit who you are as a believer
listen if it fits who you are as a
believer
it’s going to fit god’s overall plan in
your life and then
we have to ask ourselves this question
and thinking about all of these things
does will this honor god if i do this
will this honor god
now you ask yourself those seven
questions you’re going to know whether
it’s of god or not now let me give you a
couple examples and i’m going to close
lady came to me one day and she said she
said i’m going to the mission field
i said well wonderful praise the lord
about that i said then i know your
family is all excited about that she
said no
i said what do you mean she said i’m
leaving my family going to mission field
i said now wait a minute um she says
i’ve asked the lord to give me direction
for my life and i know this is will of
god i said now what’s the will of god
you mean to tell me that you’re leaving
your husband and your children
and you’re going to the mission feeling
obedience to god yes i am i said no
you’re not
you may go to the mission field but
you’re not going to mission feeling
obedience to god and walk away from your
husband and your children
because you want to be a missionary well
i believe god called me years and years
ago and
i probably shouldn’t have gotten married
and had these kids and i said it’s too
late ma’am
don’t sit here and tell me that god’s
called you to the mission field to leave
your family
god would never give you guidance to
violate his word
he’s not going to lead us to do anything
that’s going to harm someone else
he may lead us to do something that
causes someone else pain
because they don’t agree but he’s not
ever going to listen he’s not ever going
to lead us to do something
that violates the living word of god
you ask yourself those seven questions
and you will know
whether you have heard from god whether
you have the will of god for your life
or not
now god’s a wonderful father he wants
the best for us he makes it simple now
i’ve strung this out a long ways and
told you a lot of things about it does
that make it complicated no
i’m simply saying here are some things
that you can consider
in the major decisions of your life in
the minor decisions of your life and
listen what god wants us to do is to
walk in his spirit
and it’d be such a natural normal thing
for us that we just sort of know
what to do next because because we are
listen because we are walking in the
spirit
our mind and heart is committed to the
will of god and knowing the will of god
oftentimes
is very very simple in most things in
life
but then there are those tough things
and you know what he is there
to make it very clear this much i know
it is the will of god for you to be
saved
this much i know it’s the will of god
for you to be baptized it’s the will of
god for you to be a part of a local
fellowship somewhere
and i know there’s some people who live
in different areas of the country where
they live maybe many many miles away
from a church and can’t get there every
sunday i do understand that
those circumstances health-wise and so
forth
but under normal conditions it’s his
will of you to be a part of a local body
of people who believe god’s word
and love him love each other it’s the
will of god that you walk in the spirit
it’s the will of god that you love each
other
it’s the will of god that you forgive
it’s the will of god listen
that you and i are growing in our faith
toward him
a lot of things i know the will of god
for your life and i just want to say to
you if you’ve never trusted jesus christ
as your savior
you ask him to forgive you of your sin
tell him that you’re putting your life
in his hand in that moment
you’ve taken the most awesome step you
can take because you will have just
changed
your whole eternal destiny in one
commitment of obedience to jesus christ
you