Why God’s Will Is Hard to Find

Why God’s Will Is Hard to Find

from The Will of God by Dr. Mike Holloway

Lesson One from The Will of God by Dr. Mike Holloway

“It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter.”

Proverbs 25:2

Most Christians would agree that it seems God’s will for their lives is the hardest thing to find.

Why? According to Solomon, the Lord has deliberately hidden it from us, thus requiring that we search for it diligently.

This lesson will focus on many of the wrong areas where people continue to search.

God’s will is not always found … IN LOGIC.

“And it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out unto his brethren, and looked on their burdens: and he spied an Egyptian smiting an Hebrew, one of his brethren. 12 And he looked this way and that way, and when he saw
that there was no man, he slew the Egyptian, and hid him in the sand. 13 And when he went out the second day, behold, two men of the Hebrews strove together: and he said to him that did the wrong, Wherefore smitest thou thy fellow? 14 And he said, Who made thee a prince and a judge over us? intendest thou to kill me, as thou killedst the Egyptian? And Moses feared, and said, Surely this thing is known.”

Exodus 2:11-14

Looking through the eye of flesh, Moses was the most logical candidate to deliver God’s people from their slavery.

  • He was a Hebrew just like them.
  • His parents had been born in slavery just like them.
  • He had been raised in Pharaoh’s court; and therefore, had many political connections as well as influence which could prove invaluable.
  • He knew how to fight, as he had been trained in combat as the heir-apparent to the throne.
  • He had made the choice of abandoning his Egyptian upbringing, preferring to suffer the afflictions with his own people.

Therefore, when an opportunity arose for a protector to step forward, Moses was delighted to do so and ended up killing a man because he had stepped out of God’s will for his life. However, if Moses was not God’s choice to be the deliverer of the Hebrews, then who was?

“The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. 3 I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies.”

Psalm 18:2-3

Moses abandoned God’s will for two reasons.

First, his timing was wrong, and he got ahead of God. Second, his attitude was wrong, for he acted independently of God.

Moses was wrong about the will of God because he was trying to discover it in human logic. It all made so much sense to him until he found himself on the run and in hiding for the next forty years.

In order to better appreciate the potential danger that rests with using logic to base one’s decisions on, we can look at those in the
Bible who made that very mistake. Lot reasoned that because the region of Sodom had plentiful water, it would be a far better place to live than to remain wandering about the land of Canaan, not knowing where the next watering hole might be located. Naaman almost missed a miracle simply because Elisha the prophet did not act in a way that Naaman had assumed he would behave! Because of his pride, he assumed there would be a big welcome and he would be treated as a foreign dignitary. Instead, the prophet refused to personally meet him and sent all instructions through a servant.

“Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.”

Proverbs 3:5

God’s will is not always found … IN THE SUPERNATURAL.

“And Gideon said unto God, If thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said, 37 Behold, I will put a fleece of wool in the floor; and if the dew be on the fleece only, and it be dry upon all the earth beside, then shall I know that thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said. 38 And it was so: for he rose up early on the morrow, and thrust the fleece together, and wringed the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water.”

Judges 6:36-38

One of the quickest ways to mess up and be out of God’s will is for a person to start putting fleeces out, so God can show him His will.

If a person is thinking about moving to find a higher paying job and then happens to read in his morning devotions about the “king of the south,” that does not mean God wants that person to move to the south and leave a good church to go to an area where there is NO church.

If a person is tempted to buy a lottery ticket, and he feels that God is in it, he has no business making a deal with God claiming that while filling up his car at a gas station, if it ends up costing exactly twenty-seven dollars, that is God’s way of telling him it is okay to buy one.

While it is true that Gideon put out a fleece, and God revealed His will through that fleece, we need to realize the difference between then and now.

  • Gideon did not have a local church that offered preaching and counseling.
  • Gideon did not have a complete Bible.
  • Gideon also did not have an indwelling Holy Spirit residing inside of him like we now have.

Therefore, just because it worked for Gideon does not mean the Lord will honor our doing so!

The Bible also talks about casting lots to decide the will of God.

“The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the LORD.”

Proverbs 16:33

For some, that means that instead of praying, all a person has to do is flip a coin and leave it up to God to have His way. Unfortunately, that method more resembles playing Russian Roulette with the devil. Many will turn to the horoscope section of the daily paper, rely upon fortune cookies, or play with Ouija boards as a means of trying to discover their purpose in life.

To appreciate how easy it is to miss God’s will by relying upon the supernatural, we can look at these Bible characters who took a wrong turn by relying upon something other than the Lord.

Eliphaz, one of Job’s three friends, concluded that he was spiritually superior and was capable of rebuking Job because he had a hair-raising experience and had seen a spirit. (Job 4:15)

An unnamed prophet had been commanded by God to conduct a fast and to travel by a certain path following his rebuke of a king. An old preacher lied to him and told him he had received a vision, and an angel had told him that God had changed His mind and to go home with the older preacher. The unnamed prophet was killed by a lion for disobeying the Lord. (I Kings 13:18)

God’s will is not always found … IN A PLACE!

“For ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus. 3 For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication:”

1 Thessalonians 4:2-3

When people are usually most concerned about the will of God for their lives, they have a particular place in mind.

In verse three, however, Paul mentions WHAT we are to be, not simply a physical location.

Unfortunately, most Christians who say they want to find God’s will for their lives, usually mean they are only wanting to find out where God wants them to be without being concerned about what kind of a Christian they will be in that location.

One might worry about whether or not he should sing in the choir, but it does not bother him to be a gossip.

One might worry about whether God wants him to be a Sunday School teacher but not even consider that not tithing is already keeping him out of God’s will.

Why do people focus more on the where rather than the what of God’s will? They think it is much easier to be in a
certain place than to be a certain person!

Our attitudes … WILL EVENTUALLY BE PUBLICLY REVEALED.

“And it came to pass, when the king sat in his house, and the LORD had given him rest round about from all his enemies; 2 That the king said unto Nathan the prophet, See now, I dwell in an house of cedar, but the ark of God dwelleth within
curtains. 3 And Nathan said to the king, Go, do all that is in thine heart; for the LORD is with thee. 4 And it came to pass that night, that the word of the LORD came unto Nathan, saying, 5 Go and tell my servant David, Thus saith the LORD, Shalt
thou build me an house for me to dwell in?”

2 Samuel 7:1-5

In this passage, we find two godly people who wanted to find God’s will.

David had a burden to build a temple to house the ark because he was embarrassed that he was living in luxury while the ark of the covenant had no permanent place of residence. Nathan the prophet wanted to help the king find God’s will.

As they both began discussing David’s burden to build a temple, Nathan advised him to go ahead with the project, assuming the Lord would be pleased. David was excited to be able to build the temple. Nathan was excited because Israel would then have a beautiful temple for God. However, BOTH the king and the preacher were wrong!

God had to tell Nathan to go tell David that he was NOT allowed to build a temple.

This incident provides two important things about finding the will of God. First, it reveals that even the best of people with the
best of intentions can be wrong when it comes to finding the will of God. Second, it reveals that NO one has a direct hotline to
God.

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