Sometimes I think God wants US to choose

bluegreysky said:

people always say leave it up to God’s will or only God’s will will prevail not yours... but in some cases I wonder if He wants us to choose what we want before He wills something to happen. Not always but in some cases. Those moments when we come to a “fork in the road” and you can go “this way” or you can go “that way”.... sometimes one direction is clearly lined with wrongness but sometimes both are good choices but both also come with challenges. Those are the times when I feel like God is saying to me “what do you really want?” Like search your heart and really dive deep not just in this moment .... like God would give
Me either but first I have to decide and he won’t go forward until I do.

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In essence, you are correct.
The Lord wants to work with us and through us, in order to bring us to maturity as his children.
Therefore if he was to crudely trample over our will and desires, that relationship would be pretty dire. This can be seen throughout the bible, but the parable of the sower clearly indicates our freedom to go completely against our Father's will, and of course bear the painful consequences.
But as you say, there are many times that the Lord seems to leave it up to us as he stands back watchfully. This also is part of learning to trust him. We will make mistakes in this, but God is still there undergirding these events.

So, as you seem to be doing, its best to seek his will as we travel through life's junctions. When clarity is lacking, make sure your heart is open to Him, and make the necessary decision.

bluegreysky said:

people always say leave it up to God’s will or only God’s will will prevail not yours... but in some cases I wonder if He wants us to choose what we want before He wills something to happen. Not always but in some cases. Those moments when we come to a “fork in the road” and you can go “this way” or you can go “that way”.... sometimes one direction is clearly lined with wrongness but sometimes both are good choices but both also come with challenges. Those are the times when I feel like God is saying to me “what do you really want?” Like search your heart and really dive deep not just in this moment .... like God would give
Me either but first I have to decide and he won’t go forward until I do.

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There's at least two ways to think of God's will. There's His secret will which stays secret until it happens. Then there's His revealed will which we learn through the Bible, and in Providence (God causing everyday life).
It seems to me that if someone says, 'leave it up to God's will', or 'God's will will prevail', that they refer to secret will which is yet to be revealed. But as far as our choosing, you are right that God wants us to choose. This is why He gave us the Bible, so that we can know what He wants us to do whether explicitly or implicitly. Psalms 119:97-99
For instance, whom should I marry? Someone might say, "don't think about it too much because if God wants you to get married, then he'll provide the right person at the right time." There is an element of truth to that. If it is God's 'secret' will that you marry, then it will happen and it will happen exactly as He wants it to happen. But, and there's a big but here because God in His wisdom has ordained to use our choices as a part of His unfolding plan. Consider Deuteronomy 29:29. Regardless of if we marry and whom we marry, it will be good because God's will is always good. Romans 12:2 And if we love God, then it will ultimately work out for our eternal well being. Romans 8:28 But our choices still matter because the decision of whether we marry and whom we marry are not kept secret from us. God has revealed certain matters about marriage for us to carefully consider. And if we were to neglect those considerations and just 'let go and let God', we could make terrible decisions that would actually be sinful and harmful. Here is were discernment comes in. There are good choices and then there are better choices. Making the best decision is possible through reading the Bible, praying for wisdom, and seeking godly counsel. I hope this helps.

I have a lot of deist leanings - so I don't think God takes an active hand in our outcomes. We pick - we live with the consequences - so it's up to us to choose wisely.

DZoolander said:

I have a lot of deist leanings - so I don't think God takes an active hand in our outcomes. We pick - we live with the consequences - so it's up to us to choose wisely.

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In light of your deist leanings, you don't think God determines outcomes, but would you say He leads or guides at all? Whether individual persons, or world events?

royal priest said:

In light of your deist leanings, you don't think God determines outcomes, but would you say He leads or guides at all? Whether individual persons, or world events?

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To be honest - I really don't know. What I can say is that I have a real resistance to what I call "mystical thinking" where people try to attribute signs or feelings as being communications from God. More often than not they're (IMHO) rarely more than excuses for people to do what they'd like to do anyhow in spite of the evidence that those choices might be a bad idea...lol

At least that's always been my interpretation of those types of things.

I don't think that God takes an active hand in individual outcomes or world events. People are free to be as crappy as they want to each other - and it would seem there's ample evidence of that around the world. Nor do there appear to be a lot of consequences for it.

DZoolander said:

What I can say is that I have a real resistance to what I call "mystical thinking" where people try to attribute signs or feelings as being communications from God. More often than not they're (IMHO) rarely more than excuses for people to do what they'd like to do anyhow in spite of the evidence that those choices might be a bad idea...lol

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Yeah like the joke about the person who wants to know the will of God decides to close their eyes, open the Bible at random, and drop their finger on a random verse, "and Judas went and hanged himself." Oh no that can't be right, I'll try again, "Go Thou and do like wise." Oh no! One more time, "What Thou doest, do it quickly."

Yeah - lol - and the old story I remember being told in Bible school as a kid...about the person on the roof during a flood waving people by so they could help others. Then once he finally drowns, appearing in front of God and asking "Why didn't you help me?" and God saying "Well, I sent 3 boats", etc etc.

Slightly off track from my "God isn't involved at all" idea - but the gist remains the same...that people need to take actions themselves based upon pragmatic worldly evidence of what to do.

I read a really good article yesterday about this;

How Ignatian Spirituality Gives Us a Way to Discern God’s Will

Really helpful and good article.

DZoolander said:

the gist remains the same...that people need to take actions themselves based upon pragmatic worldly evidence of what to do.

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Unless God has something to teach about a matter. 1 Corinthians 2:8

Personally, I think all of the "trying to read God's will into world events" is big problem we face as a society. All of these people sitting around trying to figure out how to read current events into the End Times stuff. If I had my druthers, people would instead act and plan like there's going to be a tomorrow.

Heck - Paul thought the end times were nigh...and that was over 2000 years ago. Every generation thinks that they're on the cusp of Armageddon. Maybe it might be a better idea to plan like there's at least another 2000 years to come.

DZoolander said:

Personally, I think all of the "trying to read God's will into world events" is big problem we face as a society. All of these people sitting around trying to figure out how to read current events into the End Times stuff. If I had my druthers, people would instead act and plan like there's going to be a tomorrow.

Heck - Paul thought the end times were nigh...and that was over 2000 years ago. Every generation thinks that they're on the cusp of Armageddon. Maybe it might be a better idea to plan like there's at least another 2000 years to come.

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I think there's definitely some wisdom in this. We often get so caught up in possible prophetic /eschatological unfoldings that we forget to be kind to people right here, right now.

bluegreysky said:

people always say leave it up to God’s will or only God’s will will prevail not yours... but in some cases I wonder if He wants us to choose what we want before He wills something to happen. Not always but in some cases. Those moments when we come to a “fork in the road” and you can go “this way” or you can go “that way”.... sometimes one direction is clearly lined with wrongness but sometimes both are good choices but both also come with challenges. Those are the times when I feel like God is saying to me “what do you really want?” Like search your heart and really dive deep not just in this moment .... like God would give
Me either but first I have to decide and he won’t go forward until I do.

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Hi; so did you pray: "Thy will be done"? (Matthew 6.10)

It's easy for me to focus on what I want; harder to look for the Divine perspective.

Sometimes I think God wants US to choose

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Yup. Life is much less complicated when you realize that and quit worrying about "God's will".

Meanwhile there’s me... I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about how it all works. I just trust that it does and that there is a plan and it’s happening as it should. I assume I couldn’t conceive of it even if I did have it all explained to me, and that’s enough for me. That leaves me free enough to be comfortable and trust that if I feel I got a message from God or the universe or whatever in a prayer, a dream, a sign, a twist of fate, or a well-timed fortune cookie that I’m “allowed” to see it as something for me that is bigger than what somebody else might see it to be.

I've never seen a "sign" nor heard God "speaking" to me, so I'm with DZoolander on such overt communications from God. However, I do have a conscience. I believe I was created by God. Therefore I believe God probably does communicate to me through my conscience.

jameseb said:

I've never seen a "sign" nor heard God "speaking" to me, so I'm with DZoolander on such overt communications from God. However, I do have a conscience. I believe I was created by God. Therefore I believe God probably does communicate to me through my conscience.

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That's pretty much in line with my thinking as well.

Any time I've ever done anything wrong in my life - I knew it was wrong. I simply didn't care enough to stop myself from doing it. My conscience has been a far better barometer of what is right and wrong than any other third party - whether they be speaking from scripture or not.

Well thats true, it is His will. If we went by what we want we would find often we are in the wrong direction or in big trials. Not that His will doesn't mean we won't face trials. Now knowing what His will is not always easy and its not something I think about to much. I let Him lead, even if I don't always know what direction that is.

For your consideration, how God works through our desires....


That famous quote from St. Augustine has far outlived its author, but not everyone views it favorably. Some see his bluntness as irresponsible, possibly dangerous. But Augustine has solid ground to stand on. Thousands of years earlier, another theologian by the name of David said this, "Delight Yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart" (Psalm 37:4). Both are true.

Watch, as John MacArthur quickly explains...

Here is more from Dr. MacArthur on this subject of determining God's will for your life if you are interested (this is one of his sermons on the topic in audio, video, and/or in written form):


I'm not sure that he mentions this, but Psalm 37:4 is a command with a promise (of sorts), and we need to be VERY careful to properly understand our 1/2 of the equation, because if we understand it (as many do) to mean, "Delight the Lord ... and He will give us all the stuff we want if we do", we end up turning God into a Cosmic "Sugar-Daddy" (something He definitely is not).

Yours and His,
David