FBC Daily Devotions

⁹For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. ¹⁰And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God… (NV)

Have you been paralyzed because you simply did not know what the Lord’s will was for you? What is the Lord’s will for me? That question comes up a lot, especially by kingdom-seeking, God-loving people. Verses like v. 9 above or Romans 12:2 add to the stress and paralysis of people’s lives due to indecision and fear that one might miss God’s will for them. Again this dilemma produces a great deal of angst in many committed followers of Christ.

Let me suggest that God’s will for us is more about the way we live our lives, not so much what we do. Paul’s prayer for the Colossians is that they might have complete knowledge of God’s will, full of spiritual wisdom and understanding. But the purpose of his prayer is not that they might do the right thing, but that they might (1) live a life worthy of the Lord; (2) please Him in every way (that includes more than behavior); (3) bear fruit in every good work (notice the purpose is fruit not work); and (4) grow in the knowledge of God (notice not knowledge of work, but of God).

I see Paul’s prayer more about the people gaining an understanding of God’s heart and will for the kind of people that please Him and honor His good name. God wants inner transformation so that whatever we do with our lives, whatever we do moment by moment, it will be worthy of God, pleasing to Him, affecting lives, and helping us know Him better and better. You know, I struggle enough just trying to live that kind of life. If I added to that the burden of trying to know God’s specific will for me, I might as well stay in bed. I’m not saying that God doesn’t have a specific will for us, I just don’t think He makes it known very often. Should I do this or should I do that? I have never found in Scripture someone who did something with the right motives, the right heart, and with God-centered faith be rebuked for doing the wrong thing. They may be redirected at some point, but that is all part of God’s sovereign plan in my mind. Again I’m not suggesting we don’t seek God’s guidance, but what I am saying is that God is more interested in our character and heart than what we do. If we will live by faith with the right character, heart, and motive, God will be pleased. My encouragement for you today is to focus on the way you live not so much on what you should do. I know sometimes those overlap, but remember, what we do should flow out of who we are.