Craig Groeschel - 3 Ways You Miss God's Will
Today we are talking about God’s will. Those of you who are Christians, I wonder how many of you, you maybe have a friend or somebody in your life group that’s so close to God it seems like they have God on speed dial. Anybody have an annoying friend like that? Raise your hand. Type online, I have a friend like that. They pray, and it seems like God immediately answers their prayers. They ask God for a sign, and a dove lands on their head. You pray, you read the Bible, you seek God. You seek wisdom. You call on God, and it seems like you’re stuck waiting for a callback.
And sometimes you wonder like, «What am I doing wrong? Am I praying wrong? Do I have a lack of faith? Is there sin in my life? Am I listening to too much secular music»? I need more Kari Jobe and less Taylor Swift. New album dropping October 3rd. For all you Swifties, I am in the know. Most of you aren’t Swifties, so that just was dumb. If you’ve ever felt like stuck spiritually, like you can’t quite discern what God wants for you, maybe you feel spiritually paralyzed. You’re not alone.
Today, when we’re wrapping up the message series called «God, Just Tell Me,» what I wanna do is I wanna show you pastorally the three most common mistakes that I see people make when they’re trying to discern God’s will. And I got really good news for you. If you are seeking Him, the good news is you’re not as far off as you might think. The title of today’s message is «3 Ways You Miss God’s Will». Would you pray with me?
Father, we thank You that You are a good God, that You love us, and God, that You want to direct our steps into Your perfect will. God, would You use Your Word to teach us how to know You personally so we could follow You intimately? Bless us, God, with Your Word, Your presence, Your wisdom, and Your guidance, so we can know You and do Your will. We pray this in Jesus' name. And everybody who agreed said. Amen.
Type it in the comment section. Amen. Let’s review where we’ve been the last few weeks to make sure we have a foundational understanding that we’re gonna move forward with new thoughts. Week number one, we talked about the four aspects, or kind of four different layers of God’s will that we see in God’s Word. First of all, we talked about God’s sovereign will. This is His overarching master plan that will come to pass no matter what you do, no matter what anyone else does, God’s sovereign will shall be done on earth as it is in heaven. We talked about God’s moral will. This is His revealed will for you in the Word of God. This is how you are to live every single day. This is His will for how we behave, how we treat other people, as God’s moral will.
We talked about God’s permissive will. Because God loves you, He gave you the freedom to choose to love Him or not to love Him, the freedom to obey Him or the freedom to disobey Him. And because we have the freedom to choose, sometimes people choose stuff outside of His heart, and therefore He permits it. And the good news is He still uses it toward His sovereign will. There’s the sovereign will, the moral will, the permissive will and the personal will. Before you were even born, God knew the gifts that He would give you. He created you in Christ Jesus to do good works before you were born. This is the personal will for you to make a difference in the lives of others. And God has these different aspects to direct us toward His perfect will.
Week number two, we talked about the reality that, when it comes to God’s will, most of us obsess about what we do. «I wanna do the right thing. God, what do You want me to do? God, what do I do next»? We learned that God’s will is more about a who than a do. That God is more concerned with who we are, our character. His will is for us to be holy and set apart, to become more like Jesus. Before He’s concerned about your career, He’s actually concerned about your integrity. God’s will is more about a who than a do.
Last week, we looked at the Apostle Paul, and we looked at how God guides. Sometimes God does guide supernaturally, but oftentimes God just guides through natural means. Last week, we looked at the reality that God guides Paul and guides us through open doors. Sometimes God just opens a door of opportunity and ministry before us. Sometimes God guides through closed doors, and a no from God is not necessarily punishment. Sometimes it’s actually protection. Sometime God’s guides through frustrated plans. Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it’s the Lord’s purpose that prevails. Sometimes we don’t get what we want, and He directs us to what He wants. And finally, sometimes God just gives us everyday choices.
If we’re living in the moral will of God, sometimes He says, «You can just choose. You wanna work here or work there. Wherever you work, whatever you do, wherever you live, do everything for the glory of God». And the ultimate principle we’re talking about in this message series is this. If you wanna know God’s will, you have to get to know God’s heart. And I wanna talk more about that today as we talk about the three traps people tend to fall into. If you’ve ever felt confused, like, «God, I wanna do Your will, but I don’t wanna mess it up. And what if I do this, and what if that’s wrong? And God, I’m not quite sure and should I date this person and go there and take this job? I just don’t know».
If you’ve ever felt confused, chances are really, really good. You’re falling into one of three specific traps. The good news is, once you recognize them, you can avoid them. And so let’s talk about those three common traps. The first one, number one, if you’re taking notes, is we often over-spiritualize God’s will. We over-spiritualize God’s will. You may say, «That’s a weird thing for a pastor to say. Aren’t we supposed to be spiritual»? Yes, we are. But some of you’re too spiritual. You want everything to feel mystical. You want God to speak always through a burning bush, or you want God to speak through the writing in the clouds. Or you want God to speak with an audible voice that sounds like Morgan Freeman, 'cause surely that’s gotta be what God’s voice sounds like.
And so, because we’ll tend to over-spiritualize things at times, sometimes what we’ll do is we’ll just say, «God, just give me a sign. Just give me a sign». And then sometimes we’ll tell God specifically what we want that sign to be. In other words, God, do what I want, when I want, so I can know that You want what I want. Give me a sign. I’ll be honest with you, I’ve asked for signs before and sometimes I think I’m not really just asking for direction, I just want permission. I want God to give me a sign to do what I’ve already decided I wanna do.
You know how it is like, that God. If you want me to take this really exciting jobs that I’ve been wanting, that pays more, that uses my gifts in a place that’ll make a big deal, God, if you want me to take this job, make one of the next five stoplights green when I pull up to it. If not green, make it yellow, God. You know, which one of the next five or seven, whatever it needs to be, God, just show me that, that’s Your will. Gimme a sign. And the Pharisees in the New Testament, they were guilty of seeking signs, not always with the purest motives.
In fact, in Matthew 12, we see the wrong motives. The Bible says this, «Some of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law,» these were kind of the hypocrites, they said to Jesus, «'Teacher, we wanna see a sign from you.'» Prove yourself, Teacher, give us a sign. Watch what Jesus said. He answered, «'A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign! '» I kind of had to scratch my head on that one and go like, «Why such the strong response, Jesus»? And the reason is, I think because the Pharisees weren’t just seeking a sign about what to do, they were seeking proof on their own terms. And the reality is, sometimes you may not just be seeking proof, but sometimes you want a sign.
Let’s call it what it is, because you want an excuse to pursue what you already want. I’ve done this. Have any of you ever just kind of asked for a sign to do what you want? Raise your hands. You type it online. Have any of you ever done something dumb in doing that before? Raise your hands. Boy, you’re a dumb church. Listen, if you think you’re dumb, I’ll tell you the dumbest thing ever. If you ever feel bad about yourself, there’s no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Do not compare yourself to others, but compare yourself to me and you’ll feel better about yourself. I really wanted be long before I ever got married. I wanted to have a Godly marriage. So I prayed about it, pursued God, read about it, studied about it, interviewed people with great marriages. One day, God, You’re gonna gimme a great marriage.
So I prayed all the time. God, prepare me for my wife, gimme eyes to see, help prepare me to be a blessing. God, show me who it’s gonna be like now, now, now. And so I’m praying all the time and one time I was driving from Oklahoma to California, and I was praying, «God, just show me who she is and help me ready for, God, just I’m in the Spirit, God, show me my wife». And I opened, you know, looked up as I’m driving along, and there was a billboard that had the name Ellen on it. It’s like, «Oh, Ellen! God just showed me, I’m gonna marry Ellen». Every time I saw a relatively cute girl in my age range. «Hey, what’s your name? No. Look, Susie, by any chance is your middle name Ellen? What’s you know, does you have a doll named Ellen»?
You know, I mean, I’m like going for here. Here’s the odd fact. In 1989, almost no one under the age of 60 was named Ellen. I’m looking everywhere for Ellen. True story, my mom will tell you this is true. She was in Norman, Oklahoma, at a Chili’s restaurant and she had this waitress wait on her that was evidently really cute, fun, sparky, funky. And she said, «What’s your name»? And the girl said, «My name is Lisa Newman». My mom called me and my mom tried to set me in, «Hey, there’s this girl in Norman, she’s really cute. Her name is Lisa Newman». I went, «That’s not Ellen». And then I thought, «Oh, wait a minute. Lisa. Ell. Li. Ell. Li. Ell. Newman. Li. Ell. En. Ellen».
True story. I called Chili’s, ask for Lisa, ask if I could drive down and meet her. Went down and met her, asked her out, took her out. She was glad to go out. I told her about the whole Ellen story and she said, «Don’t you think you’re pushing that a little bit»? So many of us will read into anything that we think we want. God show me this because we want a sign. And a lot of times, we’re not even seeking a sign from God, we’re just seeking any kind of advice to confirm what we want. We say we’re praying, but we really don’t pray a lot. We just talk about it to everybody else. Like we’re asking everyone but God, we’re asking our best friend. We’re asking our therapist, we’re asking our barista, we’re asking our dog. We’re asking ChatGPT because ChatGPT never lies. Gimme wisdom. What do you think about this?
Sometimes we’re trying to do what we want to do and ask and a sign to do what we want. We haven’t done something that God already showed us in His Word, I could say it this way, we’re asking for an open door when we still have a closed Bible. We’re trying to take our will, force it unto God, asking Him for a sign. And James tells us this, in God’s Word. «If any of you lack wisdom,» in other words, if you need direction, if you lack wisdom, what do you do? Say it with me. The Bible says, «You should ask God,» if you need wisdom, where to go, what to say, how to respond, what to do, who to date, what course to take. If you need wisdom, you go to God. If you wanna know God’s will, you get to know God’s heart. «You ask God, who gives wisdom generously to all without finding fault, it will be given to you».
If you lack wisdom, if you lack direction, you go to God. You ask God, you seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and then everything else will be added unto you. If you wanna know God’s will, you get to know God’s heart. The first problem is, sometimes we just over-spiritualize it. The second problem, and this is true for many of you, is we tend to overanalyze it. This is maybe one of the biggest things I see, especially in today’s generation. Why? Because there are so many options everywhere and because you have access to compare your life to everyone.
And so because you see all the opportunities and all the places you could go and all the things that you could do, you’re not doing the very important things right in front of you. You’re afraid you’re gonna make the wrong choice. If you make the wrong choice, you’re gonna miss out on something better. And it’s not just the big stuff like what school do I go to and what job do I take and who should I marry? I mean, literally, many of you can’t even decide what to watch on Netflix. There’s too many choices and I don’t wanna watch the wrong show 'cause there could be a better one on somewhere else on Netflix. And so when it comes to God’s will, a lot of us will overanalyze and we’ll ask everyone, there’s a prose and a cons list and we’ll overthink it.
And as Christians, sometimes we’ll even say to our life here, «Well, we’re praying about it,» but the truth is we’re just stalling. We’re stalling because we’re afraid we’re gonna make a mistake. Why? Why do we stall? Why do we hesitate? The truth is a lot of us, we just want absolute clarity. Absolute clarity. We want proof and we want assurance and we want absolute clarity. Why? So we can make a decision without needing faith. We call ourselves followers of Jesus, but we want a faith free life. And this is what the writer to the Hebrews said, «Without faith,» if you need assurance before you can make a move, «It’s impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to God must believe that He exists» and that what does He do? «He rewards those who earnestly seek Him».
If you seek Him, you will find Him. If you seek Him, He will reveal Himself. If you seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, then He will reveal everything and add everything unto you. Here’s the twist. For most of us, the more we analyze, the less we’ll obey. Why? We don’t wanna make a wrong decision. So we make no decision. This may be the most paralyzed generation I’ve seen in leading for 3 ½ decades, no decision. And we forget that no decision is a decision. It is a decision. We’re waiting for complete peace. We’re waiting for the sign and we’re waiting until we’re 100% sure and you end up waiting yourself right into disobedience because it takes faith to actually please God.
Wanna show you a ridiculously popular verse, incredibly powerful and I hope to take it to a whole 'nother level for you. Probably the best coffee mug verse there is. Proverbs 3:5-6, «Trust in the Lord,» with everything in here, «With all of your heart». Not trust in your logic, not trust in your reasoning, not trust in the data, not trust in what your friends say. Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not on all your own knowledge, all your own understanding, all your own wisdom, and in all of your ways this version says, submit. There are other versions that say, acknowledge. «In all of your ways». I’m gonna show you this word in a minute. It’s the word yada. «And all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your path straight».
Trust in the Lord with all of your heart. Don’t lean on your own ability to figure it out. In all your ways, submit or in all your ways, acknowledge. The Hebrew word is the word yada. And this word is so rich in all your ways, yada Him. Yada means this. It means to know deeply, relationally, and experientially. If you wanna know God’s will, know His heart, yada him. This is not just head knowledge, this is relational, experiential knowing. You ready to take it to a whole another level? This is the very same word yada used in Genesis 4 when it says that Adam knew Eve. Adam yada Eve, his wife, and she conceived. That’s an intimate knowing. That is a deep intimacy and the most profound connection. In all your ways, yada Him, know Him intimately. Submit to Him.
Doesn’t just mean comply with His teaching, this means connect with His heart. That this is not cold obedience, this is intimate awareness of His nature, His character, His sovereignty, His holiness, His righteousness, His justice, His goodness, His glory. This is living in the presence of God. This is not walking by sight. Would Paul say this is walking by faith, knowing Him, in all your ways, yada Him, in your dating yada Him. Know Him intimately. In your marriage, know Him. Not just like, «We’re a Christian marriage kind of sort». No, we’re a Christ-centered marriage, letting Him direct our steps. In your parenting, know Him.
Our greatest goal isn’t to have someone on the traveling team. Our greatest goal is to have children who fear the Lord and walk in His way and have a light that shines in the world. In your financial decisions, know Him. He’s first and we multiply what He gives to us and we give it generously to make a difference in the world. In the way you treat people, know Him. Have the fruits of the Spirit, love and joy and peace and patience and kindness and gentleness and faithfulness and self-control. Don’t call yourself a follower of Jesus and be hateful to people. Don’t trust your logic. Don’t trust your gut. Don’t lean on your own understanding. Don’t trust the data, don’t trust your friends. Trust in the Lord with all your heart. In all your ways, know Him, and He will make your past straight.
Here’s the bottom line. You cannot analyze your way into peace. You trust your way into peace and that will always take faith. Will you occasionally or even often be unsure? Yes. Will you know all the details ahead of time? Never. Will you have the perfect map for the next five years of your life, mapped out by the Holy Spirit? No. Will you be nervous at times? Yes. Will you be uncomfortable when you take a step of faith? Yes. Obey God anyway. Obey God anyway. When He says it in His Word, you live it in your life. Doesn’t matter what your flesh says. Doesn’t matter what your desire says. Doesn’t matter what your emotions say in the moment, you do His will, written in His Word. Even if you’re afraid, even if you’re hesitant, because you’ll never fulfill your calling if fear gets the final vote. It takes faith. It takes faith. God, help us to walk by faith and not by sight.
Every time God calls someone to do something in the Bible, think about it. They have to have faith. Every time God called someone to do something in the Bible, they had to have faith. «Abraham, leave your home and I’ll bless you and make you the father of many nations». Okay, where are we going? I’ll tell you that later. Just leave. Faith. «Noah, build a really big boat». God is not raining. He’s gonna take faith. «Jonah, go preach to the Ninevites before you know if they’re gonna listen to you or kill you». It’s gonna take faith. «Mary, teenage girl, you’ll give birth to the Son of God, and they’ll call Him Jesus». What about my reputation? Oh, Mary, it’s gonna take faith. «Peter, get out of the boat. But Jesus, I probably can’t walk on water». It’s gonna take faith. «Jesus, carry your cross, and the flesh doesn’t want to nevertheless, not my will, but your will be done». And all the way to the finish line, when He declared, «It is finished».
Jesus obeyed the Father in faith. Please. Don’t get stuck waiting in comfort, when God wants you living in obedience. In some cases, you feel stuck, not because God hadn’t spoken, but 'cause you’re afraid to do what He’s already told you to do. I promise you, if you’re actively walking with Jesus daily, you’re gonna be doing things that take faith. Big mistakes we make. We overanalyze, over-spiritualize, we over-spiritualize, we overanalyze. And the third mistake we make is we assume that hard means wrong. We talked a little bit about this last week. We assume that if something is difficult, this must not be God’s will. You’ve probably been there at some point. You’ve prayed and tried to trust God for the future and you still feel alone or you’ve trusted God with your finances and you still feel like you’re struggling financially. Or you said, «God just like you know, give me peace of my heart». And yet you still feel anxious.
And at some point, you may say, you know, you may not say it, but you may think it like, «If it’s hard, this must not be God’s will». And the truth is you have to remember that God’s will is good, but it’s not always easy. If hard equals wrong. The cross was the biggest mistake in history. Jesus was obedient even to death on the cross. And the Bible is very clear. 1 Peter 3:17, «For it is better, if it’s…» What? Would you say it aloud with me? If it’s what? «If it’s God’s will, it’s better if it’s God’s will to suffer for doing good than for doing evil».
It’s better. Suffering is never easy. But if it’s God’s will, it’s actually better to do something hard for the glory of God, than do something easy for your own selfless desires. We see this all the time. We confuse difficult with not being God’s will. Or the flip side, sometimes I’ll see people that’ll do this and they’ll actually confuse a lack of conviction with confirmation. In other words, «We’ll, I don’t really feel convicted about doing this, so it must not be wrong». I don’t feel, I mean, I know God’s Word says that the gift of sex is reserved for marriage and the marriage bed should be honored by all, and we should not let even a hint of sexual immorality in our lives. But you know, I mean, like we’re in love, and she smells good and I have my needs, and it feels good. We’re married in our heart.
You know, so I don’t feel convicted about it. Just because you don’t feel convicted doesn’t mean you’re not compromising. We said it in week number one, and I wanna say it again. You can’t walk in God’s will if you’re disobeying God’s Word. This is His will for you to be holy and set apart. Sometimes His will is not easy, to die to your flesh and your own desires. It is not easy. Less of me, more than Him. Crucify, I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I’m still here, but it’s not me who’s here.
Paul said, «It’s Christ who’s living in me». If you’re looking for easy, you’re not looking for Jesus. So we covered a lot of ground. I wanna wrap it up with some reflection questions and you can go over these with your life group. Now, if you’re not in a life group yet right now, I would suggest to you might consider one because we need the body of Christ. We need the family of God. Coming to church for an hour a weekend is probably not gonna make you a fully devoted follower of Christ. We wanna be in the Word, we’re gonna be in prayer. We’re gonna be in Christian community.
In our life groups, we’re gonna wrestle with these questions. Ask yourself this and talk about it in your group. Where are you waiting for a sign when God has already given you a step? Talk about it. Let the Holy Spirit speak to you. Ask yourself this. Where are you overthinking and need to grow in faith? Ask yourself this. Where is God calling you to trust Him enough to risk something?
Speak to us, Holy Spirit. Show us. Where we’re waiting for a sign, and You’ve already given us a step, where we’re overthinking it and need to grow in faith, where God is calling us to trust Him enough to pay the price and to risk something.
So how do we move forward? Where do we go from here? Psalm 37:4 says this, «Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart». Take delight. Another version says, delight yourself in the Lord. The Hebrew word here is the word anag, and it means to be made soft or pliable. It means to take delight in, to find joy, to deeply enjoy. Delight yourself in the Lord, take delight in the Lord, enjoy the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart. Enjoy His presence. When you get to know Him, you’ll get to know His will.
As you delight in Him, as you enjoy Him, you’re made soft and pliable. As you’re satisfied in Him, He starts to change your heart. He puts His desires in you. And as you enjoy Him and as you get to know Him, you start to want what He wants. He gives you the mind of Christ, the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead dwells within you. And God promises that if you seek Him, you will find Him and He will direct your steps. So what do you do? You trust in the Lord with all your heart, and you lean not on your own understanding, but in all your ways, you yada Him. You know Him intimately.
And this is my burden for you, and this is why I raised my voice. Why do you yell? Because it’s deep in my heart. I want you to know Him. He’s a God of the universe. He’s the only thing worthy of all of our praise. He’s worthy of our lives. Every bit of it. Every bit of it. Every bit of it. Not this world. Him. His kingdom, everything for His glory. Not feel guilty, long for it. In all your ways, know Him. Delight in Him, and He’ll give you the desires of your heart. Because the best way to know God’s will is to know His heart.
So Father, do a work in us. Do a work in me. Do a work in our church that we would hunger for You, oh, God.
As you pray today, nobody looking around, lemme talk to those of you who are believers, you’re baptized, you’re in the Word. You know you’re walking, you are born again of the Spirit of God and you want to know Him more intimately. Would you raise your hands right now? Raise your hands. Those of you that know Him.
God, I pray, (leave your hands up if you want, just as an act of worship.) God, I pray that You would give us a heart that breaks for the things that break Yours, and a heart for the things that rejoice, that make You rejoice, God. Would You draw us close that we are desperate for You? Every breath we take is a gift from You. Every moment we have is a gift from You. Every day that we have is a gift from You. May we use it all our body, mind, soul, and strength. Loving You, serving You, and knowing You, God, reveal Yourself through Your Word. God, help us to see You at work in Your body. Help us to be Your body in this world. God, help us to know Your will by knowing Your heart. Draw us close, oh, God. God, we believe You hear our prayer, and as we seek You, we thank You, God, that we will find You. Bless these believers with faith to grow closer to You in Jesus' name.
As you keep praying without looking around, there are those of you that would say like, «Yeah, I may not be in that first group». And lemme talk directly to you. You can grow up in church and believe in God, but not know Him. You can be here every week and believe in God, and not know Him. You can be doing religious things and not know Him. Do you know Him? Do you know Him? Jesus said, in this is eternal life, that you may know Him. What separates us from a relationship? Our sin blocks intimacy with God, and all of us have sinned. You sinned. I sinned. We’ve all sinned.
The good news is, God sent Jesus, who was without sin, to die in our place for the forgiveness of our sins. Jesus died on the cross, and three days later, God raised Him from the dead so that anyone in this, includes you, who calls in His name could be saved and forgiven. No playing around, no messing around, no pretending church, no halfway in. If you don’t know Him today, we’re stepping away from our sin. We’re stepping into His grace. We’re calling on His name. When you do, He forgives all of your sins. He fills you with the Spirit of God so that you can know Him. All of our churches and online, those who say, «I really don’t, and I want to,» you’re not here by accident. This is the moment of your salvation. The old is God, and all becomes new. Jesus, I want to know You. Forgive my sins. I give my life to You.
That’s your prayer today. Lift your hands high right now, all over the place. God bless you here and over here as well. Others today say, «That’s my prayer». Lift them high. If you’ll back here and over here as well. Right back over there, God bless you. Right over there as well. Praise God for you in this section. Jesus, I surrender. Be the Lord of my life. Oh, come on, let’s praise God. Online, type in the comment section. I’m surrendering my life to You. I’m surrendering my life to Jesus. Pray with me. Pray.
Heavenly Father, take all of my life. I want to know You. I wanna serve You. Be the Lord of my life. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit. Direct my steps. I wanna know Your heart, and I wanna do Your will. My life is not my own. I give it all to You. In Jesus' name, I pray.