Taffi Dollar - How to Find, Follow, and Fulfill The Will of God For Your Life - Part 1
I want to talk in the minutes that I have on fulfilling the will of God. I’ve realized this is a topic that I think will really make some things very clear and cause you to understand and apply the Word of God in your life so that you can begin to fulfill his plan. You know, there is a plan for your life that has been mapped out from the foundations of the world. And we want to discover it, we want to walk in it. We want to be able to know that we’re in it. We want that assurance and I believe that we can have that by knowing what the Word of God says about finding, following, and fulfilling the will of God today.
And so we’re going to begin in the book of Ephesians chapter 5, and we’re going to look at the Amplified and the King James version, and I just trust that the Holy Spirit will begin to speak to you because you don’t accidentally follow the will of God. It’s not like you just kind of bump into it. You have to be intentional and deliberate about pursuing God’s will for your life. A lot of times people live their lives and, you know, they wonder why they’re not fulfilled, they wonder why they’re not in a place of peace and contentment, but in most instances we can easily follow the status quo of life and just, you know, go to work and go to eat and go back home and go to sleep and do that over and over and over again without being mindful and deliberate about what God’s will is for our life.
And so, this is something that has been very important to me just as a young Christian, I always was in pursuit of wanting to be in the will of God and cognizant of wanting to be in God’s will. And so, I remember I was at another church, I was serving in the children’s ministry and just really a babe in the Lord, didn’t really know anything about scriptures or anything concerning a relationship with God. And so, that was one of the prayers, just a simple prayer to know his will, «To teach me thy will».
And, you know, over time and making a commitment to that, it’s amazing how God will meet you where you are and will begin to speak to you on where to be and where to go and where to serve and who to marry and where to live and all these kinds of things, he wants to speak to us. And so, it shouldn’t be a mystery where we don’t know his will for our life because there are things that we can do to begin to understand it and to find it and to follow it. And so, in Ephesians chapter 5, look down at verse 17. I love this in the Amplified because it really helps us to get ahold of this scripture here in totality. And so, it says, «Therefore, do not be vague and thoughtless and foolish».
So, he says for us not to be vague concerning this subject, not to be thoughtless, not to pay any attention to it, he says, «Don’t be foolish,» he says, «But understanding». He says, «But understanding and firmly grasping, firmly grasping what the will of the Lord is». And so, we are not going to accidentally fulfill God’s will, I want you to understand that this morning, that you’re not going to accidentally fulfill God’s will. I’m reminded of Samuel and when he was a young boy and how he had to go to Eli the priest because he recognized that it was God speaking, but he didn’t quite know if it was God’s will and if it was God speaking to him. But it was Eli who was able to guide him and to direct him and help him to understand God’s voice.
And so it is in our lives, in many instances, God will cause people to become a part of our lives, give them the authority to speak into our lives so that we can begin to fulfill God’s will, and we can see the things happen as relates to what he’s desiring for us to do. So, seeing God’s will realized in your life means first of all, finding out what unique purpose he created you for. There’s a unique purpose that he has for your life. You can end up meandering through life, allowing obstacles you encounter to determine what direction you go in. And so, a lot of times we can associate circumstances, tests, and trials to be the basis for God’s will, but we have to realize that God’s will is so much bigger than the hard times and the obstacles, and we cannot just limit them because a lot of times, you know, when things happen, it’s not even God’s will, it’s just life and things that the enemy gets involved in.
And the enemy comes to steal, kill, and to destroy. And so, there are things that happen in life that may cause stealing, killing, and destroying. How many of you know that’s not God’s will? And so, we’ve gotta understand, we’ve gotta be taught, we’ve gotta know what God’s will is. We can’t just assume that because something happened, because something took place, because of this obstacle, this must be God’s will. Not necessarily, we have to spend time with him. This may be something that we have to recognize, that it is God that he wants to have the authority and have the say-so in our lives, amen? So, God intends for you to experience the satisfaction of a life well-lived. A life well-lived. He wants you to live well, love well and when you understand God’s will for your life, I’m telling you, child of God, that is a life that is well-lived to the full.
Not in fear, not in lack of clarity, not in confusion, not in, you know, survival mode, but I’m talking about a life that is well-lived. And he can show us that. He can reveal that to us as we understand and as we firmly grasp what the will of the Lord is. I’m reminded of that word understanding in Ephesians chapter 5. It means to piece together. That word in the Greek, understanding, that we just looked at in Ephesians 5, it means to piece together pieces as in a jigsaw puzzle. And so, you know, when you put pieces together in a jigsaw puzzle, you don’t quite know how it’s going to create a picture or how it will create an image, but when you piece them together and you connect them, you begin to see and you begin to understand what God is revealing, and he’ll begin to show you.
And so, you may make this decision and you know that decision connects with this piece, and this piece connects with that piece. And then that third piece connects with the fourth piece, and then ultimately you began to see, «Wow, this is God’s will and I firmly grasp what it is the Lord is saying». And so, it’s a process, I’m not saying that this is going to all be revealed from A-Z, and, you know, you’re gonna know next week the will of God for your life, but it’s the revealing, it’s the unfolding, it’s the piecing together so that we can begin to firmly grasp. And we’re not vague, we’re not thoughtless, we’re not foolish, but we understand what the will of the Lord is.
Now let’s look at Romans chapter 12, verse 1 and 2. I love this because accomplishing the things that you were created to achieve means making a deliberate effort to find, follow, and fulfill God’s will. It means making a deliberate effort. Somebody say, «deliberate». And so, that’s why we have to go to God, we can’t ask other people. You know, I didn’t go to my sister in the Lord and say, «What is the will of God for my life»? I didn’t ask, I thought about it, but I knew that she wouldn’t know that. In the times in which I was serving in children’s ministry and we were in the hallway when we started the church, and you know, the kids were there and we were trying to figure out. But, you know, we have to go to God. We have to go to our Creator, because how many of you know he is the only one who knows the will of God for our life?
And so, when we put forth the effort to discover God’s purpose for our life, this is a critical turning point in each and every one of our lives. And so, he says here in Romans chapter 12, let’s look at the Message translation, verses 1 and verse 2. I believe that this will help us to begin to discover some things and get ahold and grasp some things. So, he said, «So here’s what I want you to do. Here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday». He says, «God helping us,» so it’s not us figuring it out on our own because that’s what a lot of times what we wanna do, we want God to bless what we plan out. We want God to go along with our will, with our desires, with our decisions. He says, «God will help us, God will lead us. So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life (your sleeping, eating, going-to-work and walking-around life) and place it before God as an offering».
So, everything we do, we place it before God with God helping us to eat, God helping us to work, God helping us to walk around. How many of you know if it were not for God, we wouldn’t be able to do those simple things? How many of you know it takes the… I mean the blessing of the Lord to be able to do the most meander task? And he says, «It’s God helping us». And so, a lot of times we take so many things for granted, and we think that we can do it on our own. I’m telling you, once we began to see what happens without it, I’m telling you, we’ll become more grateful, we’ll become more thankful. You go and you see where people are having challenges eating and walking around their everyday ordinary life and you just lift up your hands and you say, «Lord, thank you for helping me. Thank you for blessing me. Thank you for giving me life. Thank you for giving me strength. Hallelujah».
So, he says this is what he wants us to do. That is what he wants us to be mindful of, is to do that, our ordinary life, and to place it before him as an offering. Where do you want me to go, Lord? Who do you want me to run into today? Who do you want me to talk to? Who can I be a blessing to? How can I show Jesus? How can my light show up in dark places? And so, he says, «This is what I want you to do». «Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him». Embracing, that means owning it, acknowledging it, holding it on dear, to cling to it. He says, «That’s the best thing, that’s the best thing that we can do for him».
How many of you know it’s not a lot of things that we can do for God? But he says that’s the best thing that we can do for him. He says, «Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking». He says, «Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out». The will of God will become revealed on the inside, and it’ll change, as Creflo talks about your want to, and it’ll cause you to be more mindful of wanting to do his will versus trying to get him to bless your will, trying to get him to bless what you want to do, to bless your plan, your program.
«Oh Lord, I just wanna be with this person. Oh, I wanna be in a relationship with this person. Oh God, I see them as my person». «Lord, whatever you wanna do. Is this the person that you have for my life? Is this person going to help me discover your will and we can do God’s will together and we can flow together and we can be a blessing together»? And so, he says, «You’ll be changed from the inside out». And he says, «Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it». So, he says, «Don’t take a whole lot of time».
You know, some people wait, you know, decades. «Well, you know, when I get 99, I’m gonna do God’s will». No, recognize it now, understand it now. It’s never too early, it’s never too late. The Old Testament talks about how there was a ten-year king who was anointed and was able to do God’s will, a ten-year-old boy named Joash who decided early on, «I’m gonna do God’s will». It’s believed that David was a teenager when he was out there with the lion and the bear and fighting Goliath. I’m telling you, readily recognize it, teach it to your children, teach it to your grandchildren. Do it early, don’t wait until later and they gotta go through all these bumps and humps and scrapes and scars. I’m telling you, he says, «Recognize what he wants from us».
How many of you know, I wanna recognize now, every day, and quickly respond to it. So, when he shows you something, when you know it’s him, quickly do it. It’s kind of like Mary, I like the fact that, you know, when they were at the wedding and they had run out of wine and they didn’t quite know what to do and Jesus hadn’t started his earthly ministry yet and it was a question whether or not it was even the will of God for this thing to take place or, you know, just trying to figure out what to do next. But I like what Mary said, she says, «Whatever he tells you to do,» what? «Do it. Quickly do it». In fact, Jesus said, «Woman, my time hasn’t come,» but immediately things were thrust to the forefront, and Jesus began to work miracles, and Jesus began to do the supernatural. And I’m telling you, there is something about quickly obeying, quickly responding, immediately shifting.
And then as a result, you begin to see the will of God for your life. And sometimes it’s just a pivot. You know, in basketball, they pivot, and you know, it’s not like a big move, but it’s very strategic in the results. And in many instances in our life, we just need to make a pivot and get off what wasn’t working in the first place, what we were trying to get God to bless, what we thought was God. Pivot, just make the quick adjustment, pivot. You know, when we were dealing with this pandemic in March of 2020, and we didn’t know what was going on, schools were shutting down, events were shutting down, everything was just shutting down. Kids were going home, everybody was trying to figure out what is all this about.
And we were on the cusp of our conference, and the Lord just said, «Pivot». And we went from this physical in-person meeting that we have been planning for over a year to a digital virtual meeting. And you know, it’s just a pivot. I told our team, «We’re gonna pivot. We’re not gonna make this a big thing, we’re just gonna trust God». God said, «Shift over and make it all digital. Go from in-person to digital. Pivot». And that’s what we’ve gotta do in these last days.
You know, some of us, you know, are still trying to wrap our brain around this new normal and we’ve gotta trust God to understand, okay Lord, what’s next? How do you want me to do this thing that you’re calling me to do? How do I need to do this business now? How do I need to deal with this child now? How am I going to get to this place where you’re calling to me to be? Make that pivot and get off of what it was before the pandemic. You know, we’re trying to make it like it was. No, it’s not coming back, it’s not going to happen, we’ve gotta move forward.
Find God’s will, spend time with him, let him speak to you on now what to do concerning the business, now what to do concerning this relationship, what he wants us to do. «Firmly grasping». Let him change you from the inside out. How many know he’s got answers for everything? Everything. Before we ask, he’s already answered. And so, we got to get those answers. We’ve gotta get the solutions. We’ve gotta understand and know what it is without any shadow of a doubt and just jump on out there and trust God. Quickly respond, quickly obey, quickly do what he’s telling you to do. Amen? I don’t wanna drag and drug and be… no, let’s move forward in discovering it, finding it, operating in it. And then as a result, we’ll begin to see things in a powerful way.