‘Perfect will’ of God for our lives…Illusion or Reality?

How often do we approach life without a clue of what we want to happen in our lives? That is our Careers, Family/Marriage, Education, Social Interactions, Religious orientation etc.

I would say…hardly ever!

What influences your decisions?

Even for the indecisive, slow-thinking lot, we all have certain expectations of our lives and certain outcomes we will never settle for. We have been raised with many norms which have shaped our thinking and informed our pursuits therefore we subtly want to accomplish certain milestones based on our upbringing. For example, you will hardly find (not that it doesn’t happen) an individual pursue to become an entertainer or dancer if he comes from a family/background of Lawyers, Doctors and Professors. Does following in the path of our family influences mean we are living out the ‘perfect will of God’?

Some of us are relatively ‘religious/spiritual’ and so study the Holy Books to gather some knowledge on what we should or should not become in Life. We then convince ourselves that our pursuits and expectations are based on the guidelines of the Holy books…as such we pursue after the ‘perfect will of God’.

But have you ever stopped to consider that a particular verse of scripture can be interpreted to several people differently and most times, we accept an interpretation that relates to our circumstances? Don’t you think it’s possible that God may have intended another interpretation for you and not the one that ‘suits’ your circumstance or upbringing?

Many times, I hear people say things like: ‘You know it in your heart’, ‘You feel peace’, ‘You get confirmation from others’ etc. for you to know it is God’s will, but isn’t it also possible that you only gravitated towards what you wanted to feel, hear or what was convenient? 

Does a ‘suitable interpretation’ naturally mean ‘the will of God’?

Put these two views in perspective:

How would a deprived orphan and a child raised in a privileged home grow up to interpret ‘contentment’ or ‘never settling for less’?

For example, while an orphan, with the influences of his deprived background will only be too grateful to get an admission into ANY cheap higher institution, a child from a privileged home will be very selective and probably attend one of the best Institutions in the Country. Do their choices necessarily reflect God’s will for them?

Or should a young girl obey her Parents and be married off at 13 years or be rebellious and supposedly dishonor her folks?

How many of us have actually done things contrary to our plans, beliefs, expectations or family norms, not because circumstance forced you to it, but because a higher ‘will’ required it of us. How many of us have actually sacrificed a comfortable path in pursuit of uncertainty & perhaps discomfort like Abraham (in the Bible) did when he left his father’s comfortable home & ways in pursuit of that which he never imagined; or Paul/Saul who relinquished his Roman given authority to jail Christians and wander into a life of missionary and persecutions?

I believe we subtly live out our conceptions and pursue our inherent expectations concerning the different aspects of our lives and yet convince ourselves that we are living out God’s will. In other words, I think we are hardly willing to challenge the ‘norm’ in our lives to pursue something totally different for fear of being a ‘rebel’.

From my little understanding, knowing and choosing the will of God especially for Life changing events are hardly easy…or should I say sometimes contrary to what you are programmed to expect. Now does it mean the will of God can’t be served on a plate of simple prayers & norm adoption; most certainly not. I will just like to awaken our minds to the fact that “God’s ways are not our ways, neither are His thoughts our thoughts’. His ways and thoughts are as far from ours (even with all our studying) as the Heavens are higher than the Earth.

Although you can inquire of God to reveal His way/will to you concerning a matter but it is important that you approach that request with openness of mind, leaving behind your influences, expectations, norms or desires. You should also be willing to adopt any direction He provides not talking yourself out of it saying it is ‘unimaginable’, if it turns out to be an uncomfortable response.