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From: gunner@ivanhoe.intel.com (Gunner Danneels)
Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian
Subject: RE: What does the Lord want me to do?
Message-ID: <Jul.24.04.45.42.1990.17471@athos.rutgers.edu>
Date: 24 Jul 90 08:45:44 GMT
Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu
Lines: 56
Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu

A short time ago there was a message posing the question of How do we
know what God's will is for our life?  Sorry, this is my first posting
and I don't know how to insert the message text.  I thought I would
post some of my opinions on God's will since I have been going through
most of the same questions in thinking about asking a wonderful woman
to marry me.  Here's what I have come up with.

1)  It is NEVER God's will for us that we sin.
      There is enough Scripture support for this one.

2)  I don't think that it is God's will for us to place ourselves into
  a personal area of particular temptation, even if it is to glorify God.  
  There is just too much chance of falling.  By all means support those
  who are stronger than you in this area but flee from temptation.  
  Joseph did not try to witness to Pharoh's wife in a secret part of the
  palace he kept everything on the up and up and refused her advances.


So what do we do in an area with two or more equally good choices, like 
jobs, like deciding to get married ?

3)  Being in the Lord's will does not always mean that you are going to 
  feel great peace and happiness about one choice that is God's will 
  and great upset about another.  Sometimes you might and that's fantastic,
  but what has helped me is looking and the story of Joseph and Mary.  
  Look at it in terms of Joseph.  He has just found out that his bride
to be is 
  pregnant.  It probably seemed to him that his world was coming apart
  around him.  Being a man of God I am SURE that he prayed about what
  he should do, probably long and hard.  Then notice what he did, he
  decided to put Mary away.  It was obviously God's will that he marry
  her and they raise our Saviour.  However Joseph chose the other path. 
  God couldn't have given him peace and happiness and joy about keeping
  Mary, otherwise he would have chosen that path.  

4)  God's will is ALWAYS that we glorify him in all parts of our lives, 
  wherever we are and whatever we are doing.  

Whenever I have to make a decision I check it against 1 and 2, then pray
about it and see if God is really directing one way or another.  If it
seems to be a choice between equally good alternatives and God is not
strongly directing me toward one of them, I make a decision logically 
and with all of the reason that God endowed me with.  Then I make sure
that I am constantly doing #4 in my decision. 


If this helps anyone then I am happy that I have posted it.  These are
just my opinions about making decisions in the will of God please treat
them as such.

Gunner