I’m so glad you wrote. So many young people are floundering out there without a clue wandering from one idea to the next without taking the time to sit down and really think about their future. God’s will is not a road map it’s a relationship. I’m so glad God has never specifically told me what I was going to be doing today when I was a sophomore in high school! It would have left no room for God’s spontaneous moments that appear in my life as gifts wrapped in His love.
First let me encourage you to get into God’s Word. Read Psalm 119:105. As you pray and seek Him through the reading of His Word, He will lead you. Also read Psalm 23:2-3, 25:5, 43:3, 139:24, and 143:10. Trust that He will not let you down and will take care of you...opening doors and closing windows where He doesn’t want you to go.
Secondly, God also leads us by speaking to us in the quietness of our hearts. You know, prayer is a two-way street. You do not pray at God you talk with God. God has a plan for you. Read Jeremiah 29:11-14. It’s a good plan that He wants you to get in on, if you will wait before Him and listen to His still voice that is giving you direction.
Thirdly, James 1:5-6 promises that we can ask God for wisdom and He will give it to us. Sometimes you might get goosebumps and shivers of the liver when He confirms the direction, but more times than not, God’s wisdom is just sanctified common sense. It’s having the mind of Christ. It’s applying and knowing the principles of God’s Word.
Lastly, you can learn God’s will through His providence. Read 1 Corinthians 16:9. It has been well said, “The door to opportunity swings on the hinges of opposition.” For the person who faithfully trusts God and acknowledges Him in all His ways, God will bulldoze a path through the wilderness. Read Proverbs 3:5-6. Talk to your guidance counselor, your parents and others who know you very well. Listen and pray over their counsel.
I’m not worried about tomorrow. I follow Him today, and today then turns into tomorrow. The way to find God’s will for the rest of your life is to do God’s will for the next fifteen minutes!
Taken from Adrian Rogers' weekly newspaper column. Used by permission. 2001, The Commercial Appeal.
