I have sat knee to knee with 100s of people who all want an answer to the same question. “How can I know what God’s will for my life is?” It is a question that touches us all. I have found myself wondering the same thing so often, especially lately.

The last 3 years have been particularly difficult for us. Jennifer and I have faced just about every major life crisis. It is in times like this when finding an answer to the question, “What is God’s plan for me?” becomes particularly acute.

Let me borrow a car metaphor to try and give you an answer. After lots of reading, praying, and thinking about the subject here is the conclusion I have arrived at:

You can never see God’s plan for your life while you are looking for it through the windshield. You can only see it in the rear-view mirror.

What I mean is, God’s will is almost never evident while you are trying to make plans for the future.
Who should I marry?
What job should I take?
What school should I attend?

These are almost never answers He chooses to send to you in advance. More often, it is only after you make a decision that you are able to see what God is up to. But, a word of caution is needed here… you may never understand fully what He is doing. John Piper once said something to the effect that God is always doing 10,000 things in your life. You may only be aware of 3 of them.

When I find myself needing to make a decision here is the process I run through.

Pray

I need to make sure I have prayed about whatever it is I am wrestling with. I ask for God’s help to make a good decision and I acknowledge that any decision I make is probably going to be tainted with a bit of selfishness and I ask for forgiveness in advance.

Council

I talk to 2-3 other godly people who I trust. Sometimes God speaks wisdom through your friends. Just make sure these are people who have your best interests in mind. Try not to be offended or edit their response if it is something other than you wanted to hear.

Make a Decision

Once I have done the other 2 steps I feel a much greater ease in actually choosing what seems best to be at the time. Because I believe that God is ultimately in control of all things, I rest easy in the fact that I can’t make a decision bad enough to screw up his plan for me. I’m not that powerful! I take comfort in that thought.

I have flown through ideas and thoughts that probably need a much fuller treatment. Maybe I will flesh it out someday, but in the meantime if you would like more info on this topic I recommend checking out Kevin DeYoung’s book, Just Do Something. I know I found it helpful.