The transformation process that shapes and prepares us for the world to come takes place during our daily lives and is multifaceted. As we saw earlier, this involves every area of personal and moral life. It also includes family, work. And ministry. Yes, God has a place of service in His kingdom for each of His children, whether they are at the top of society or the bottom or somewhere between; whether educated or illiterate. Every life is a plan of God. The Bible shows us many and varied examples of this.
Consider God’s purpose for the prophet Jeremiah: Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. (Jer. 1:5). Or His plan for the apostle Paul, But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me by his grace,6 To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; ….(Gal. 1:15–16). It was said of King David, For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption (Acts 13:36). God has plans not just for notable figures like these, but for each of us in our own generation, plans which He has “prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:10).
Our great concern and frequent prayer should be for God to fulfill his plans for our life. What a tragedy it would be to discover at the judgment seat of Christ that we had not fulfilled His purposes for our lives but our own.
How do we discover and fulfill God’s plans for us? Let’s review where Scripture has brought us.
First, we saw that God calls us to live with Him in the new heavens and new earth and to glorify and enjoy Him forever as trophies of His grace and love. This requires that we embrace His grace and love through faith in Jesus His Son Christ.
Next, God calls us to respond to His grace with wholehearted surrender and the pursuit of Christlikeness. These purposes of God are general and apply to us all. Once we have embraced them, we are in the position for God to lead us into how He wants to work them out in our daily lives.
God can lead us in any way He wishes. By a direct word, as with Jeremiah (see above). Or in rare cases, a word through others, as with Paul (Ac. 21:10-11) or through unusual circumstances (Ac. 16:6-11). But normally, He works through a process using His written word, by which any other guidance must be judged. This process, which we usually find too slow, serves to draw us closer to Him in prayer, to keep us dependent on His word and Spirit, to help us surrender to His will, and to teach us about Himself and His ways. It should also move us to seek the prayer and wisdom of others in the church, teaching us to depend more on our brothers and sisters in Christ. In a word, it is a maturing process.
God’s plans unfold in the ordinary affairs of daily life, and He wants to guide us, especially in the important issues, such as in what ways we should serve God, where we should attend school, what career we should pursue, where we should live, where we should work, who our close friends should be, whom we should marry, and when we should retire. Our choices in these matters may seem mundane, but they are not. Not only do they forge the context in which God’s plans are worked out; more important, they shape our lives and contribute to our transformation.
It is an inescapable law of life that we make our choices, then our choices make us. Choices are transformative—for good or evil. Lewis noted: “Every time you make a choice you are turning the central part of you, the part of you that chooses, into something a little different from what it was before.” Because of this, it is important to seek God’s Fatherly wisdom and guidance in making these and other significant decisions as our lives unfold.
There are no Bible verses that will give us specific answers to questions like these. However, we can often gain insight and wisdom from relevant biblical precepts and promises. For example, Good and upright is the Lord: therefore will he teach sinners in the way. The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way.( Ps. 25:8–9). This means humility of heart is essential if we want God to guide us, so is reverence for God; “Who is the man who fears the Lord? Him will he instruct in the way that he should choose” (Ps. 25:12). Another key promise is “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you” (Ps. 32:8). God instructs and teaches us in a variety of ways through His word and Spirit. He also counsels us with His eye on us, indicating a more personal level of guidance.
So, this is not a mechanical process of studying the Bible as a book of rules, regulations, policies, and procedures, or receiving Holy Communion daily and then coming up with the right answer. Rather, God will personally guide and direct us through the Holy Spirit opening our understanding to the meaning and application of His word to the circumstances of our lives and the situations we face. In the verse that follows (Ps. 32:9), He warns us against being senseless and stubborn, like a horse or mule. In other words, we are not to be spiritually dull and rebellious to His guidance but rather docile and surrendered.
Seeking God’s guidance requires the wholehearted surrender and active faith described above. In practical terms, this means we commit ourselves in advance to trust God and do His will, whether we like it or not. We must resist the tendency to rely on our own understanding and instead seek God’s wisdom. This is reinforced in Proverbs, which reminds us that He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool: but whoso walketh wisely, he shall be delivered. (Prov. 28:26). We find His wisdom as we trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. (Prov. 3:5–6).
This wholehearted trust does not mean that we shouldn’t use our understanding but that we should subordinate it to God and His wisdom. This is where some of us go astray; we simply default to what appears logical to us. Others default to what “feels” right. As God’s wisdom becomes clearer, we must embrace it, for to “acknowledge” Him in all our ways means to acknowledge His lordship and submit in the obedience of faith. When it doesn’t become clearer as quickly as we hope, we must wait on God in a posture of active trust. This can be hard. But God often uses delays to work deeply in our lives, testing our motives, deepening our faith, developing our patience, and aligning the circumstances required for His answer. Only then will we be in a position for Him to direct our paths. In seeking God’s guidance, there is also a place to “listen to advice and accept instruction” (Prov. 19:20) from older believers who are known to be wise, godly, and well-grounded in Scripture. And of course, all of this must be done with serious prayer (and sometimes fasting), reception of Holy Communion, and the confident assurance that God “rewards those who earnestly seek him” (Heb. 11:6 NIV).
Every Christian has been given a least one special enablement by the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 12:7). The Spirit’s gifts equip us to glorify the Father and the Son through serving our brothers and sisters in the church and, in some cases, serving people outside the church in mission. Our gifts normally become evident in the course of active involvement in church life. As we exercise them, the church is built up and strengthened and God’s kingdom advances. The gifts of others also minister to us in various ways, including wisdom and counsel to discern God’s direction on issues, questions, and challenges. Serving God in His church is a major part of His plan for our lives and a great source of satisfaction and fulfillment in our life on earth.
If we truly want to do God’s will and fulfill His plans in our lives, and if we ask Him, He will lead and empower us to do so, for He knows our hearts. Indeed, “the eyes of the Lord run to and from throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him” (2 Chron. 16:9a). And when we appear before the judgment seat of Christ to give an account of our lives (Rom. 14:10–12; 2 Cor. 5:10), we will not have to draw back in failure but can hear Him say, “Well done!” We will have glorified and enjoyed God here on earth and shall joyfully enter the world to come, where we will glorify Him yet more and enjoy Him forever and ever!
If you sincerely believe that inclusion in the Order/Society of The Most Precious Blood of Jesus Christ and providing focus upon the most important element of Creation – The Sanctity of Life – is a ‘gift’ given to you by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, then read on and consider!
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