Dial In with Jonny Ardavanis - What is God's Will for my life?

Episode Date: December 1, 2022

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Hey guys, my name is Johnny Artavanis and this is Dial In. I hope you all had a good Thanksgiving holiday. In this episode, I'd like to walk through how we discern, as Christ followers, the will of God for our lives and what that even means. Let's dial in. As Christians, we are pilgrims during our time on earth. We are sojourners. I like that term. This world, if you're a Christian, is not our home. Our citizenship is in heaven. So the question that you may ask is, well, while I'm here on earth, how do I know which path to take,

which plan to pursue, or which person to marry? Well, thankfully, our shepherd doesn't lead us along a path of obscurity and ambiguity. The psalmist says that he leads and guides us through this life until we reach our eternal promised land. You as a Christian might say, oh, I want to do the will of God. I just don't know what his will is for me because there's no clear verse in the Bible about whether you should marry Chad or Brad or Jenny or Judy. We end up making no decision at all because we don't know what decision God wants for us. And we look for fulfillment often in every category. And we've lost, in a sense, this pilgrim attitude. Now, the hunt for God's will, I think, especially amongst younger people, has become an accomplice for delaying growing up and getting on

with our lives. Because our lives are riddled with endless possibilities, we often don't know which possibility to pursue, and we think that if we choose the wrong option, then the entire trajectory of our life will be distorted and the compounded effect of that one decision will affect our grandchildren's grandchildren and they will be the ones to suffer. So under the banner of waiting on the Lord, many people wait to move on with their lives. They've been told that the world is their oyster, yet they've never cracked open a single shell. Understanding the will of God is critical for your life for a number of reasons, but I'll condense it to three brief points initially as we start. Number one, understanding the will of God is a matter of worship. Number two, you only have one life to live. In your mind, you may have your whole life in front of you, but the convictions you establish now are the ones that will shape

your life 20, 30 years from now. It will never get easier than it is today to have a heart devoted to doing the will of God. And third and finally, we follow the model of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ when we walk in accordance with God's will. We read in Luke, I'm reading this with my wife right now as we get ready for the Christmas season, reading the childhood of our Savior Jesus. At the age of 12,

Jesus had a serious consideration of doing the will of God. His mind was dominated by the scripture and his heart was submissive to his father's will. Question for you, do you want to be like your savior? Well, then you need to do the will of God. But the question that you may be asking and the question that persists is,

well, how can we know what the will of God is? To many, the will of God is like a secret wrapped in a riddle, packaged in a mystery. It's like the hunt for the black pearl, the white buffalo, or the snow leopard. It's hard to track and even much more difficult to lay hold of. But is this like our God? Is God someone that teases us from his throne, taunting us as we grope and cry out for his leading. No, that is not our God. God is a shepherd who guides. He is not a king who taunts.

If you have your Bibles in front of you or you jot down notes as you listen, we'll consider Romans 12 too for a moment. We'll look at a number of scriptures, but I want to start here so that we can have a proper anchor regarding this important theme of discerning the will of God. Romans 12 says, and do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. So this much is familiar to you. You're likely know this verse, have memorized this verse, but then it continues and says,

so that, that's a purpose clause, you will be able to prove what the will of God is, that which is good, acceptable, and perfect. Did you catch that? God's will is something that needs to be proven in your life. In light of all the wonderful realities of the gospel, Paul here in Romans 12 is exhorting us to not be conformed to this world, but to be transformed by the renewing of your mind so that you may prove, establish, and confirm what the will of God is. Now, when it comes to the will of God, we can look at that in three different ways throughout the scripture. I want to cover each and every one of

these because it's important for you as you move on and make decisions with your life and live in obedience to God. Number one, there is something called God's will of decree, or often this is referred to as God's sovereign will. Okay, Johnny, what is God's will of decree? Well, God's will of decree is this. Everything God ordains will come to pass. His purposes will not and cannot be thwarted. In Ephesians 1.11, we read, in him, we also have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined, watch this, according to the purpose of him who works all things in accordance with the plan of his will. Daniel 4.35 says, all the inhabitants of the earth are of no account, but he does according to his will among the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth, and no one can fend off his hand or say to him, what have you done? God rules and God reigns, and he superintends all things for his glory,

from the sun that brings us warmth to the sparrow song and everything in between, God rules. He is no more aware or in control of the proceedings and rulings in America than he is of the smallest village in the smallest jungle. He takes no more interest in the life of Joe Biden than he does in the life of Joe Schmo. From the embryo in the womb in Modesto to the emperor of Japan, everything in between happens according to the will of God. And that is God's will of decree. Secondly, we must look to

God's will of demand. God's will of demand are his commandments that he extends to us in order that we might be like his son, Jesus Christ. God's will is something that will be done on the one hand as we look to God's will of decree, and then it's something that must be done by us on the one hand, as we look to God's will of decree, and then it's something that must be done by us on the other hand. God's will of decree can never be broken, but God's will of demand and his will of desire, as this is often referred to, is broken and disobeyed around the world constantly. Consider Matthew 7, 21. Jesus says, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who, what, does the will of my father who is in heaven. This is God's will of demand. If we return to Romans 12, 2, we see that God's will is to be proven. That means it must be plainly revealed in the text. Don't conform to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of our minds.

That's the will of God. In 1 John 3, 2, it says, when we see him, we will become like him. But what we will be like then in glory is what God wants for us to do now. One day we will totally be like Christ, but God's will for the regenerated person, That means that they've been given a new heart by God. His will for them is progressive renewal until we meet him face to face. So the question is, how are we renewed into the image of God in order that we might obey God's will of demand on our lives? Well, there's no surprises here. You are renewed by beholding Jesus Christ.

You become like the one you behold. 2 Corinthians 3.18 says, and we all with unveiled face are beholding Jesus Christ. You become like the one you behold. 2 Corinthians 3.18 says, and we all with unveiled face are beholding as an emir the glory of the Lord, and we are transformed as we behold Jesus Christ. Any guidance in your life that contradicts the familiar voice of your shepherd who leads you through the scriptures

can never be trusted. Psalm 19 reveals that God can be known through the autograph he has left on all of his creation. The heavens do declare his glory, but if you want to know his will, you must turn to his word. I like the stanza that says, the heavens declare thy glory, Lord. In every star thy wisdom shines, but when our eyes behold thy word, we read thy name in fair lines. Do you want to know what God's will is? Well, it's simple, that you become more and more like Jesus Christ. For the person pursuing God and his word, this works itself out in four main categories of their life, four main categories of God's will for your life.

Number one, God's will for your sexual purity. In 1 Thessalonians 4.3, it says, this is the will of God. Now pause here because this is the Bible talking and it's about to tell you plainly what the will of God is for your life. So are you listening? It says, this is the will of God.

Pause, your sanctification, and then explains what that is. It says that is that you are separated from the world, all that is in the world, and that means the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the boastful pride of life, that you are removed from anything that reeks of that which is worldly. And then it defines that by saying, this is the will of God, your sanctification, that is you abstain from sexual immorality. The surest indicator in the first rung of the ladder in both discerning the will of God and distinguishing yourself from the world is that you are sexually pure.

Do you long to have clarity in regards to God's will? Well, you can't get any more simple than this. God's will is that with your eyes, with your body, and with your mind, you are sexually pure. 1 Thessalonians 4.3 begs the question, how can you expect God to disclose his specific will for your life if you are disobedient to his obvious and revealed will for your purity? 1 Thessalonians 4.4 continues and says, each of you must know how to possess his own honor or vessel in sanctification and honor, not in lustful passion like the Gentiles who do not know God and let no man transgress and defraud his brother in the matter because the Lord is the avenger and all these things.

Pause here for a moment. To defraud someone is to take something that isn't yours. It means to take advantage. And the text says, when you take something as in a woman's or a man's purity, you are defrauding them. You are taking something that is not yours. And guess what? The Lord is the avenger in all of these things. It says, why, why so serious? Verse seven, for God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification. So he who rejects this is not rejecting man, but the God who gives his Holy Spirit to you.

Paul is saying, God's word is saying, to dismiss this isn't just to dismiss Paul or to reject the person you're listening to on a podcast platform. It's to reject God himself. Can you reject God's explicit will and then expect him to reveal his unique guidance to you? Short answer, no. No, you cannot. Impurity blinds, but blessed are the pure in heart

for they shall see God and they will walk in God's will. God's will for you is best. So it says, be pure, flee from sin and run to Christ. So first of all, God's will for your sexual purity. Second of all, God's will for your gratitude. We covered part of this in a previous episode, but God's will for your life is that you are grateful. In 1 Thessalonians 5, it says that we are to give thanks in everything, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus. Being thankful is an imperative command because it is so foreign and non-instinctive to the natural mind. This is a predominant distinguishing mark of an unbeliever.

I want to ask you a question. Are you a thankful person? 2 Timothy 3 describes the condition of fallen man. It says, but realize this, in the last days difficult times will come. Men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips without self-control, brutal, haters of good. In the midst of a list that includes arrogant, brutal, and haters of good is ungrateful. For believers, even though thankfulness is the logical response of the redeemed, the scripture gives us a command to be thankful because there is always, as long as we are in the flesh, this gravitational pull towards ingratitude. So the believer, if you want to walk in the will of God, it says that you are to be grateful. When?

In all circumstances. We are to do this not only because it's what God deserves and it's what God demands, but it's also a weapon that God extends to us in the battle against sin and temptation, including the sexual sin that we have just covered. Ephesians 5 says, But immorality or any impurity or greed must not be named among you as is proper among saints, and there must be no filthiness or silly talk or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather give thanks. Don't be sexually impure. Give thanks instead. Or consider Philippians 4.

Are you an anxious person? Well, gratitude is a weapon that God gives to you in order that you might live a life of peace. Philippians 4, 6 says, be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Do you want peace that surpasses all understanding? Do you want your mind guarded like a double-walled castle? Well, Paul says, give thanks always. Let your prayers be made known to God. When your heart is accustomed to gratitude,

radars go off in your mind when you are about to participate or watch something you would not be able to thank God for. And you settle this conviction upon your heart. If I can't thank God for it, I'm not going to participate in it. In the midst of an anxious moment, you thank God that you are held behind and before him. It says in Psalm 139 that he has laid his hand upon you. He holds the stars in the sky and he holds you in the palm of his hand. The question is asked, why did God create the world? And you

might say for his glory, and that would be correct. But the question is, how is God most glorified? Well, 2 Corinthians 4.15 gives us the answer. Paul says, for all things are for your sake, so that the grace, which is spreading to more and more people, may cause the giving of thanks to abound to the glory of God. Did you catch that? God is most glorified when we are most satisfied in him. You've potentially heard that line, but how do we express our satisfaction in God? Well, we express our satisfaction in God by the thankfulness that we express to others and to God himself.

And if you're a Christian, gratitude is God's will for your life. Number three, God's will for your suffering. So first, God's will for your purity. Secondly, for your gratitude. Third, for God's will for your suffering. So first, God's will for your purity. Secondly, for your gratitude. Third, for your suffering. 1 Peter 4.19 says, Therefore, those who also suffer according to the will of God

shall entrust their souls to a faithful creator in doing what is right. When gold is purified, it is put in the fire. And in the fire, anything that is impure, anything that is not gold is removed. And in order for it to become pure, it has to go through the furnace. In that same way, Christians are refined and renewed in the furnace of affliction and suffering. It's only by combining both God's will of decree that he allows and ordains all that comes to pass with God's will of decree that he allows and ordains all that comes to pass, with God's will of desire that he wants us to become more like Jesus, that the Christian can actually have hope in the midst of suffering.

God's great plan for his glory and our good is not always for my ease. On the contrary, his plan is for my conformity into the image of his son, Jesus Christ. And if his son, Jesus, was no stranger to suffering, So that's God's will for your suffering. And fourth and finally here, under this God's will of desire or demand banner, is God's will for our service. Romans 12 says that we are to, in light of the mercy of God, present our entire lives as a living sacrifice to Jesus Christ. You are an ambassador on planet earth. You are here to make disciples. Simple as that. If you have little interest in serving others, you have little interest in obeying and walking according to the will of God.

So God's will of decree, God's will of desire or demand, and that includes that you are sexually pure, that you're grateful, that you suffer, and that you serve. But the question you may still be asking is this third and final category, and that is God's will of direction. Maybe you're saying, okay, Johnny, I know all this, that I'm supposed to be like Jesus, but what about what to do, where to go, and who to marry? And here we come back to our question of whether or not it's Chad or Brad or missions or business or seminary or venture capitalism? Well, the simple answer would be do whatever you want. If you're spirit-led, word-dominated, pure, grateful, humble, then you cannot make a bad decision.

I think this much is true, but while I have given you the destination for where we are going, I think there are additional questions along the journey in discerning the will of God that may be helpful to you as they were to me. The good news here is that God's will of direction isn't an elusive bullseye. It's somewhat simple to those who seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. Potentially, though, amongst the schmork sport of options,

there is a history of indecision in your life. Life was a little easier when you had blockbuster. There was a limited amount of movies that you could view. But in our Netflix world where we spend more time trying to pick the movie than we do actually watching the movie, we are frozen by abundance and averse to risk. So you may be asking dolphin, trainer, or dentist, pastor, or physical therapist, musician, or mechanical engineer, or you may be wondering about your next move in the workplace. I think that there are four main ways that God guides those who are already walking in Christ likeness. I'm assuming that they are already submitted and committed to the word of God and faithfully committed to a local church. But four main ways that God guides you. Number one, God guides you through your gifting. Romans 12, six teaches us that we all have a

different gift. And do you know that you have a gift that is unique to you? And the Bible says that you must put that gift to work. God desires to use what he has invested into our created disposition. And God's providences are often intertwined with the gifting that he has given to us. He leads us not by a crowd, but specifically through the spirit that works within us. And he has provided to us a gift that we must employ. God, in my life and in scripture, delights to match the gift that he has given to us with the opportunities before us. We don't have the right to use our gift, meaning I need to do this, this is the way I'm gifted, but we have the privilege to steward the investment deposited into us by our creator.

Jesus was the most gifted man on planet earth in human history, and he likely spent the ages of 12 to 30 years old sanding down beams and carving wood. You've grown up hearing that if you love what you do, you never have to work a day in your life. And I'm just not sure how great of advice that is. I love what I do. I love working with students. I love traveling and preaching. But work is work. It's hard work and long hours.

And that's a good thing. The earth pushes back, it says in Romans 8, meaning that creation groans. Work is a good thing, though. It's fulfilling even in my own life. But it doesn't provide ultimate fulfillment at the end of the day. All work is work. And one of the ways, at least in my life and in scripture, that the Lord leads us is through our gifting. Secondly, God leads us and provides direction in our life through the need that is exposed to us. Romans 14, 7, Paul says, for not one of us lives for himself and not one

dies for himself. For if we live, we live for the Lord. And if we die, we die for the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord's. I include this here because I think the way God often leads us is by exposing us to the needs around us. Paul's desire to preach Christ where he had not yet been proclaimed is a convergence both of his gifting as an evangelist, his desire as a Christ follower, and an exposure to the need in that city.

William Carey or Hudson Taylor, all these great missionaries, they weren't led to these locations that they end up spending and committing their lives to because they burned their toast in the shape of India or China. They didn't have some aha moment. What happened is that they became aware of the

need and they were burdened to meet that need through God's Holy Spirit. So if you're wondering about what's next for your life or how do I know which decision to make, I think God often asks us questions through his word and through his spirit. What are you burdened for? What causes you to stay awake at night? Have you been exposed in your life to a great need? Paul just said, none of us live to himself. We live for the Lord. We live for each other. We live to meet the needs of those around us. Third, God leads us by our desires. Psalm 37, four says that if we delight ourselves in the Lord, he will give us the desires of our heart. Often this verse is taken out of context. This verse isn't for those who dream big, but for those who delight to obey God. God renews our heart, and in doing so, he renews our desires. God is not the enemy of joy. That is, in fact, the first lie ever told, a lie

that God is not good, that he is not for you. But God does lead us through our desires. What do you want to do? Is it holy? Is it pure? Can you thank God for it? Then do it. God is not a hard man. He's not against your desires. He is a good father. You just need to ascertain that your desires are in accordance with his will and have been even submitted to the wisdom of the people in your life. Which leads us to number four. God leads us through the wisdom that comes through prayer and through the wisdom that comes from other people in our life. We live in a world of information. If you weren't sure if avocados were a fruit or a vegetable, Google it. If you aren't sure if avocados were a fruit or a vegetable, Google it.

If you aren't sure what the national anthem of Scotland is, Google it. But in a world of information where we can know who's who and what's what, we can still be starved of godly wisdom. Information isn't wisdom. We learn and we grow and we are led through prayer. We pray that the Lord would instill in us a fear of him. This is the beginning of wisdom. We pray that God would take his word and give us the mind of Christ.

Scripture supplies us with a sensitive palette by which we can discern the will of God. When we say, go with your gut, it makes us sound like good decisions come from a feeling. But decisions, biblically speaking, are not made by feeling, but by thinking. And godly thinking is influenced by God's spirit as we seek God in prayer. In James, it says, if anyone lacks wisdom, let him ask of God who gives generously. It then says later on that we have not because we ask not, which means that your biggest problem in life is not unanswered prayers but unoffered prayers. And when we pray, we pray in what way?

We pray, thy will be done, not thy will be changed. In this regard, Proverbs also tells us that we not only seek wisdom through prayer, but we also seek seek wisdom through prayer, but we also seek the wisdom of other people in our life. This typically refers to someone older and wiser than you. It says that the fool is the person that is right in their own eyes. It says in Proverbs 15, 22, without many advisors, people fail. Then after consulting the wisdom in our life and after consulting God in prayer, we can make a decision. But here's the thing about decisions. Decisions itself,

a decision itself comes from the word decidre, which means to cut off. And occasionally saying yes to one thing means enduring the sting of losing options B, C, and D. And we fear that sting so much we never say yes to anything. But we need to make a decision. Passivity is a plague. We go through life like a portable fan that constantly vacillates going left and right, yet we never get in the game. Passivity often wears the mask of

waiting on the Lord, but waiting on the Lord isn't synonymous with idleness. Esther waited on the Lord, but she said, you must go and I'll prepare and go before the king. I'll make moves. I'll take risks. But while I wait on the Lord, I'm going to make moves. Oftentimes decisions are also hard. The door to walk through is not always the one that is already open. Sometimes it's the one that you need to push through. Most of the good things in your life are on the other side of sweat and diligence. Additionally, part of making a decision is taking a chance. But often in a world that is obsessed with safety and security, we want to make sure that there are no possible ways anything could ever go wrong before we even take a step in faith. This is just not the way

God works though. God does know the end from the beginning, but he doesn't show us the end from the beginning because that would eliminate trust. We walk step by step, not mile by mile. His word is a lamp unto our feet, not stadium lighting for the distant path. You can walk confidently into the future, not because it is known to you, but because it is known and held by God. Now, maybe you're asking, what about calling in my life? Well, as I discussed, I believe God works through your gifting, the need, and your desires. If being an accountant sounds miserable, don't become one. But a couple standalone comments and then we'll be done in a couple minutes. I sometimes hear that when someone

is presented with a great opportunity that they feel like this option is a no-brainer. I got offered a job in such and such a place. It pays me this. But then I'll ask them where it is and I'll ask them what good local churches are in that area and they'll say, well, I haven't even looked yet. I want you to understand something. If God's revealed will for your life is your holiness, that's going to be difficult to walk in if you are not a member of a solid church. Meaning this, it's not a great opportunity

if it's not close to a great church. Secondly, I often hear people wrestling through the decision of whether or not they are called to ministry or business or whatever other field comes to their mind. I would just caution you that we need to get rid of the secular-sacred divide. All of your life is lived to the glory of God, whether you are a kindergarten teacher or a pastor in a pulpit. With that being said, I often grew up hearing this line that if you could ever see yourself doing any other thing other than ministry, go and do that thing. Meaning that if you could see yourself being a real estate agent instead of a pastor, then go be a real

estate agent. I believe though that this line is more harmful than helpful. When I'm in South Asia and small churches that line the Himalayan plateau, I don't think any of those pastors had a moment where they went, I can be a pastor and nothing else. For one, almost all of them are bivocational, meaning that they do something else to put food on the table. And secondly, the calling that was on their life was determined more by need than a lack of interest in doing anything else. Many of the pastors internationally are called not because there was nothing else they were interested in doing, but because they said to themselves, if I don't, who else will? Calling is solidified in time. I studied finance.

I did finance. I started preaching in juvenile hall. And while I was doing that, one thing led to another in God's providence. Additional question, maybe you're asking, well, what about marriage? Well, I would just, this is maybe another episode for another time, but some questions to have in mind as you discern God's will for your life

pertaining to marriage and dating. Does the person you're interested in have godly character? Are they hard workers? The one who doesn't work doesn't eat. So don't date a lazy person because you definitely don't want to be married to a lazy person. If you're a girl, you need to ask yourself, is this a guy who would actually protect and provide for a family? Is he faithful with what is presented before him now? Then you have to ask yourself, is there actual

chemistry? Do you like hanging out? Marriage is not a dry partnership. It is a vibrant relationship. And amidst the winters of life, you want to have someone who can make you smile. This doesn't mean you're looking for a comedian. It doesn't mean you're looking for a supermodel. You need to be realistic, but you should enjoy the person that you're hanging out with. Third, you need to ask, are they teachable? Is the person you're interested in dating or getting to know, are they teachable to other people in their life? Or are they so self-unaware and unteachable that they rarely grow? Then you need to ask, is the person a servant? We prove what the will of God is only after we have surrendered our entire life as a

living sacrifice to God. If you're getting married, I hope that you understand that your marriage is only going to help you level up in the level of your service and commitment to God and his church. So marry someone who is already in the habit of serving. Now, the reason you date is to determine if all of these things are reality. You don't marry potential. You don't marry what someone could be. You marry who they currently are and you date in order that you might ascertain if that is the type of person they currently are. You also don't need to wait till it's obvious that someone reciprocates your interest before you ask them out. I see this often in Christian circles where people want to basically eliminate

any doubt that the other person also likes them back before they make a move. And this is just ridiculous. If you're a guy, saddle up, talk to her dad and ask a girl on a date. Singleness in regards to God's will. This is another episode for another time, but I'd just like to remind you that singleness is something that is given to us by God. And every single person has an appropriate time of singleness in their life because no one is born married. I'm going to do another episode about this coming up in the future, but I would just tell you this. I got married at 27 and I'm so glad that I didn't spend my single years pining away for what I didn't have that I wanted and instead leveraged my singleness to serve the Lord and to do cool

things. And I'm glad that even when I met my wife, we were already actively serving. And that's what even what made our dating relationship go faster is because this was easy. She's serving, I'm serving, we have fun together. And then it became a wonderful relationship. Well, do you want to know the will of God for your life? Well, you need to be active in the word. You need to be walking in a spirit. You need to be asking God to conform you to Jesus Christ. That you need to also be pure, be grateful, and need to have joy even in the midst of suffering. Then you need to consider your gifting, the needs around you, and the desires of your heart. You need to walk in the wisdom of God and of other people,

and you need to have them observe your life and to give you feedback and sharpening. Then you need to have someone else know you well enough to call you out. Are you not sure what you want to do with your life? Not sure of your calling? Well, do what you want. But if you don't know what you want, do something. Not sure about ministry? Well, fine. Go get a job and serve your brains out in junior high ministry or something until the Lord makes it clear you can't do both. Fair enough? Well, until next time, stay dialed in.