Distinguishing the Will of God Pt. 1
By: G.P. Hintz

I heard a story about a husband and wife who, prior to marriage, decided that they would make a very important resolution. The husband, understanding his great responsibility over the household, decided that he would make all the major decisions and his wife, the minor ones. After 20 years of marriage, he was asked by a family friend how this arrangement had worked. He responded quickly with great joy, "Great! In all these years I've never had to make a single decision."

Now, this story may be funny, but I am in no way implying that if you continually make right choices in the minor decisions, you will not be faced with any major decisions. But, they will be fewer and less daunting than if you didn’t. Your goal, as a Christian will be to make minor decisions in line with the will of God so that the major ones are easier and made quicker.

Whenever we are faced with making decisions, there are two main areas that we must concentrate. In this article we will focus on the first and most introspective of the two â€" your motives:

1. Examine Your Motives

A good way to question your motives would be to ask yourself, “If God told me ‘No’ concerning this decision, would I be willing to receive that answer? We read an account from the Bible in Matthew 19:16-22 where a rich young ruler comes across Jesus. The question that he asks is simple, probably one that many of us would ask today. “What must I do to enter heaven?� Jesus answers him quickly, and in a manner that I am sure the young ruler expected - he recited the commandments. The ruler, not having a true understanding of the meaning behind the commandments, said that he kept them all. Jesus, understanding his motives, tells him one more command. “Sell all your possessions and follow me.�

Your initial response may be, ‘Isn’t that a little harsh?’ Well, not if you understand motives. Jesus, in His divine, omnipotent wisdom, was exposing to the rich, young ruler that his trust was no longer in God, but in himself for his provision. If it had been otherwise, this ruler would’ve happily sold everything to follow Jesus. The problem was not the money, but his ‘love’ for those possessions. The writer of Hebrews makes it clear to us when he says in chapter 13 verse 5: “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’� (NIV) Our trust must be in the Lord, not in our material possessions for our safety and security.

Money is not the only thing that can cloud our motives and cause poor, ungodly decision making. Lust, pride and jealousy are just a few more. Are you making this decision to cause yourself to look better in the eyes of others than you truly are? Are you looking to force a carnal need that you have on another? Are you looking to show someone else up or improve yourself above them? All of these are good examples that your motives are wrong and need to be adjusted.

A good, practical exercise is to sit down with nothing more than a pen and pad of paper (or your computer screen and keyboard for the twenty-first century bunch) and write the situation that is demanding a decision at the top of the paper. ‘Should I take this job?’ ‘Should I date this girl?’ ‘Should I buy this stock?’ Whatever choice that must be made should be printed at the top of the page. Then, draw a line vertically, right down the center â€" one side for every reason you should say ‘yes’ and the other for ‘no’. Now, take ten minutes and fill the paper up. Write the first thing that comes to your mind. Don’t stop until the time is up and then walk away from the paper for a few minutes. Before you sit back down, pray and ask God to expose your motives. Then, read your page with an open mind and let your decision come through the honest inspection of your answers.

This is a great first step in the process of distinguishing the will of God in your decisions. Through this simple, ten-minute exercise, you will be able to pinpoint the motivations that are causing you to move one way or another. Even though this process is helpful and necessary for many decisions, there are those that don’t need to be taken to such great lengths for they can be made quicker and easier. These decisions must simply be taken through the ‘I.D.M’ â€" the Instant Decision Maker. As we continue this article, we will look and determine how we can apply and master its use.

G.P. Hintz is a pastor and experienced writer of both fiction and non-fiction. He can be contacted at hop_childrens_pastor@hotmail.com.

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