Do you ever wonder whether you are following God’s will or plan for you?

Do you worry that you might be headed in the wrong direction?

Do you wish God would write His will for your day on your to-do list?

Yep, me too!

Since his ordination, Rev has received calls to serve at various ministries and I’ve had to decide whether I should go back to teaching full-time, part-time or if I should stay at home.

And work is just the beginning, isn’t it?

How many children should we have? Where should our children go to school or should we homeschool? Where should we live? Is that the right house for us? The right church family? When should I retire?

What should I do?

The questions go on and on.

Sometimes it was easy to tell where God wants us, other times are harder.

Life decisions can cause some of the greatest stress in our lives.

So the question we all want to know is…

There are some things we can do to test a situation and we ask for God’s guidance and seek His will.

5 Ways to Know if Something is From God

1. Pray

Begin with prayer. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? It is.

Start by asking God to show you His specific will for you in this situation.

Pray that the Lord your God will show us what to do and where to go. Jeremiah 42:3

2. Glorify God

Ask – Does this glorify God?

Ask yourself, “Does this bless my relationship with my family? Does it make it possible for me to serve others? What will my attitude be if I do this? Etc.”

Give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God. Romans 6:13

3. Agree with Scripture

Does it agree with Scripture?

God gave us His Word to show us His will. You and I can trust the counsel of the Bible.

You never have to ask God if it’s His will for you to embezzle from your employer or dish the latest dirty detail about your neighbor.

 All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. 2 Timothy 3:16

4. Be Willing to Wait

Be patient. God’s will is worth the wait. Trust His timing.

If something is God’s will, He will guide you while you wait and bring it to pass. Don’t rush it – when the timing is right God will let you know.

Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord. Psalm 27:14

5. Trust God to accomplish His will in your life

God will fulfill His promises and accomplish His will for you.

I’ll admit, I’ve gotten impatient at times. I want a clear answer and I want it now! But I’ve learned I can watch and wait . . . God will do what He says He will do, and He will accomplish His will.

Now all glory to God, who is able, through His mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Ephesians 3:20

Not everything in life is clear. There will be times when you will do all the above and still be uncertain about God’s direction for you.

That’s okay.

You can trust that if God wants something specific in your life He will guide you to it.

If you’ve gone through the 5 step process and still have no clear answer . . . just keep moving. Make a choice. The good news is if you are trusting and glorifying God with your life you can move ahead confidently.

By Deb Wolf – Counting my Blessings

See also: 5 verses to pray when you want to know God’s will