By Kendall Lowe

We sing a song in Sunday worship, in our Bible classes, or just when we are in a spirit of gratitude. “Thank you, Lord, for loving me, and thank you Lord for blessing me. Thank you, Lord, for making me whole and saving my soul.” This is a lovely song about offering thanks to God for what he has done for us. There is a line in a verse, however, that I believe could use some fine tuning. The line says, “Please reveal your will for me so I can serve you for eternity.”

A friend of mine suggested once, and I agree, that this verse implies a confusing quality about God’s will for us. Maybe this song does not often bring this to mind, but it reinforces an idea that Christians struggle with throughout their lives. That is the idea that we do not know what God’s will for us is yet; we must try to figure it out. Not only does this make things very difficult and confusing, but it’s also not Scriptural.

Paul says to the Ephesian church that in Christ we have redemption through his blood, and that “He made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure” (Ephesians 1:9). Is Paul confused in thinking that we already know what God’s will for us is? I doubt it. I believe we can clearly see God’s will in several places throughout Scripture. “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20). “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and mind. Love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37-39). “And now I will show you the most excellent way: love” (1 Corinthians 12:31).

It seems to me that the verse of this song should read this way: “You’ve revealed your will for me, so I can serve you for eternity. Use my life in every way, take hold of it today.” God has revealed his will for us. He doesn’t keep it a secret so that we can spend our lives trying to find out what it is. Go. Serve. Baptize. Teach. Love. God has plainly revealed his will for our lives. Sure, we have to choose a job or where to live or who to marry or where to attend church. But if we are serving God, loving others, teaching the Gospel, and letting Him use our lives in every way, we are following his will. He has revealed it to us. We must now choose to ignore it or embrace it.