I am often asked how to know if the plans we make are God’s will for our life. This is a common concern. Most of us want to do God’s will, but God seems to give us a tremendous amount of freedom. If you’re like me, you’re fully capable of making a mistake. I’ve made many.

Here are 5 Questions I often ask myself to help discern God’s will:

Does what I’m doing (or planning to do) conflict with Scripture?
God’s will never will. God is always true to Himself and His Word is the best place to start. We may differ in interpretation of a passage, but if it’s clearly spelled out in Scripture, then we clearly know His will.

Does what I am doing conflict with the counsel of others?
God uses others to confirm His will. I am thankful for the people in my life, including my wife and sons, who have helped shaped the path of my life. Often they see things I can see or believe in me when I can’t believe in myself. God sends the body of Christ to encourage, challenge and strengthen the body. (Don’t be confused, however, with times God calls us to go against the grain of life and walk by faith when everyone is saying we are crazy. See Noah about that one.)

Does what I am doing conflict with the spirit within me?
God sent the Holy Spirit as a helper. He guides us with an inner peace or a holy unrest. If Christ is in you, He will not leave you to make a decision completely alone. Often God provides a peace or a lack thereof when He is trying to confirm His will.

Does what I am doing conflict with my life experience?
God uses our experiences in life to teach and mold us to His will. Often it isn’t as unusual of a path when we look back over our life experiences. Again, don’t be confused, because He usually stretches us out of our comfort zone also.

Does what I am doing conflict with my passion for life?
God tends to work with the things that fuel our fire. He loves when we are energized for the tasks He calls us to. When I look at Bible characters like Joseph, David, the disciples, Abraham or Paul it appears their calling matched their wiring. Paul was zealous for whatever he did. God used that passion for good. What’s your passion? God may work within it to confirm His will.

Try those 5 questions together and see how they line up to help discern God’s will as it relates with your plans.

Here’s some good news.

I fully believe God works all things for good even when we miss His will in individual decisions. You can make a bad decision, but God retains the right to finish your story His way. Proverbs 16:9 says, “In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.”

Do you ever struggle as to whether your plans are God’s will? Tell me your current situation and I’ll pray with you.

You may want to read 7 Ways to Distinguish God’s Voice from the Circumstances of Life

How do you know when God is stirring your heart for a change in ministry assignment?

I work with pastors every week who are asking this question. I previously posted my answer to this question, but after several conversations recently I thought it was time for a revision to strengthen some of the points based on what I’m currently learning and observing. This can be one of the most grueling decisions a Christian leader makes. Because most of us feel we are in positions God has called us to do, it is often more difficult to leave one called position for another called position.

Several times in my ministry, first as a layperson and since then in vocational ministry, God has called me to leave one ministry and begin another. It can be a scary place to face the unknown, yet know that God is up to something new in your life. In sharing my experience, I am hoping it can help others process through what God may be doing in their life. Please realize that God uses unequaled experiences in each of our lives, but at the same time there are some common patterns I think each of us may experience, while the details remain unique.

Here are 5 steps I have experienced as God has led me to something new:

Wonderful sweet success – Each time the door of a new opportunity opened it began opening (looking back) when things were going well in my current ministry.

Inner struggle – I usually have not been able to understand what God is up to, but there is something in me (and usually in my wife at the same time) where I know God is doing something new. It could be a growing dissatisfaction, consistent unexplained frustrations, or just an uneasiness where I am currently. While I do not know what it is, and often not even if it involves a change in my place of ministry, I know God is working something new in my heart.

Closeness to Christ – Brennan Manning calls it a Dangerous love of Christ. During the times leading up to a change of ministry assignment I will be growing in my relationship with Christ, usually in new depths of trust and abandonment. Again, looking back I can see this clearly, but at the time I usually am just enjoying the closeness to Christ not expecting anything.

Opportunity presents itself – An opportunity seems to come from nowhere. In some seasons there has been multiple opportunities at the same time. Reflecting back, I can see this is the pattern that has occurred each time. It is only after these first three experiences that God brings a new opportunity my way. This is probably because my spirit must be totally aligned with His Spirit in order for me to trust the new work He calls me to, because I have yet to feel completely “ready” for the next step in my journey with Christ. New steps of obedience always involve a leap of faith on my part. I’m always stretched in my trust beyond where I’ve been previously, but this process prepares me to be ready to say “Yes Lord…Here am I…send me.”

I surrendered to God’s call – After I receive confirmation in my spirit, review the journey God has had us on, and Cheryl and I agree where God is leading, I have yet to refuse the next assignment. That does not mean it is easy for us to leave our current ministry, but it has always been most rewarding to know we are in the center of God’s will for our life.

A special word to the spouse: Cheryl has never been “ready” to leave friends in our current ministry, but she has always lined with me in knowing God was calling us to a new work in our life. Cheryl has always had the same Spirit’s leading that I am having, often before me. God has never allowed us to be confused with differing messages. That’s part of our confirmation.

Discerning a change in ministry assignment can be a difficult task, especially when you are comfortable where you are currently. Perhaps my experiences can help.

Have you shared these experiences? What other experiences have you had that have led you to step out by faith into a new adventure with Christ?

Depending on your circumstances, you may want to read my post “When a Leader Gets Too Comfortable” or “10 Scenarios to Know It’s Time to Quit“.

SPECIAL NOTE to the people of Grace Community Church: I didn’t write this post for me. I use this blog to minister to other pastors and ministers and that is who I am addressing with this post. As of now, I am where I am supposed to be at Grace. It is important to always remember, however, that I do not work for Grace Community Church. I work for a person and His name is Jesus Christ. I keep thanking Him daily for allowing me to be a part of the work He is doing at Grace for such a time as this.

What, you thought there would be more?

I have a hard time saying something is my “favorite” of anything, but perhaps especially a Bible verse. There are so many.

What about you?

Do you have a favorite Bible verse?

What if we shared some of our favorites with each other? It could be an encouragement.

I’ll go first. As I said, not sure I can land on just one, but here is certainly one of my favorites:

There is therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Romans 8:1

Now your turn.

The trees of the Lord flourish…

I was reading the sixteenth verse in Psalm 104 recently and this phrase appeared to jump off the page at me.

The trees of the Lord flourish…

I was reminded:

Whatever the Lord touches…

Whatever God decides to do…

Wherever God places His stamp of approval…

Whatever God chooses to bless…

Whatever God builds…

Wherever God dwells…

Whatever God plants…

F L O U R I S H E S

God is God and there is no other.

Are you looking for success in life? Are you chasing a dream?

The trees of the Lord flourish…

Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed. Proverbs 16:3

Recently I posted 10 Lies Men Believe. As expected, whenever I post about men the women ask when I’m doing a companion post. Several women said they often believe the same lies as the men. I don’t doubt that. Some men will believe some of the lies in this list also.

Let me make this clear. I am not a woman. If you weren’t sure, now you know.

In my role as a pastor and counselor, however, I have observed the differences in men and women for years. It does appear to me that the most common lies we believe…at least the ones the enemy uses against us most often…are often different. Again, these are by observation only.

Here are 10 lies women often believe:

I will never let someone hurt me again

I can depend on this guy to meet all my needs

I think everyone is talking about me

I’m not as beautiful as she is

I can’t do that even if I try

I must do ________, so I’ll be loved

I won’t let it hurt my feelings

I’m not good enough for him

I’ll never recover from that mistake

I know this guy would never disappoint me

I continually encounter women who have been emotionally injured or heart-crippled, because they are believing lies fed by the world, broken dreams or misplaced full devotion. The only way out of a lie is with truth. You might begin by reading Psalm 139:14, Jeremiah 31:3, 1 John 4:8, 1 Samuel 16:7 or Proverbs 31:30.

But, since I’m not a woman…

What do you think? What other lies do women believe? Perhaps some women will educate me now

I sat with a man recently. He’s lost his job, can’t find another and it’s having an impact on his marriage. I quickly diagnosed his real problem. Not that I’m an expert in diagnosing problems, but I’ve seen this one many times and his language made it clear.

He said things like, “I used to be able to…” and “I don’t think I’ll ever…”. It seemed clear to me, so I took a chance and told him my theory. He was believing a lie.

If you’re a man, at some point, you’ve probably believed one of these lies:

I will fail if I try

I don’t measure up

I am not as good as he is

I don’t have what it takes

I can’t win

I can do this and no one will know

I can’t be honest about that

I’m the only one who has ever struggled with this

I can’t recover from that

I can’t be the spiritual leader of my home

If you’ve been hit with a setback, if you are licking your wounds from a failure, if you simply can’t find your way right now, you may be allowing the enemy, the world or your own mind to feed you some lies.

One way out of the “funk” may be to insert some truth into your life. (Look up these verses as a start: Philippians 4:13, Joshua 1:9, 1 John 4:4, Psalm 121:1.)

Which of the above lies are you currently believing?

You might also read the companion post, 10 Lies Women Believe.

My good friend Daniel Doss gets real and vulnerable to share how his popular song “Stained Glass Windows” became a song. (Daniel helped plant Grace Community Church as our first worship pastor.) If you’ve ever struggled to understand the hand of God, watch this:

To download the song, click HERE.

Thank you Daniel!

Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” Mark 4:38 NIV

I have been told that the stern is the strongest part of the boat. The Creator of the universe was asleep there. The One who made the waters and was there when the waters were parted; who led Moses as Moses led the people through on dry ground had His head on a cushion. The One who walked with three guys in the fiery furnace, in all of His current humanity had decided He needed some rest. The disciples apparently lost sight of the fact that, Jesus was not only human, and He was also fully God.

I am reminded that I forget the same thing at times. Have you ever felt like the disciples felt? Have you ever wondered if Jesus cared? Has the thought crossed your mind that Jesus may not even be aware of your current situation? Have you thought, “Jesus, I see my problems, don’t you?” Or maybe, if you are honest, have felt something like, “Jesus, don’t you care?”

Of course, our spiritual piety would never allow us to admit our weakness in this area fully. Could I as a pastor really admit that I doubted His love? Could you? Yet if I am honest, sometimes from my perspective, it appears that Jesus is nowhere to be found and I am left all alone to wallow in my sorrows. Just saying….

I think the best thing we can possibly do in those situations is to be like the disciples and admit our frailty to God. When we get gut honest with Him about our insufficiencies, perhaps He will be willing to do what only He can do.

Do you need to have an honest conversation with Jesus today?

(This is a repost. Someone found it online in the archives. Sometimes I like to bring them forward, since my readership has tripled since this first appeared and half my readers do so by email.)

Are you worried? Having doubts? Do you need some encouragement to trust again?

The Trust of a Widow from Gcomchurch Sermons on Vimeo.