Wheaton College Alumni Magazine Spring 2014 | Page 21

I

Q

How do I discover God’s
will for my life?
&A: Dr. Vincent Bacote, associate professor of theology

from top:
Dr. Jennifer Powell McNutt,
Dr. Daniel J. Treier,
Dr. Timothy Larsen,

decisions such as marriage (is there “the one” God has for me?) or career
(am I heading to God’s chosen profession for me?) have much gravity and
heavily determine a large part of life. One way to begin addressing this
issue is by thinking about the way we view divine sovereignty and human
freedom. While Christians have spilled considerable ink sorting out this
issue, the important point here is that God’s Word tells us that he has plans
for his people (see Eph. 1:11 and 2:10) while also telling us that we should
be people of discernment (Proverbs repeatedly urges us to seek wisdom and
make life decisions accordingly). There is a plan and there is responsibility,
and God does not tell us to disregard either emphasis. There is a tension
that we must endure, but it is easier to manage if we remember that one of
the reasons God reminds us of his sovereignty is so that we will worship
him and be comforted by the fact that he is in charge of history. Human
responsibility we can regard as an opportunity to grow in our knowledge
of God and in our discernment.

Dr. Beth Felker Jones,
Dr. Vincent Bacote

Adapted from
Theology Questions
Everyone Asks, edited
by Gary M. Burge
and David Lauber.
Copyright © 2014
by Gary M. Burge
and David Lauber.
Used by permission of
InterVarsity Press,
P.O. Box 1400,
Downers Grove, IL
60515, USA.
www.ivpress.com.
W H EATON .EDU / M A G A Z I N E

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This is a potentially vexing question for many Christians because life

But how do we live in this tension and pursue God’s will? We can first give
attention to the dimensions of God’s will that are common to all of his people.
In Philippians 2:12-13, Paul urges us to work out our salvation with fear and
trembling, an exhortation which follows an encouragement to become like
Christ, especially in the way we interact with others (as humble servants).
God is explicit throughout Scripture that his people should be like him in
their character. The pursuit of this aspect of God’s will should always be a top
priority. Yet this is not all we should think about when considering God’s will;
we do need to seek God when we face decisions about relationships, career,
financial management, and many other personal details. Prayer and the counsel
of others are very important as we take steps forward with our life details.
We are commanded to come to God with our requests and to seek guidance
(James 1:5), and we are also encouraged to participate in the community (the
church visible and invisible, local and spread out). Those who know us well are
used by God to help us see ourselves more truthfully and pursue our path of
life with greater faithfulness (Prov. 15:22).
We also need to keep in mind that we worship a God of generosity and
grace. While there is a sense in which we can say God has a specific
will for us, that level of specificity often goes wanting, and we need to
make decisions based on our understanding of Scripture, the input of
our community, and personal discernment. We only have one life, so we
should make our decisions carefully, but we need not be terrorized by
the specter of “missing God’s will” if we seem to have a path that wavers
a bit. Remember that God is for us and will work things out for our
good (Rom. 8:28).
WHEATON

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3/22/14 2:34 AM