How Can I Know What God’s Plan is for Me?
Maybe you know what you want but don’t know whether it is God’s plan. Maybe you don’t have a preconceived idea and are seeking God’s guidance. Either way, here are some steps for discerning God’s plan for the next step in your life.
When you have an idea of something you would like to pursue in your life, how can you know whether it is God’s plan for you or just your desire?
In part 1 of this series (Trying to Find God’s Special Plan for Your Life Might Mislead You), I explored the fact that God does not have just one plan for our lives – he has many. The first two are to accept his love and forgiveness and enter into a personal relationship with him where Jesus is recognized as the Lord of our lives, and to allow God to transform us into the image of Christ.
There are also times in our lives when we sense, or hope for, new opportunities to serve God, use our gifts, or make a difference. In those times, how can we identify what is God’s specific plan for us at that particular time?
How do I know if the thing I want is God’s plan for me?
God generally does not impose on us some wildly unexpected plan for our lives. There are rare occasions where God may ask someone to let go of all they have been and go do something totally unexpected. But usually, the general direction of God’s plan for us is something that we want to embrace because it already has grown in us.
For example, people who wanted to help injured birds when they were a child and discover a love for biology as a young adult may feel a calling to become a doctor and hope that that is God’s plan for them.
There is always a risk that we might fool ourselves and project onto God what is only our own desires (I had a student once who wanted to be a nuclear engineer simply because they make a lot of money).
But if we are intentionally trying to follow God’s first two big plans for our lives – to respond to his love by giving him authority in our lives and to allow him to transform us so that our lives reflect the character of Jesus – then we will find that, often, what we want is what God wants. There is a reason for that.
As people made in the image of God (Gen. 1:26-27), we are meant to manifest at a human level many of the traits that God has on a greater level. We love, as an image of his love. Similarly, God, in his creativity as the Creator, has made us so that we can also be freely creative, as he is freely creative. When we, as co-creators with God, develop our own unique ideas about how to put his character and love into action, we honor God.
Let God shape your desires
One of the psalms of David urges us:
Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. (Ps. 37:4)
What does this mean? Does it mean that God will give us whatever we want? No.
Take a look at what comes first. The first step is to delight in the Lord. When we enjoy being with God, when we love the things that God loves and want to act the way he acts, when we to take joy in seeing his desires fulfilled – then the desires of our heart will gravitate toward the things that God cares about.
When our hopes and desires coincide with what is close to God’s heart, it will not be surprising that God will be able to give us the desires of our heart.
In the Gospel of John, Jesus says something similar, though you may not recognize it at first:
[W]hatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you.... Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete. (John 16:23-24)
Notice the same elements:
What we ask for should be consistent with what God wants.
Jesus tells us to ask in his name, which means to ask in a manner consistent with his wishes. To understand this, consider this illustration: A mother sends her son to a neighbor’s house to borrow a hedge trimmer. The child knocks on the door. When the neighbor opens the door, the child says, “Could we borrow your hedge trimmer? My mother would like to use it.” The child is asking in the mother’s name, not on his own behalf. The neighbor readily agrees because the request is being made in the mother’s name and reflects her desire. We are called to make our requests to God by asking in the name of Jesus – that is, by asking for what is consistent with his character. When we do that, God can answer readily.
When we embrace God’s will, we find joy.
Jesus says that when his followers seek what reflects the character and will of Jesus and ask for things that can be requested in his name, they will experience his joy. The psalmist’s “delight” reflects his unity with the Lord, which allows him to receives what he asks for. We, too, can find the joy Jesus has prepared for us when we ask for what delights the Father and is consistent with the will of Jesus.
This also helps us know what to do when we don’t know what God’s plan is for us at a particular point in our life. As we embrace what God cares about, God can nudge us to see new opportunities that can become our passion and his plan for the next season in our lives.
Evaluating whether what we want is consistent with God’s desires
When we think we see a direction forward in our lives, we need to evaluate it to see if it really lines up with God’s will. Here are some things to consider:
Is it consistent with God’s will for the world?
If our goal is selfish or contrary to God’s commands or Jesus’s teachings, it’s not part of God’s plan for your life. If the means or methods we are considering for achieving the goal are not moral, our plan is not from God even if the goal itself if godly.
Is it appropriate for you in particular?
Just because something is good doesn’t mean you are the one who should do it. I never learned how to throw a curveball, so it wouldn’t have made sense to ask God to let me become a major-league pitcher, even though I would have been glad to give God the glory. Similarly, someone who hates math is probably not meant to be a budget analyst.
The life that God has allowed us to live has given each of us a unique set of family circumstances; genes; educational, social, and economic opportunities and deprivations; and personal interests and disinclinations. You have a unique set of skills, abilities, and character traits. The strengths and interests you have developed affect what doors God might want to open for you. While God might want you to step into a role you are not naturally good at, it is more common that he will tap you to use your strengths and interests for his glory.
Is this the right time?
Just because something might be God’s plan doesn’t mean it is necessarily God’s plan at this particular moment. Sometimes, what we want is not a bad thing, but we are trying to force it before its time. I want this relationship or this job now, even though the circumstances may not be ready. In some cases, someone else’s refusal to respond to God’s will may cause a delay or detour, since God rarely overrides someone else’s free will to give us what we want.
Maybe I’m the one who is not ready. Sometimes we need to grow spiritually before we are ready to step into a plan that will be right for us when we are ready. (For more on this, see my study of John 16:16-33, which discusses how God’s answer to prayer might be “No,” “Slow,” “Grow,” or “Go.”)
For all these reasons, the special, unique plans God may have for our lives build on God’s first two plans for our lives, which provide the fundamental foundation for what comes after. If we focus on a plan at level 3, without embracing the first two levels of God’s plan for our lives, it is like trying to start a challenging new video game at level 3 without first learning the skills that must be gained in the previous levels. It rarely goes well.
Recognizing God’s plan is a process of discernment
If we keep God’s fundamental plans for us in mind and seek to ground ourselves in what God desires, there is nothing wrong with asking what God’s special plan for you might be at this particular moment in your life, or asking whether the thing you want to do is God’s plan for you.
The answer might require careful discernment. It may take time to identify what God is trying to do, whether our desires are consistent with God’s desires, and how we can best respond.
Our discernment will be stronger if we spend time in prayer and in God’s Word. We may also arrive at a more accurate conclusion if we seek input from spiritually wise people around us. They may help us see things that can confirm our hopes or guide us to adjust them.
Next steps
If, after a period of faithful reflection, we feel strongly that we have a sense of God’s plan for the next phase of our lives, a new set of questions open up, which I will address in the next article in this series:
What do I do while I am waiting for God to open the door for the plan he has for me?
And once the door has opened, what do I do to stay in God’s plan?
For now, delight yourself in the things that delight God and try to live every part of your life in a manner consistent with the character of Jesus. Then you will be in a good position to ask for, and receive, the desires of your heart.
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