How To Discern Your Will vs. God’s: A bit of testimony…
If you are wondering how to discern the difference between “your will” vs. “God’s will” I would like to offer some insight, from personal experience (and as led to understanding by the HS). This relay of information comes from a freshly pounded lesson, after veering off course; God gracefully showed me the way back and had mercy on me. (He is so so good and I am ever grateful.)
How do you know you’ve gone off of God’s beaten path? There are things that one will begin to recognize (not normal in one’s daily walk):
- You may be experiencing unnecessary fear and/or anxiety
- Feel stuck or blocked when you attempt to progress in certain areas of your life (work, relationships, etc.)
- Feelings of frustration
- Things go awry in projects or life in general
When things weren’t going the way I thought they should, recently, I entered into prayer asking for God to help me understand what area of my life I needed to look at. He knows how to communicate best with me, and it’s usually through words (the Bible, books, articles or my own writing)…be aware of how He communicates with you. He does have a sense of humor, you know!
At the time, I was working on a freelance project and things simply weren’t going well. When I really needed an answer as to why, and how to handle it, God helped me out. For I was not seeing what was before me; nor (despite past experience) was I realizing that all of the things I listed above, were His and my Spirit’s way of alerting me…I was instilling MY will and not realizing it. He finally got my attention through an article about the fruit of the Spirit and producing good fruit.
What does one’s life resemble when we are inserting our will over God’s? We manifest outwardly, what is going on within – meaning – our spirit man/woman acts out like a 2 year-old who wants a cookie instead of dinner. The yuck that we are feeling inside, mentally and spiritually, manifests physically. What might this look like, you wonder?
Jesus told his disciples, “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man not abide in me, he is cast forth as a branch and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.” (St. John, 15:5-7, Holy Bible)
I rarely get frustrated. I know myself well enough to realize that frustration is a manifestation of discord between my “self” and God. Other types of manifestation one may experience include:
- Feeling far from God
- Body-wide fatigue (mental, physical & emotional)
- Inability to produce a positive outcome in “x” situation / things continually go awry
- Relationships stemming from said path/decision seem futile
- Irritability
- Being in a constant stressful state (and nothing helps relieve it)
- Illness
“The thief cometh not, but for to steal, kill and destroy; I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” (St. John, 10:10) This verse signifies what happens when we are subjected to thing that are not the will of God. The prince of this earth, Satan, is the doer of evil and purveyor of ill-will over our lives. God became flesh (Christ) in order to restore light and life to those who proclaim Him, Savior, therefore dispelling the dark and unruly in our lives.
Don’t let your free will overpower that of the One who gives you life and light!
Part 3, coming up… Undoing THINE Own Will!