Am I Doing God’s Will?

Doing God’s will does not mean meeting every request that others propose. Pat King in her book How to Have All the Time You Need Every Day, says that instead, it means discerning in our hearts what we’ve been called to do and saying “no” to what we haven’t been called to do.

She tells of Irene who was in much demand as a Bible teacher. Her husband, Mike went to church but took no part in church activities. Irene’s priority list was God, teaching Bible studies, and then family. One day the Lord spoke to her through Ephesians 5:22 (Amp.). “Wives, be subject--be submissive and adapt yourselves--to your own husband as [a service] to the Lord.”

She heard God saying, “I want you to be Mike’s wife.” What did God mean? Then she considered, “Did she really love Mike? Did she honestly revere him?”

Irene dropped her outside activities and began to spend most of her time in her home. She declined when asked to teach or lead a home Bible study. She stayed home with Mike doing whatever he chose to do.

During the next two years she felt she was walking in a dark valley. Her friends, not knowing her reasons, began telling her that her refusal to teach was selfish. She missed being thought of as a woman’s leader, but she was determined to be nothing more than a wife to Mike.

In the middle of the third year of her commitment to her husband, something stirred in Mike. He began to hear God calling him, and he answered that call. Slowly Irene realized that if she had remained the spiritual authority, Mike would have been too threatened by her success to venture out. Today, at Mike’s insistence, they together teach a class for couples. Their new priorities are God, each other, and then others.

Thank You, Lord, for helping us to find and do Your will.

“In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps” (Proverbs 16:9).