God’s will is not only revealed through the environment and made known through the indwelling Spirit; it is also revealed to us through the Bible.
God’s will never changes. His will is revealed through the various experiences of men of the past, and all these things were recorded in the Bible. God’s will is revealed in the form of principles and examples in the Bible. To know God’s will, one must study the Bible carefully. The Bible is not a book of simple records, but a book rich in content. God’s will is fully unveiled through the Scripture. One needs only to find what God has said in the past, and he will know what God’s will is today. God’s will never wavers. In Christ there is only one yes (2 Cor. 1:19). God’s will for us never contradicts the teachings of the Bible. The Holy Spirit will never lead us to do something today that He has already condemned in the Bible.
God’s word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path (Psa. 119:105). If we want to understand God’s will and His leading for us, we must study the Bible carefully and seriously.
God speaks to us through the Bible in two ways: One is through the teaching of biblical principles, and the other is through the promises in the Bible. We need the Spirit’s enlightenment to understand biblical principles, and we need the Spirit’s leading to receive biblical promises. For example, the Spirit may speak to us through the Lord’s commandment in Matthew 28:19-20 that all Christians should preach the gospel. This teaching is a biblical principle. However, whether or not it is God’s will for you to go to a certain place to preach the gospel depends on the leading of the Spirit. You still have to pray much and ask God for a specific word. When the Holy Spirit puts a certain phrase or verse within you in a powerful, fresh, and living way, you have a promise from the Spirit. This is how you identify God’s will.
Some believers use superstitious ways to seek God’s will. They open the Bible before them and pray, “O God, please move my finger to the verse which reveals Your will.” After they pray with their eyes closed, they open their Bible and point their finger to any passage. Then they open their eyes and take the verse before them as God’s will. Some childish believers try to know God this way. Because they are desperate, God will sometimes accommodate their ignorance and show them the way. However, this is definitely not the proper way. It will not work with most people, and it will not work most of the time. It is dangerous, and there is a great possibility for mistakes with this way. Brothers and sisters, please remember that we have the divine life and that God’s Spirit is dwelling in us. We should ask God to reveal His word to us through the Holy Spirit. We should study the Bible conscientiously and consistently and memorize the Scripture well. When needs arise, the Holy Spirit will use the passages we have read to speak to us and to guide us.
Let us now combine the three things spoken of above. There is no fixed order for these three things. Sometimes, the arrangement of the environment comes first, followed by the leading of the Spirit and the teachings of the Bible. Sometimes, the Spirit’s leading and the teachings of the Bible come first, and afterward, the confirmation in the environment. The environment is related especially to God’s timing. In seeking after God’s will, Brother George Müller always asked three questions: (1) Is it God’s work? (2) Am I the person to do this work? (3) Is this God’s time for such a work to be done? The first and second questions can be resolved by the teaching of the Bible and the leading of the Spirit. The third question is settled by provisions in the environment.
If we want to be sure that our inward feeling is the leading of the Spirit, we should also ask two questions: (1) Does this leading match the teaching of the Bible? (2) Does the environment confirm this leading? If such a leading does not match the teaching of the Bible, it cannot be God’s will. If the environment does not give any confirmation, we should wait. Our feeling may be wrong, or it may not be the Lord’s timing.
In seeking God’s will, we should cultivate a healthy fear of making mistakes. We should not be subjective. We can ask God to block the ways that are not according to His will.
Suppose someone has invited you to work, and you have the intention to do a certain thing, or someone has advised you to reconsider your future, etc. How can you know whether these things are according to God’s will? First, you should look at the teaching of the Bible. You should find out what God has actually said about such matters in His Word. After this, you should check with your inner feeling. The Bible may teach this, but do you feel right within? If your inward feeling is different from the testimony of the Bible, it proves that your inward feeling is not reliable. You should continue to wait and seek the Lord. If your inward leading agrees with the testimony of the Bible, you should lift up your head and say, “O Lord, You have always revealed Your will through the environment. It is impossible for my inward feeling and the teaching of the Bible to both point to one direction, and yet have the environment point to a contrary direction. Lord! Please work in the environment and line it up with the Scripture’s teaching and the Spirit’s leading.” You will see that God always reveals His will through the environment. Not one sparrow will fall to the earth if it is not God’s will. If it is God’s will, what you see outwardly will surely line up with what you see inwardly and what you see from the Bible. If your inward sense, the teaching of the Bible, and the environment are all clear, then God’s will for you will also be clear.