How to Know God's Will, Part 10

by Paul Sands on October 13, 2011

How can we know the will of God? For the past nine weeks, I have tried to answer that question. Everything I have written can be boiled down to a single point: God’s will is not discovered through divination but discerned through wisdom. If you want to know the will of God, seek wisdom.

But what to do when the time for decision has arrived and you can’t yet discern the way of wisdom? The answer is simple. You must act for the best and trust God. Put differently, you must “gamble” that God will step in and take matters into his own hands.

This sort of trust in God feels risky. But in truth, our lives are always in God’s hands.

  • “Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails.” (Pro. 19:21)
  • “In their hearts humans plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps.” (Pro. 16:9)
  • “A person’s steps are directed by the LORD. How then can anyone understand their own way?” (Pro. 20:24)
  • “LORD, I know that people’s lives are not their own; it is not for them to direct their steps.” (Jer. 10:23).


Sometimes the highest wisdom is to accept the limits of wisdom. Sometimes you must “gamble” on the goodness of the sovereign God.

Not that it is really a gamble. The Psalmist declares, “The LORD makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him; though he may stumble, he will not fall, for the LORD upholds him with his hand” (Psalm 37:23-24). We are assured that “the LORD will keep you from all harm — he will watch over your life; the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore” (Psalm 121:7-8).

We may not be sure which path to choose, but we can be sure that God can be trusted to watch over our lives. “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight” (Pro. 3:5-6).

There is no higher wisdom than this.

In Christ’s service,

Paul