Determining God’s Plan for Your Life

Have you ever found yourself asking tough questions about your future: What is God calling me to do with my life? Am I missing His will for me? What direction should I go?

Maybe you’ve wished that your life came with an operating manual. In this month’s Today in the Word study on Micah, we read helpful words of advice. Micah 6:8 says “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”

Through His Word, God has shown us what is good. This verse in Micah may not be the detailed road map we are looking for, but we can consider it a guiding star by which to navigate. Our aim in life is to know God. He is our true north, even if it feels like we’re losing our way.

Perhaps you are in that place right now. You feel you have lost the script of your life. You feel like you’re waiting in the wings for your cue to come on stage. Even for believers, it can be painful when we’re not sure what our next step should be.

At these times, it is helpful to remember that God’s plan is much larger than our view allows for. We are trying to define the meaning of our life, while not seeing the bigger picture. As humans, we fight to discover our place in this world. And, even when we receive clear guidance from God, our tendency (like Jonah) is to resist and run from it, toward our own desires.

By contrast, God is infinite, all-knowing, and all-powerful. Nothing is outside of His knowledge and control. As the only One who knows the beginning and the end, He has the wide view on all of us. In fact, from God’s perspective, our story may not even really be about us. The details of our life are significant, but perhaps not in the way we think. What if God cares less about what we “do” with our lives and more about who He wants us to become?

Following God faithfully requires our trust and obedience. Proverbs 19:21 says, “Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.” Discovering God’s will for your life might mean embracing the life He is unfolding before you today.

God may not be calling you to do any specific thing right now. What if instead, He is calling you to spend time in His presence? We can become more and more like Him, no matter what twists and turns our life may take. What a delightful mystery to watch unfold!

BY Tirzah Wiebolt

Tirzah Wiebolt is a student at Moody Theological Seminary in the Clinical Mental Health Counseling program. Tirzah is an active member of the Honors Society, as well as a Chapman Scholar. She serves in the MTS Leadership cohort, and is passionate about faith, mental health, and the intersection of the two.