"Warning: Bumpy Road Ahead"

Warning: Bumpy Road Ahead

One of the most important subjects in the bible is the will of God. Unbelievers scoff at the idea of God’s will, and believers often ignore it. However, it’s a reality that affects our lives every day. Either we are living in the will of God or outside it. It’s a choice we make. And it’s a choice we make based on the decisions we have to make in life. Usually when we think about His will, our focus is on trying to discover it, but a more important issue is whether we decide to obey His revealed will or not. Do you ever stop and think about how you get yourself in trouble sometimes? The will of God is a very important subject. The road may be rocky at times, but we should not let the obstacles stop us from living according to God’s plan.

Obstacles to God’s Will – 7 of them (number for completion)

To successfully navigate the path of God’s will, we need to understand the obstacles that could trip us up.

Self-Will – The biggest stumbling block is a determination to have our own way rather than following God’s path. Our pride and selfishness keep us from even asking God what He would have us do. Therefore, we make up our minds and then come to the Lord asking Him to bless our chosen path. This is a foolish approach because God doesn’t operate this way.
Following God’s plan is tough. It ain’t for the faint at heart.
There will be some suffering; but it is worthwhile

Influence of Others – Following other people’s advice can be another obstacle in our walk with the Lord. Some are quick to tell us exactly what we should do and how we should live, but their opinions may not agree with God’s plan. The best option is to first turn to Him rather than relying on fallible human beings.

They want to tell you who to marry, how to spend your money, how to make decisions and what they ought to be; you are listening to the wrong voices

You only need to listen to God; question is are you willing to listen

When someone says “If I were you?” that is code for don’t listen to them; they have mess of their own life

Matthew 7:3-5

“And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? 4 How can you think of saying to your friend, ‘Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? 5 Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye. (NLT)

Ignorance of God’s Principles – We can’t walk in God’s will if we don’t know what He desires. Biblical principles help us understand how He wants us to live. For example:

• Wait on the Lord. We need to know not only what He would have us do but when. God’s timing is essential in the Christian life. Don’t start moving until God says so; doing too much

• Trust God and leave all the consequences to Him (which is a foreign idea to the world). Despite obstacles, we should keep moving in the direction of obedience to God. He is capable of handling whatever happens as a result. Our job is to walk by faith and trust Him.

• Allow God to supply all our needs. The Lord will provide everything we require to obey His will.
Most people believe that they have to supply them; not God

• Take one step at a time. The Lord will not show us the entire picture of our lives so we know exactly what will happen. Instead, His light shines as far as the next step. This means we must trust Him for whatever lies ahead that we cannot see.

When you get in your car at night, you turn on the lights

You can only go as far as those lights will shine

The will of God is not going to show you the whole picture of your life

He is going to have all of us walking one step at a time

We have to trust and believe that God is around every dark turn, leading and guiding us into His marvelous light

Willful Known Sin – We must not believe the lie that a little sin won’t hurt anyone. Just consider what sin does.

• It deafens our ears to the voice of God. Disobedience clogs our spiritual ears; you can’t clearly hear Him speaking to your heart

• Sin blinds our eyes to the vision of God. We won’t be able to perceive His will or understand what He is doing in our lives.

• It hardens our hearts to the awareness of God. Disobedience makes our hearts hard, and sin draws us away from the Lord.
This is why people stumble along the way because they are allowing sin in their lives when God’s best is ahead of them
God is not treating you bad; you are just not listening

There is no promise in God’s word that He is going to bless your sin, disobedience and indifference to Him

• Sin dulls our conscience to the Word of God. When we read the Bible, we will get nothing from it. We won’t sense God’s conviction of sin or hear Him speak through His Word

Doubt – This is another obstacle to walking in the will of God, and its manifest in several ways. When we doubt God, we make wrong decisions

• We doubt that God has a personal will for our lives. We may believe He’s working out His plan for the world in general but not for us individually.

• We doubt that the Lord will make His will known. Perhaps we don’t understand that He loves us, or we’re not sure we are actually hearing from Him.

• We doubt that we can do what the Lord requires. This is often the point at which we step out of God’s will. We look at our own inadequacy and question whether He will enable us to obey Him.

You get ahead of Him or behind Him

Things don’t work out; you say see I trusted God and it didn’t work out

No, you didn’t trust God nor did you obey Him

You weren’t on His schedule, you were on YOUR schedule

There are many difficulties; You are equipped for the work

Remember God came to Gideon to tell him what to do and Gideon said “Who am I?” Have you ever said that to God?

• We doubt God because we don’t have all the facts. Instead of looking at all the unknowns, we need to focus on what we know to be true (which are His promises). God loves us each individually and will walk with us through whatever He has planned for us. Although we may experience difficulty, suffering, or loss, the Lord promises to work it all out for good. His desire is to use these situations to mature us, increase our trust in Him, eliminate things that should not be in our lives, and shape us into the likeness of Christ. Our goal is to trust and obey

Feelings of Unworthiness – Sometimes this is the reason we refuse to follow in God’s will, but we should never underestimate what He can do through us. We must be careful to make decisions based on what the Lord has said, not on what we are feeling or thinking.

Example of Moses-He said “not me”. I can’t speak

Don’t underestimate what He thinks you can do

God is there to help you get it done; you’re more than a conqueror; you can do all things thru God who gives you strength!
Don’t make decisions based on what you think; make decisions based on what God has called you to do!

If the reason for our sense of unworthiness is our failures, we have a promise from God

1 John 1:9

But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. (NLT)

Although we may have to endure the consequences, the Lord never walks away from those who belong to Him but always seeks to restore us to Himself. Even His discipline is an act of love by which He brings us back into His will.

You can’t sin so badly that God won’t retrieve you

But you can sin so bad, that you wish you hadn’t

There is a price to be paid; sin does not come cheaply

God loves you and is willing to forgive you

Busyness – If we don’t have time for God’s Word, church, or prayer, we cannot expect to know or obey His will. Busyness is a tool of the devil and often used as an excuse for our sin—we just don’t have time for God. Living in this world doesn’t help because it’s opposed to the way God wants us to live.

Close

Although the Christian life is a rocky road, it has an awesome, eternal end. In heaven we will enjoy the Lord’s blessings forever. For now, we have the Holy Spirit, the presence of God, and the promises of His Word to encourage and enable us to live according to His will. If we neglect these divine resources, we could easily become fearful and reject God’s plan.

Don’t fear of what God might require of you; He will equip you and help you

Don’t have a fear of failure; you are more than a conqueror

Don’t fear criticism – If you live a Godly life, you will be criticized. That’s a good thing; means you are on the right track. You’re going to be blessed. Haters be hatin’

Make the choice to work and walk in the will of God DAILY! The center of the will of God is the safest place to be!