A couple of different thoughts have been fighting for attention in my mind for the past several days. One was sparked by reading Job 28:28, where God said, “The fear of the Lord is this: wisdom. And to turn from evil is understanding.” We’ve talked about what it means to fear the Lord before (see “The Fear of The Lord”), but this verse is so clear.
We could take it to mean that it is wise to fear God, which is true, and we can also understand it to be a succinct definition of what fear of God looks like: to be wise. Wisdom will keep us from violating God’s will. Which brings me to the other topic that’s been on my mind: finding God’s will for your life. I’ve also written on that topic before, and if you want a deeper dive, see, “Explaining God’s Will for Your Life.” I submit you will never understand God’s will until you develop a proper fear of His holiness.
It is common for people to reevaluate what they want or where they are going at the beginning of a new year or season in life. Countless books, articles, and videos are available that proclaim to have the secret for living out your destiny. This is true in both secular and Christian circles. It feels like many authors have reappropriated the secular concept of following your passion with the Christian precept of finding God’s will for your life. It’s maddening to me to see so many believers still struggling because they can’t figure out God’s will for their lives. Spending a little time in scripture will clear this up for anyone.
God’s will for your life is that you love Him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and that you love everyone else as much as you love yourself (Mark 12:28-31; John 13:34-35). If you are living any other way, you are violating God’s will for your life. Violating God’s will is a clear indication of not possessing wisdom, or at least not very much. What wise person would thumb their nose at God and think they have a better way of living than the one He designed (Proverbs 3:5-7)? That’s not wisdom; it’s idiocy.
When we love the things of this world more than we love Christ, we are not only violating His will, we are inviting God to pour out His wrath on us (1 John 2:15-17; Romans 1:18-25). That doesn’t sound like the smartest plan to me. You think you can go against God and win (Job 9:4)? Let me know how that works out for you. Never mind. I already know.
Let me try to pull this together. To love God, we must fear doing anything that impugns His holiness (Proverbs 8:13; Hebrews 12:28-29). Violating God’s will should be the most horrifying thing we could ever do. When we love anything more than God, the warning bells should blare in our hearts (1 John 2:15-17). When we put our needs above those of our brothers and sisters in Christ, a gong should sound in our heads.
Violating God’s will proves not only our foolishness, but that we lack a proper perspective and fear of the Lord (Proverbs 9:10; Ecclesiastes 12:13-14). Finding God’s will is simple. He’s written it in the pages of His Word. Following it is difficult because it means we’re going to have top die to ourselves, pick up our cross and live for Jesus every moment of our lives (Luke 9:23; Galatians 2:19-20). But isn’t that the goal for every follower of Christ? If so, why are we wasting so much time in pursuit of things that benefit our lusts while violating His will (James 4:4; 1 Peter 4:1-3)? Think about that today.