How do we know God's will for our lives? The first step is knowing God Himself. It is impossible to know God's will without first having entered into a relationship with Him. We do this through His son Jesus Christ. One of the most often quoted scriptures about God's will is from Jeremiah 29:11:

v 11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Let's not stop at that verse, as we often do. I think we stop at verse 12 because it's easier than the next few verses. It just gives us a promise, but the next two verses give us some directions to follow. We all tend to like the sounds of a God who gives freely to all who ask. We all enjoy thinking of God as a Santa Clause figure who just grants us the desires of our hearts. Verses 12-14 tell us that we need to call out to God. This is one of the hardest things, especially for us Christians who are used to pretending to be perfect. See, if we call out to God, we admit that we need Him, and this right away puts a hole in perfect image we work so diligently to maintain. It's pride that often keeps us separated from God, because it is pride that whispers in our ear, "You don't need God. You're doing just fine." Truth is, we're not doing fine. Truth is, without acknowledging our need for Him, we can never come to the saving grace we find through repentance, and that is exactly how the devil would love to see us stay. Verse 12 tells us that if we call out to Him (not to the god we want, but the One True and Living God) He will answer and verse 13 assures us when we seek Him, we will find Him. Do we truly seek Him? Or do we stop once we discover that knowing God might involve more than we are willing to give?

I have to be honest. I haven't known God's perfect and pleasing will for my life because I was too busy maintaining the image of being the "perfect Christian." I have to peel another layer away and get a little more honest, I was a miserable failure at pretending. Some people are actually good at bouncing back and forth from being in the world during the week and putting on a believable act Sunday mornings. Me, I'm not too good at that. When I stopped being obedient to the Lord, my peace emptied out quickly. I believe that's the way it is for everybody. As C.S. Lewis put it, "God cannot give us peace and happiness apart from Himself because it is not there. There is no such thing." Some people are just better at dealing with not having the true peace found in Christ.

When my world started to unravel, I blamed God. That's because I had started to shape God into who I wanted Him to be. I wanted Him to be a God who let me do whatever I wanted and bailed me out of the troubles I created. I wanted Him to be a genie in a bottle that I could call on when I needed some wishes answered, and send Him back to the bottle when I was through. I realize now that my prayer life often resembled more closely that of somebody throwing pennies into a wishing well than that of somebody who has the assurance of John 14:14, "You may ask me for anything in my name and I will do it." If we're asking for it in His name, and He is going to give it to us in His name, than it must match His character. It is important that we learn God's character so that we can discern God's will from that of the world, the voice of the Holy Spirit from the static of life.

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In Matthew 11:28, Jesus says to all of us who are finally tired of wasting energy faking it, "Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." I am so thankful that I can finally stop wasting my time and energy maintaining a fake image. I'm so glad that God promises that He will make me more like Him if I just let Him. I just want to spend my life showering God with the praises that He so much deserves. I want my life to draw others to know Jesus Christ. I don't care about what I have to lose. After trying so long and hard to obtain things of this world, suddenly Mark 8:36 takes on new meaning. Having tried to gain the whole world, I'm glad that I can give it up. There is absolutely nothing on this earth that can replace the peace of knowing Jesus as a Savior.