How Do You Know What God Wants?

Guest Post by Phil Robertson.

My dad has always enjoyed telling a joke about a thermos. It goes like this. Three men were arguing over the greatest accomplishment of mankind. One said it was going to the moon. Another said it was modern medicine.

However, the third man claimed the greatest invention was the thermos. Bewildered, the other two asked, “Why the thermos? All it does is keep hot things hot and cold things cold.” The third guy replied:

Yeah, but how does it know?

It’s a silly joke, but it illustrates a deeper point.

”How Does He Know?”

How often do you hear people claim they know exactly what God wants?

• A young man walks into a new church and immediately says, “I know this is where God wants me to be.”
• A woman switches churches because she prefers the music and the entertainment. As emotion fills her heart, she says, “I know this is where God was directing me.”
• A man leaves his wife for another woman. Finding the new relationship exciting, he thinks, “Doesn’t God want me to be happy? Obviously, this is where God wants me to be.”

We frequently confuse our personal desires with the voice of God. We assume that if something makes us feel happy or comfortable, it must be God’s will.

Making God in Our Own Image

Humanity has a long history of transforming personal opinion into God’s will. We often try to make God in our own image. However, God has always challenged these blind assumptions. In Psalm 50:21, He rebuked His people:

You thought that I was one just like yourself.

During the time of the prophet Hosea, the Israelites were condemned for trusting in their “own ways” (Hosea 10:13). They claimed to praise God, but they never actually consulted Him (Hosea 11:7). God warned:

My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge. (Hosea 4:6)

Instead of seeking God’s truth, they let the surrounding culture direct their spiritual desires. The prophet Jeremiah also warned against relying on human wisdom:

O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man who walks to direct his own steps. (Jeremiah 10:23)

Solomon’s Warnings on Self-Reliance

Even King Solomon, the wisest man of his time, warned against following human intuition over divine truth:

• The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice. (Proverbs 12:15)

• There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death. (Proverbs 14:12)

• Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the heart. (Proverbs 21:2)

• The mind of him who has understanding seeks knowledge, but the mouths of fools feed on folly. (Proverbs 15:14)

Instead of assuming we know what God wants based on our feelings, we must trust that God knows what we need. “Seek me and live,” says the Lord in Amos 5:4. He will light our path and guide us in the ways of righteousness (moral rightness or alignment with God’s law).

The Ultimate Source of God’s Will

The only reliable way to know what God wants is to study the Bible. Scripture is God’s revealed will for our lives (2 Timothy 3:16-17). God wants us to obey His specific directions so He can mold us into His image.

If we cannot support our decisions with the Word of God, we have no basis to claim, “This is where God wants me to be.”