I don’t know about you, but I’ve looked for God’s will in my life—for a lifetime.

Years ago, in desperation, I went to the library and typed “God’s will” in their search engine and something came up. If my memory serves me correctly I think it was actually a Chuck Swindoll book. It had a card in it with a Bible verse that I can’t even recall now, but at the time I thought God was sending a message just for me. These days, I’m pretty sure—that’s not how it works.

This morning as I was reading in 1 Thessalonians the words “God’s will” came up twice in two different verses (NLT version). Interesting how God actually tells us His will in plain and simple language and it’s not something huge… like… God put me here to cure cancer or save the world. It’s very simple.

Here’s the first reference:

“God’s will is for you to be holy…” 1 Thessalonians 4:3a. Paul even goes on to tell you exactly how to do that.

Here’s the second reference:

“Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:18

If you read between the lines in chapters 4-5 of 1 Thessalonians, I believe you can infer some more ways to be in God’s will.

Here’s a list:

• *Be Holy (1 Thessalonians 4:3)
• Live a quiet life (1 Thessalonians 4:11)
• Mind your own business (1 Thessalonians 4:11)
• Work with your hands (1 Thessalonians 4:11)
• Be clear headed (1 Thessalonians 5:8)
• Always be joyful (1 Thessalonians 5:16)
• Never stop praying (1 Thessalonians 5:17)
• *Be thankful in all circumstances (1 Thessalonians 5:18)

God’s will is for us to study His Word and do it. That’s it. That makes God’s will look different for each of us. The work of our hands is different. How we work on being clear headed makes us different. What brings us joy is different. What we pray for makes us different. What we are thankful for makes us different. And yet… if we do all these things… each one of us is in God’s will for our lives.

AMAZING!

It’s not some obscure thing.

Every time we open the Bible and read… God shows us His will for that day.

It’s not hard like I thought. And it’s individualized for each of us. Because God’s just that way in His love for us. He meets us where we are.

I’ll leave you with some pictures of being in God’s will by working with my hands. Here are some updates on my patio project. I’ve got the crushed run spread and laid the pavers for the edging. The huge sack in the middle on the pallet is full of pea gravel that needs to be shoveled out. I’ve become quite good with a shovel, and consider my shovel a friend, because I’ve spent so much time with it lately 🤣 🤣 (I’ve also made friends with a level. 😃) The other two pallets are full of pavers to lay out for a picnic table to set on and to make two areas for swings. Stay tuned for more on that.