This way? That way?

Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind... Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, taking on the form of a bondservant... he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name... Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed... work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for his good pleasure. Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life... (Philippians 2:1–16)

How do we discover God's will? Not by an audible voice or the flip of a coin, but by the desires He plants in a heart delighting in Him.

The Most Common Question a Pastor Hears

Over almost nineteen years of serving in youth, college, and pastoral ministry, I receive all kinds of questions every week—about faith, prayer, marriage, parenting, work, and how to study the Scriptures. But it's no stretch to say the most commonly asked question is one many of you have wrestled with, and perhaps are wrestling with right now.

It is a simple question, but a hard one. It causes anxiety and turmoil. It can cost us sleep. Yet it drives Christians to the Scriptures, to prayer, and to trusted counsel. And I think only Christians really struggle with it: What is God's will for my life? What does God want me to do in this situation before me?

Your Desire for God's Will Honors His Lordship

If you're asking that question, you're actually on the right path. Your desire for God's will honors God's sovereignty and lordship in your life. When you offer your plans, your desires, and the path before you to God, you exalt Him as Lord. So I commend you for asking it.

We wrestle with this over many things: what school to attend, what career to choose, whom to marry, whether to leave one job for another, whether to start or close a business, whether to buy a house. Our culture insists you are the captain of your own ship, the master of your own destiny. But when you become a Christian, you realize none of that is true. To say, "Lord, I want Your input," honors His lordship.

This was the very first question the newly converted Saul of Tarsus asked. After realizing he was speaking with the risen Jesus, he said, "Lord, what do you have me to do?" (Acts 9:6). I've wrestled with this question many times—most recently at the end of 2016, when I was offered a different, larger church in another place. For about two months I asked, "Lord, what will you have me to do?"

The Search for a Word Behind Us

So how do we discern His will? We search the Scriptures, hoping for a personal, direct word. We pray, "God, speak in this situation." We may fast, setting aside our own comfort and appetites to focus and hear. We may seek counsel from believers we trust—though people are often flustered to be put in the place of God in your life, especially if their advice later proves wrong.

In Isaiah 30, God says, "You will hear in your ears a word behind you, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when you turn to the right hand or to the left." I can't tell you how many times I've prayed that verse. Yet after more than twenty years of walking with Jesus, I've never heard the audible voice of God.

I'm the Christian skeptic when friends say, "God told me this." I ask, "Did you hear an audible voice?"—and invariably they say no. I've been tempted to take out a coin and call heads or tails, two out of three. Proverbs 16 says the lot is cast, but the decision is the Lord's, so God can be sovereign even in the flip of a coin. But I don't think He desires us to walk with Him that way. There is a better way.

God Desires My Wholehearted Trust

Proverbs 3:5–6 gives us an algorithm: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your paths." God desires my wholehearted trust.

That's challenging. When you first follow Jesus, your trust is not yet wholehearted; it takes time to grow. After more than twenty years, I cannot say I wholeheartedly trust Him in every area of my life. But the longer we walk with Him, the more we discover He is good, that His thoughts toward us are not evil but for a future and an expected end. As we get to know Him, we trust Him more.

Honestly, in the area of trust I'm one of those people who feels I have to do something more than trust. Be honest—a few of you are with me. But the Christian life is about getting to know God, trusting Him, acknowledging Him, and walking with Him. Philippians 2 gives us important help here.

Four Movements of Philippians 2

Verses 1 through 16 divide perfectly into four major sections: an exhortation (vv. 1–4), an example (vv. 5–11), an exercise (vv. 12–13), and an exhibition (vv. 14–16).

First, the exhortation. Paul says, "Fulfill my joy"—make me genuinely happy, church—"by being like-minded... Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others." Isn't this the prayer of every parent of more than one child? Make me happy—get along.

Boil it down to this: endeavor to live your life for the joy and interests of others. That is countercultural to twenty-first-century American living, which tells us to look out for ourselves because nobody else will. But God, through Paul, turns it around. This selfless living is not easy. The Christian faith begins with the sacrifice of our Savior, and these are sacrificial words.

Sacrifice as a Future-Focused Exchange

The interesting thing about sacrifice is that it is entirely future-focused. Sacrifice is a faith-filled exchange of something of value now in hopes of something of far greater value in the future. I set aside something valuable to me right now in hope of something superior later. That's what a sacrifice is.

Then Paul gives the example: "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God... made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant... he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him." Endeavor to follow the example of our sacrificed Savior.

What did Jesus do? He stepped down from the throne, down from heaven to earth—not as a king or in royalty, but as a peasant. God became a man; the Incarnation is central to the Christian faith. Then He humbled Himself further as a bondservant, a slave by choice, taking the lower road to the point of death on a cross. Therefore God exalted Him. He exchanged present value for far superior future value. Sacrifice doesn't sound fun in the moment—until you realize the great salvation and reward on the other side. And our culture needs to see followers of Jesus laying their lives down.

The Exercise: Working Out What God Worked In

Of the more than 31,000 verses in the Bible, Philippians 2:12–13 may be my two favorites: "Therefore, my beloved... work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do his good pleasure."

If you've wrestled with the question that has gripped the church for the last five hundred years—God's sovereignty versus man's free will—these verses are vital. The whole question of God's will is a matter of His sovereignty in tension with my free will. But they are not actually in conflict. I believe God, who is sovereign, sovereignly created us with free will. That's how He made us. "Work out your own salvation" is human responsibility; "for it is God who works in you" is God's sovereignty. They work in concert.

This is the great surrender, the great sacrifice of my will for His will. Jesus shows it in Gethsemane: "Not my will, but yours be done." We must work out the saving grace that God has worked into us. He saved us by grace through faith, not of works (Ephesians 2:8–9), and now He gives us a new heart: "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you" (Ezekiel 36:26). That inner work of grace is invisible on the outside, so He wants us to work it out where people can see it—like muscles He fashioned beneath the skin, invisible until they are exercised.

How God Leads: By Transforming Our Desires

But back to our question: while I'm working it out, how do I know what God wants me to do? Another translation renders the verse, "It is God who works in you to desire and to do those things that please him." After more than twenty years, I've discovered that God leads me into His will first and foremost by desire.

Psalm 37:4 says, "Delight yourself in the Lord, and he shall give you the desires of your heart." Some teach this to mean that if you delight in the Lord, He'll grant whatever desire surfaces in your heart. That doesn't pass the theological smell test—I'm delighting in the Lord and still don't have a Tesla in my garage. It's not a button you push, and "in Jesus' name" is not a genie's formula.

Rather, I think it means this: as you delight yourself in the Lord—working out your salvation, following His example—He gives you new desires. You experienced this almost the instant you were saved. Within a day or two you wanted to read God's Word and share your faith with others—"as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word" (1 Peter 2:2). Where did that come from? You didn't manufacture it. God works new desires into our hearts.

Identifying True Desires from Carnal Ones

Many Christians assume every desire must be wrong, automatically in conflict with God. I don't think that's valid. Yes, some desires are bad—but if you're a Christian, you have a conscience and the indwelling Holy Spirit, and you can identify wrongly-motivated desires with near certainty. We're like desire factories, pumping out wants all day, but it isn't hard to recognize the carnal ones that contradict God's revealed nature.

So God leads us into His will by desire, "to desire and to do those things that are pleasing to him." And His good pleasure will be your greatest satisfaction. Augustine said it centuries ago: "Love God and do whatever you please," for "the soul trained in love to God will do nothing to offend the one who is beloved." Love God, pursue Him, follow His example, put others' joy above your own—and as you delight in Him, He plants new desires you can walk in.

God's Will Manifests as New Desires

God's will manifests as my new desires. Almost eleven years ago, in December 2007, I sat in Pastor Pat Kenny's living room with the elders of this church. He asked, "Do you believe God wants you to take over this church?" I said yes. "Why?" Because I had wanted to since 2002—six years earlier—though I wasn't ready then, and the church wasn't ready for a twenty-two-year-old pastor. Why did I marry Andrea? Because I wanted to, and miraculously she wanted to marry me.

A student at the Bible college once came to me in tears. Since junior high she had wanted to serve at an orphanage in the Philippines—to leave the comfort and beauty of Southern California for a third-world country. "That sounds like a really carnal desire," I told her with a smile. She had received an email inviting her to serve at an orphanage in Bohol but didn't know if it was God's will; she'd prayed, sought counsel, read Scripture, and heard nothing. I said, "I think you should go through the door, because He gave you the desire, and now the opportunity is there." She did.

If you have a desire but no door, prepare and get ready for the day the door opens. In August 2002 I had a strong sense I would pastor this church, so I prepared. When the door finally opened, I said yes—not "let me pray about it." And why didn't I move to Santa Barbara when invited, even though it was a great opportunity with a good friend? Because I didn't want to go; I wanted to stay here.

The Exhibition: Shining as Lights

Finally, the exhibition. "Do all things without complaining and disputing"—that's easy!—"that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life."

God wants to shine brightly through your life, lived according to His will, in a world that needs to see His glory. Paul longs to rejoice in the day of Christ that he has not labored in vain. Jesus said, "Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven." Your good works are those that align with His will as you walk out His good pleasure and the new desires He plants in your heart. So let us walk in it for His glory.

Closing Prayer

Father, I thank You that You make it rather simple, though it can be challenging—You direct our steps by transforming our desires. I pray for this church, that by Your Spirit, grace, and power we would live our lives in a way that exalts the interest and joy of others and follows Your example, delighting in You and stepping into the things we desire to do for Your glory, so that You would shine brightly through Your church.

I pray for anyone today wrestling with a decision, who may not even know what they want. In the quiet of this evening or tomorrow morning, speak by desire in their hearts; transform our desires. Help us to walk by faith in You, not in anxiety or turmoil. I don't think You want us anxiously trying to figure these things out—You don't hide Your will from us. Help us walk in these things for Your glory and good pleasure, and shine brightly through Your church. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.