Finding God’s Will: The General and Specific Will of God

In this Sunday school lesson on September 26, 2026, Bro. Betz resumed his study on how to find God’s will for your life. He first reviewed what God’s will is not: it is not an unknowable mystery (Psalm 16:11), not a magical solution to life’s problems (James 1:2-4), and not a monster to be feared (Proverbs 1:33). He then distinguished the general will of God for every believer from the specific will of God for each individual. The general will includes being conformed to the image of Christ (Romans 8:28-29), submitting to and applying God’s Word, living a holy life, winning souls, keeping a right heart attitude, redeeming the time, obeying civil authority except where it forbids obeying God (Acts 5:28-29), giving thanks, and faithful church attendance and membership. Bro. Betz stressed that if we are unwilling to follow the general will, we should not expect God to reveal His specific will. Three things must function for a believer to know God’s direction: the Holy Spirit having free course (John 14:26), the Word of God as absolute authority (Psalm 119:9-11; 2 Timothy 3:16), and the local church equipping believers for ministry (Ephesians 4:11-12). He challenged the class to get plugged into a ministry, noting that a church can be a training ground for the next step of God’s plan. He also listed the ways God makes His will known: Bible study, preaching, earnest daily prayer, godly counsel (Proverbs 12:15), life experiences and trials (1 Peter 5:10; John 9:1-3), a burden for a certain need (Romans 9:3), and open and closed doors. Finally, he taught that God’s permissive actions are not necessarily His will (2 Samuel 11:1), and urged believers to seek God’s will not for a blessing but to be like Christ and lead others to Him.