Choose Freely | Brad Straarup

If I could guarantee 100% that you would know what God's will is, how would you feel?

Like if you knew what God's will for your life was, how would you guys feel?

I I would bet that for so many of you, anxiety would go down.

That you're not worried about am I making a good decision or am I making a wrong decision?

Like if I could just know what God called me to do, everything will be okay.

I'd be able to walk with greater confidence.

I'm convinced of this that every single one of us wants to understand God's will.

I think the question is not do I want to know God's will or do I not want to know God's will.

I think most of the time the question is, God, I want to know your will, but my question is this how?

Like, how do I actually know your will?

Because if you would just tell me, I would do it.

Like I would do it.

I just, but I just need you to tell me.

And I think if I'm honest with you, there's many reasons why I want to know God's will.

I know one of the reasons is I just want to please God.

Like I know that if I'm following his will for my life, I'm gonna please him, but there's also this other part of my heart where it's almost like I know that if I'm in God's will, I'm safe.

So if I'm outside of his will, I'm worried that I might fail, I might have egg on my face, it may not work.

Like I remember when God first started talking to us about planting a church, he was like, You're gonna plant a church, and and I think at the time I was like 51% sure.

Because you know, when God speaks, you're like, either this is God, or I had some really awesome pizza last night.

You're like, it could be anyone.

Like, I was kind of sure, and and what I knew is that he was telling me what I was gonna do one day, but my question was like, that's awesome.

But how?

Like, where are we gonna go?

When are we gonna go?

How are we gonna go?

Like, when we do what we need to do, like, am I gonna need a fundraise or am I gonna like support this myself?

Like, are we are we gonna launch with a launch team, or do I just need to start a Bible study?

Do do we just go whenever we think it's gonna work, or do we need to try to wait for the right season?

I was like, God, I will follow your will if you just tell me what your will is.

Praise God! Like, God, can you just tell?

Like, I am such a faithful follower, but I just need you to be a faithful speaker.

And if you would just speak, then I will follow, but I will be faithful, but I need you to be faithful first.

And I think there's these moments where we wanted to follow God's will, but then we even worry that we miss it.

Like, what if we've missed it?

And what if I'm now in a situation that I wouldn't have been in if I only listened, if I hadn't made that mistake?

Man, I I thought I would be further by now, but I made that mistake.

Maybe I wouldn't be struggling right now if I knew how to live in his will.

Maybe I wouldn't be so hidden right now if I knew how to live in his will.

Maybe I'd be more successful right now if I was in his will.

Has anyone ever felt like that?

And I think we get to this place.

Man, the number one thing that I get asked as a pastor is Brad, do you know God's will for my life?

And I think people innately know that God knows stuff.

And if I can know what God knows, I'll be good.

So what people do is they give you about 30 seconds of information, and then they ask you, do you know what God wants me to do about that?

Brad, she's kind of cute.

I kind of like her.

We've been dating for a whole six months.

I think she loves Jesus, but I just need to know, should I marry her?

And I'm like, bro, I don't know.

I don't know.

You know, Brad, I'm already trying to scale my business, and you know, there's this there's this guy that I need to go into partnership with, and he has a lot of capital, and he used to be shady in school, but I don't think he's shady anymore.

At least, you know, I that's what he tells me.

So, you know, but I just need to know, do you think I should go into business with him?

And I'm like, bro, I don't know.

Like, I think so often we're like, God, I'll do what you need me to do.

I just need you to tell me what you want me to do.

And it's crazy because it's one of the things that I think we talk most about.

But if that's the case, why is it one of the things that we're most confused about?

Like, I know I talk to single people, and they're like, Brad, should I wait for someone better?

Or should I just kind of go with the crop that's in front of me?

You know, should I just pick like you?

Like, like what am I supposed to do?

And and and and here's the challenge because if I pick from the people who are in front of me, what if someone better comes?

But what if I don't pick and then I'm alone forever?

You're like, I'm I'm I'm trying to figure this out.

I just I just need to know what God wants me to do.

Should I like put myself out there?

But if I'm doing that, am I being too aggressive and I and and and I'm lacking faith, or should I hang back?

But if I hang back, then am I being passive?

So should I step out or should I stay?

Should I move or should I trust God?

Or is moving trusting God?

Brad, tell me! And I'm like, I don't know.

Brad, if you can just tell me what God wants for my life.

And then you start following God.

And and when you start following God, you think everything's gonna be easy, you know?

Like you just make that one decision and then it's gonna be super easy.

It's almost like when Paige and I, when we're going out for dinner, the it's such an easy question to answer.

Do you want to have dinner?

Do you want to go out for dinner?

The answer is always yes.

Yes.

And then the next question is this great, where?

And and that's what I don't know.

You know, do we want Chick-fil-A or do we want sushi?

You're like, I just don't know.

And I think sometimes when we start following God, it's kind of the same thing.

You know, do you want to follow Jesus?

Yes.

And now there's a thousand decisions you need to make.

Okay, well, what are you gonna do about baptism?

Like, are you gonna follow that or or not?

What are you gonna do about the way that you steward your finances?

Like, are we gonna listen to God on that or not?

What are you gonna do about the way that we conduct our relationships?

Are we gonna listen to God on that or not?

Are we gonna forgive or we're not gonna forgive?

Because I kind of like the bitterness reading.

God, if you just tell me what you you you want me to do, I'll do it.

But when you when you talk to me about the situation I mean right now, I'm not gonna listen, but I just want to know what am I supposed to do with that situation?

We're like, God, if you can just speak all of a sudden, there's all these kinds of decisions, and those are the decisions the Bible talks about.

What about the decisions the Bible doesn't talk about?

You know, like when you read the book of Proverbs, it says that children are a blessing.

Amen.

And then it says, Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of him.

And my question is this how do I know when my quiver is full?

Because I'll be honest with you, it feels kind of full right now.

You know, I got two, and I'm like, God, if you want me to have more, I'll have more.

If that would make my quiver more full, then you know I'll have three.

But but we have these ones, I'm like, okay, but but I have two and they're great.

What if I have a third and they're like mess everything up?

These two are good, I know that.

What if this one is not good?

Yeah?

You're like, I'm like, I'm like, like, okay, we we can try, but but what if something goes wrong in the pregnancy?

So so, God, if you want me to have three, I'll have three, but you need to tell me that we need to have three, that I know that Paige is gonna be safe and nothing wrong is gonna happen.

I I wanna do this, but I just don't know.

You're going through infertility and you're like, do we just keep trusting God?

Because I have a friend that says we trusted God and it worked.

And I've been trying that for two years and it's no longer working.

So do I just keep trusting God or do I go through medical intervention?

Or if I go through medical intervention and and and that doesn't work, what do I do next?

Do I keep trusting God or do I adopt?

And if I adopt, do I go internationally or nationally?

You know, do I do I get and and and do I get in a teenager or a kid or a baby?

It talks to me about a quiverful, but what am I supposed to do?

Anyone ever fell like that?

What does the Bible say about this?

I'm glad you asked.

I'm glad you asked.

We need the Bible.

You hear Jesus, we need the Bible.

Here's what it says.

I love this.

God wants you to know his will.

Ephesians 5 17, it says this.

Therefore, do not be foolish, the apostle Paul says, but understand what the Lord's will is.

Do not be foolish, but understand what God's will is.

And I read that, and my question is this could it really be that simple?

Guys, just stop worrying.

Don't be foolish, just understand what God's will is.

And I'm like, great, what is it?

But here's the question that I had: why would that be in the Bible if God didn't want you to understand his will?

Why would that be in the Bible?

Why would God command you to understand something if he was simultaneously hiding it from you?

Because I think we think God is like this cosmic killjoy sometimes.

And he's like, here's my will, and he's like, I'm gonna hide it.

And then you get real close, and he's like, Oh no, they're getting close.

They'll never find my will here.

I know you're laughing, but that's what you think.

That's what we think.

No, I think God is more like we are as dads, as godly dads.

I desire for saint to know God's will.

I desire saints to know what's best for him.

And when saint gets close to that, I don't try to hide it, I rejoice.

Thank the Lord! Saint is finding God's will.

I think God is like, no, I become so happy when you actually find what I have for you.

I think we have an incorrect understanding of what God's will is, and it will always be impossible to do God's will if you don't understand God's will.

So here's what I want to do in kind of this foundational message on our God's will series.

I want to break down what the entire Bible teaches about God's will.

I want you to have a good understanding thematically about how the Bible tells us that we are to approach God's will, and we're gonna go to a whiteboard.

Welcome to class.

Now, y'all need to know this.

I am a terrible writer, drawer, all those things.

So Lord bless you and Godspeed.

Um, if you're if you're taking notes, I want you to understand God's will.

The Bible teaches that there are these three wills of God.

If you're if you're taking notes, I want you to write this down.

That's not a bad circle.

Praise the Lord.

Okay, he is with me today.

It is the will, it is his will that I draw neatly.

Okay, so we have these three wills of God that you'll learn about in the Bible.

And and and the very first will is God's sovereign will.

Okay, some would also call it his secret will.

Now, here's what you need to know about God's sovereign will.

God's sovereign will is everything that has ever happened and everything that's gonna happen.

All of that is in his sovereign will.

And there is nothing that has ever happened outside of his will.

There was not a point where God woke up and he was like, Oh my gosh, I didn't know that was gonna happen.

That was crazy.

There was never a moment where God fell off his throne and he's like, Did you see that?

Nothing has ever happened outside of God's sovereign will.

And that's kind of challenging to understand because what that means is that God's sovereign will includes everything that is good.

Like when you had your first child, that beautiful memory that was in God's sovereign will.

When you got married, that was in God's sovereign will, when you finished high school, that was in God's sovereign will, when you got your first job, that was in God's sovereign will.

It includes everything that is good, but it also includes everything that was bad without making God the author of those things.

It does include everything that's bad, like the time that you scraped your knee, or the time that your heart was broken.

It includes it without making God the author of that thing.

I want you to remember the book of Job.

Job is the most righteous man, and Satan comes and says, God, may I test him?

And God allows Satan to test Job.

In that moment, God allowed something to happen, but you also need to know this.

That means that Satan can't do whatever he wants to do because he needs the Lord's permission.

It includes anything good that has ever happened, but it also includes the hardship that has happened.

I want you to think about all the things that have happened throughout the Bible.

And what you need to know about God's sovereign will, and I think it's the thing that makes me most excited, is nothing can stop it.

Oh my god, nothing can stop his sovereign will.

Think about creation.

When God wanted to create, he didn't take a vote.

He didn't ask a committee, wasn't a democracy.

When God wanted to create, he created.

When the Lord wanted to create you, he didn't ask your permission.

He just did it.

Nothing can stop him from doing what he wanted to do.

Think about Abraham.

When God comes to Abraham and He says, Through you, I'm gonna develop a nation and the entire world will be saved through you.

And Abraham's like, But God, I'm old.

In fact, his wife even laughed at that idea.

And God is like, No, no, no, I have decreed it and I have declared it, and it will happen.

Think about Moses when God comes to Moses when the Israelites are now in slavery in Egypt.

He comes up to Moses and he says, I'm gonna use you to be the deliverer.

And he says, God, but I can't do that because I can't speak.

I'm slow in speech.

How are you gonna use me?

You need to know this.

Nothing can stop God from doing what God declared that God is gonna do.

And that should encourage you because it means this: no one, no thing, and no enemy can ever stop God from accomplishing through you what he wants to accomplish.

Some of you are like, Man, I've made some mistakes, I've walked the wrong path, I've chosen incorrectly in my life.

You need to know this is that God still has the ability, even in the bad things, to somehow turn it for the good.

He can do that.

Why?

He's God.

Nothing will stop him from doing the things that he needs to do.

It includes the good things that have happened, but it also includes the bad things that have happened.

Here's my question: Was it God's will that Jesus would die?

There's a verse that will blow your minds.

Acts 2 23.

My brother Peter is writing and he says this This man was handed over to you by God's deliberate plan and foreknowledge.

He was handed over to you by God's deliberate plan.

That means it wasn't an accident.

God wasn't having a bad day when all of this happened.

No, it was his will from the beginning of time.

He knew that humanity, if he was gonna give us free will, we were gonna choose wrongly.

And by ourselves, we are not holy enough, righteous enough to make our way back to him.

So God said, No, I'm gonna send myself in the form of Jesus, my only son in the flesh is coming to live the life that you can't live, to die on a cross.

It was always the plan.

It was always the plan.

And you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him on a cross.

It includes anything that has ever happened, and it excludes everything that has never happened.

It was not in God's will for me to be called Billy.

I'm called Brad.

It was not in God's will that I'd be born in Australia.

Good day, mate.

It was God's will that I'd be born in South Africa.

And there's a part of God's will, his future will, that you will not know.

You will never know.

People are like, Brad, when is the end coming?

When is the end times?

Can you tell me?

And I'm like, brother, I can't tell you.

And they're like, but there's this dude on YouTube.

And he looks at the book of Daniel and the book of Revelation, and he says, when you take the numbers and you add them together, and then you divide it by the book of Daniel, and then you squint your eyes, real good, and when you do that, all of a sudden you're gonna know when the end is coming, and Jesus is gonna come.

Get this?

2030.

And I'm like, yeah, but that same guy predicted that in 2025 and 2020 and 2015 and 2010 and 2005 and 2000.

The Bible says that even Jesus says, I don't know the time or the day, that's for the Father to know.

There are some parts of God's will that will always be secret, and it isn't ours to actually find out.

The Bible says it this way, Deuteronomy 29, 29, it says this the secret thing, say secret.

The secret things belong to the Lord, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow the words of the Lord.

There is a secret will of God that we're never gonna fully know, but there is a revealed will, a spoken will, the Bible would call it, of God.

That's his second will, spoken.

It could also be his moral law or scripture.

And it includes everything that God has ever commanded us to do.

Like the 613 laws in the Mosaic covenant, that was part of his spoken law, the ten commandments that was given, that was part of his spoken law.

When Jesus was questioned and they said, What is the greatest commandment?

And he said this the greatest commandment is this that you would love the Lord your God with all your heart and your soul and your mind.

And he said, This is the first and greatest commandment, and the second is like it, that you will love your neighbor as yourself, because all the law depends on that.

Why do we forgive?

Because that's what love does.

Why do you serve in your job?

Why are we serving with excellence, even though we may not like our boss, even though we may not like the situation that we're in?

Why?

Because we represent Christ and it loves God well and it loves people well.

That's why.

God's spoken law, his revealed law.

Now, where his sovereign will includes things that are good and bad, his revealed only includes things that are good.

God's Bible calls us to be pure, to be holy, to be set apart, to be generous, to be loving, to be kind, to be patient, to be humble, to be grateful.

You need to get this.

God's spoken law is always clear.

But it ain't always easy.

But it's clear.

You know?

Thou shalt not kill.

Clear.

Thou shalt not steal.

Clear.

Thou shalt not commit adultery.

Clear.

You're like, Brad, my wife isn't neglecting me right now.

No! Clear.

Like, but it's really hard because we kind of fall out of love with each other because we think that love is a feeling and then we forget that it's a choice and all that.

But we just think we kind of fall out of love and because it's really hard, so it's like adultery kind of thing.

No.

Clear.

It's always clear, but it's not always easy.

The hard thing is this we so often in our lives we're searching for all the secret things of God that we will not tend to the revealed things of God.

We're like, Brad, who am I supposed to marry and what is that supposed to look like?

And I'm like, here's the thing, when you're married, how about this?

Instead of seeking God's secret will, how about we seek this?

Because this says a whole bunch about how you're supposed to be in your marriage, how you're supposed to lay down your life in your marriage, how you're supposed to forgive in your marriage, how you're supposed to prefer in your marriage, but we're searching for what is secret that we will not tend to what is revealed.

Brad, what is God telling me to do with my finances and that future business opportunity?

Well, if you look in his word, he actually has a whole lot to say about how you invest the money that he has given you, how you steward what he has given you, the eternal return on investment.

We are not here to build houses, we are here to build the kingdom of God.

Brad, I just want to know like what what is my calling?

Like, will God just tell me?

It is in this book, it is not hidden, it is not secret, it is in this.

That's why you need to be in a group.

You need someone who's in your life that you can ask the hard questions to, that they can open up the Bible and say, Let me tell you what is revealed.

How do we expect God to talk to us in the secret places if we won't even tend to his revealed ones?

Brad, I just need to know is she the one?

Is that God's secret will for my life?

Is she the one?

Yet we're sleeping together.

God has told you not to do that, and we're like, no, I want to know what he says about that, but I do not want no want to know what he says about this.

Come on.

Why would we spend our energy on what we don't know and not spend a minute with what we do know?

2 Timothy 3.16 says this all scripture is God breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Say every.

You know, I looked every up in the Greek, and uh in the Greek, every meant every.

It's wild.

All scripture is God breathed and is and is and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, training in righteousness, that we may be equipped for every good work.

In this word is everything that we need to live the life that God has called us to live.

You see, but we have the sovereign will of God, and then we have the spoken will of God.

But so often when people are asking me about, you know, what is God telling me that I do, they they don't actually want to know what what God's spoken word says.

What they really want to know is what is God's specific will for my life.

That's what I want to know.

Brad, I get that God says that you know we we we gotta marry, because you know, the Bible says in Proverbs 18, 12 that he who finds a wife finds a good thing, and all the married men say they big.

Amen.

Amen and amen.

He who finds a wife finds a good thing.

Brad, I know that, but my question is this which one?

Proverbs 22, 6 train up a child in the way that they should go, and even when they are old, they will not depart from it.

So we're like, okay, I need to train them up in the way that they should go, but what does that mean?

Does it mean that I send them to public school that they can learn how to stand strong in their faith, or do I put them in in homeschooling so now I'm protecting them?

What trains them up?

Like, do I send them to a Christian college so they're protected, or do I send them to a secular college because one day they're gonna get out in the world and I need to know that they can defend their faith?

Like like I get his spoken will, but but but should I go to GCU or ASU?

Like, what's his specific will for my life?

And and if you if you ever look at it, the specific will of God, the questions we're worried about is where, when, and what?

When should I ask her to marry me?

When should we sell the house?

Where should we go?

Where should I go to college?

What should I do with my life?

What if I choose the right the wrong one?

How do I choose the right one?

Because we still think there's one person for us.

We're talking about this.

You need to logically play that out.

Like imagine if you don't hear God one day and you marry the wrong one, that means the person that was supposed to marry your one is now gonna marry the wrong one, and then they're gonna marry the wrong one, and then they're gonna marry the wrong one, and then they're gonna marry the wrong one, and now you have single-handedly upset the cosmos.

Now everyone's married to everyone, and it's all the wrong people.

Now we're gonna have all the wrong kids because you messed it up.

Wow.

So much pressure.

I hope you pick right.

We're depending on you.

The human race depends on your decision for you to get it right.

No, God, I need- I need you to specifically tell me, and I think sometimes God just wants to look at us and he's like, hey, I've got some news for you.

Should I go here or should I go here?

And I think God is like, okay, hear me out.

Choose.

Yes.

Hear me out.

Pick.

A S U or G C U.

Yes.

Yes.

You're the one of them.

Yes.

Three things I want to help you with.

If you're taking notes, I want you to write these down when it comes to God's will.

The first thing is this is that God's will is revealed more than hidden.

I think sometimes we are in a prison of our misunderstanding and preconceived notions about the will of God, and I pray that this sets you free.

God's will is revealed more than it is hidden.

Deuteronomy 2029, the secret things belong to God.

We talked about the revealed things belong to us.

2 Timothy 3.16.

All scripture is breathed out by God, so we can do every good work.

People so often talk about finding the will of God.

I want you to notice something.

Does the Bible ever help you find the will of God?

Does it ever teach you how to find the will of God?

When you look at the Bible, there is no verse that says, hey, let me show you how to find my secret will.

It's almost as if, according to the Bible, God's will was never lost.

So why would it teach you to secretly find something that was never lost?

God's will is not a treasure map that we have to somehow try to find.

God doesn't want you to crack a code, He wants you to open a book.

It's here.

It's here.

The problem is I think so often we're focusing on all the wrong stuff.

When, where, you know, what am I supposed to do?

But I think when I look at the Bible, God cares far less about where you're going and when you're going and what you're doing, and he cares more about how you're doing what you're doing.

You know?

Like I talk to college students and they're like, Brad, I just need to know what does God want me to do one day?

Where am I supposed to go one day?

What is it supposed to look like one day?

But the challenge is we're going to work right now.

We're late, we're lazy, we're not a good representation of God, we're not actually representing him, and we're like, okay, what is he gonna call me to do one day?

Meanwhile, he cares more about how are you doing what you're doing right here, right now.

How do we do this right now?

We're focused so much on what, and I think God is like, I get that, I get that, but I'm I'm more focused on how.

I think God cares far less about which college you go to, and I think he cares more about how you go to college.

Because you can go to GCU and glorify him, and you can go to your ASU and glorify him.

I think he cares more about how we are in that place.

The Bible doesn't talk a lot about the what's and the wins and the where's.

It does talk about how.

The Bible doesn't tell you what church you should attend.

If you're looking for a church, I think this is a pretty great church.

But if this ain't the church for you, we'll help you find a great church.

I think God cares far less about which church you choose, and I think He cares more about how you are at the church that you have chosen.

Like, are you getting on board with the mission?

Are you reaching people for Christ?

Are we not just focused on just this is a kum kumbayama?

No, no, no.

We are here to reach Phoenix, we are here to reach the valley, the gospel is real.

People Allah, we are not just here to be here.

Pick a church, but go all in with that church.

I think God cares far more about you being on his mission.

He cares more about the how, it's more revealed than it is actually hidden.

And what I found is so often in my life, when I am always walking in his ways, I find myself in his will.

But we want to know his will, but we don't want to walk in his ways.

If you want to know his will, I'm gonna help you walk in his ways.

And when you walk in his ways, you will find yourself in his will.

His will is more present than it is future.

People are like, Brad, what are we gonna be in 10 years?

What do you think it's gonna look like?

I don't know.

I don't know.

No, but you need to have vision.

Yeah, we want to reach the valley.

Praise the Lord.

There's your vision.

But what is it gonna look like?

I don't know.

What James says is that we shouldn't say today or tomorrow we will go do this or that.

He says this, because you do not know if your life will be demanded of you tonight.

Instead, we should say this: if it's God's will, we will go do this or that.

We have a whole lot of plans, but ultimately those plans do not succeed unless the Lord goes before us.

His will talks a whole lot more about present than it is the future.

The second thing I need you to write down is this God's will is more of a field than a dot.

Like, what does that mean?

I'm gonna help you.

God's will is more of a field than a dot.

And I pray that this sets some people free because a lot of us were worried about making the wrong decision, so we make no decision.

And hear me, no decision is a decision.

It still is a decision.

James 4:17 says, if anyone knows the good they ought to do, but they do not do it, it is a sin for them.

James 4:17

In other words, not only is doing bad things sinful, doing the good that God has told you to do, but you're not doing it, that is sinful too.

And we get so in this moment of analysis, paralysis that we don't actually move forward on what God has for us.

I want you to take a look at this in the Bible.

God's will is more of a field than a dot.

Genesis 2, verse 16, we see it all the way at the beginning.

Genesis 2:16

And the Lord commanded the man, that's Adam, you are free, say free.

You are free to eat out of any tree in the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, because if you eat from it, you will surely die.

So, what happens in that moment is God actually gives them freedom to choose.

It's almost like God is this good shepherd.

And what he does is he takes some sheep into a posture and he puts them in a fence and he says, Do not go outside of this fence.

But you are free to eat wherever you want.

There's freedom within God's will.

And we're the sheep, and we're like, Can I eat this blade of grass?

And God's like, I told you, you can eat of we're like, praise the Lord, I'm gonna eat this bread of grass, and then we're like, Can I eat this blade of grass?

And God is like, Yes.

Like, think of it, he says it to Adam.

You can eat of any tree, but that tree.

Imagine Adam, I think this is what we do with God.

We come up to God and we have two approved fruits.

We have an apple and we have an orange.

And we're like, okay, Lord, you said I can eat of any tree.

Yes.

Which one's your will?

And God's like, choose.

And we're like, okay, I'm gonna eat the apple.

You good with that?

Okay, okay, cool.

Okay, God, okay.

Should I peel the apple?

Or should I eat it whole?

And God is like, choose.

Oh, this is crazy.

Okay, should I slice it or dice it though?

I think so often God wants to look at us and he's like, hey, pick.

Brad, her, or her?

Do they both love Jesus?

Yes, pick.

Oh, ain't that crazy?

You know, there's a verse in the Bible, I don't have it in my note, it says a verse in the Bible where Paul is talking about a widow and how a widow should pick her husband, and he says this, that if he belongs to the Lord, in other words, this, he must be a Christian.

He says, if he belongs to the Lord, and now he's gonna give you the solution for how to pick your spouse, if he belongs to the Lord, she may pick whomever she wishes.

And then he says, but I think she'd be happiest if she was single.

So in that moment, what he's saying is, happiness is actually a filter.

People are like, Brad, who should I marry?

I'm like, does she love Jesus?

Yeah.

Are you stoked about it?

Yeah, go for it.

But Brad, what if it's hard?

News flash, it's always gonna be hard.

We look for the perfect one because we think if we find the perfect one, it's not gonna be hard.

Friend, I have news for you.

There's never been a marriage in the history of earth that was not hard.

I'm convinced of this.

Paige could have married someone else and she could have had a beautiful, incredible marriage.

But it came to a place where we said this, I choose you.

Which I think is even a better statement than I love you.

Because people fall out of love.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Love is a choice.

And what I'm saying is, not only do I love you and choose to love you, I choose you.

I pick you.

The problem is so often we stop picking our spouse.

And then we're trying to figure out, oh, what does God want me to do about that thing?

His will is more of a field than a dot.

God gives you the freedom to choose, in that you also have the responsibility to choose.

Because you do have to choose.

He also gives you the wisdom to choose.

And here's what I need you to know is yes, there are times, most of the time, God's will looks like this.

And within his spoken will, within the Bible, you are free to do whatever you want.

Within the Bible, you are free to do whatever you want.

But there are times that God restricts that.

And he says, Okay, for this moment, I need you to do that.

Here's an example: Jonah.

Jonah, I need you to go to Nineveh.

In that moment, he was restricted to Nineveh.

And he's like, God, what's option B?

And God's like, this is option B.

Go to Nineveh.

He's like, let me make it clear.

You can go to Nineveh on foot or on the belly of a fish.

Either way, you are going to Nineveh.

Like, you are going to Nineveh.

There are times that God can restrict you.

I'll talk about that next week.

How do we know when God is specifically leading us into something?

In the Bible, Jesus says this.

He says, Go into all the world.

Say all the world.

Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the nations.

You mean they're like, Can we go to the Middle East?

Yes.

Can we go to Asia?

Yes.

Can we go to Europe?

Yes.

Can we go to Africa?

Is that part of all the world?

Yes.

Then yes.

All the world.

They're free to choose.

But then you have someone like Paul that in a moment God says this in Acts 9, verse 6.

Acts 9:6

Now get up and go into the city.

That's Damascus after his Damascus road experience.

In other words, in that moment it was restricted.

Acts 16, 6 says this: that they could not go into Asia because they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit.

There are times that you are just free to act and choose within God's revealed will, but there are times that He will specifically lead you into something.

There are times that you'll be at a gas station.

This happened in our church.

And God said to someone, I need you to go speak to that person.

And because they went and spoke to that person and filled the car up with gas, that person ended up giving their life to Christ.

And that person, their entire life has changed because one person decided to listen.

There are moments where God is going to restrict you and say, I need you to do this.

And when he says have that conversation, in that moment you need to go have that conversation.

Most of the time we are working within God's revealed will, but sometimes he is going to restrict you.

People are like, I hate my job.

Well, Ecclesiastes 9 verse 10 says this, whatever.

Ecclesiastes 9:10

Say whatever.

Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might.

God is commanding us what we need to do in that moment.

And I think the craziest thing about it is this, what I've found in my life is so often I'm so concerned about God's spoken will and his specific will.

And specifically, God, what do you want me to do with my life?

But the crazy thing is a verse that says this trust in the Lord with all your heart.

And do not lean on your own understanding.

And in all your ways, submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

So watch this.

What that says is that if we submit everything we do to his spoken will, when we trust in him with everything, when we submit our ways to him, he will make your paths straight.

In other words, when we follow God's spoken will, the crazy thing that happens is he has the ability to lead us into his specific will.

If you submit your ways to him, he will make your path straight.

See, the crazy thing about all of us is we're so worried about God's specific will, but the Bible shows us that when we follow the ways of God, we will always be in the will of God.

Brad, what do I need to do?

You need to follow the ways of God.

And if you follow the ways of God, you will be in the will of God.

The final thing that I want you to see is that God cares a whole lot more about who you're becoming than where you're going.

About who you're becoming.

1 Thessalonians 4, verse 3, it says, For this is the will of God, your sanctification, that you abstain from sexual immorality.

1 Thessalonians 4:3

God's desire is that you will be sanctified.

God's desire is that you will look like Him.

And so often we're focused on all the wrong things, but God is saying, I just want you to look like my son.

And if you look like my son and you start becoming like my son, you'll think more like my son.

And when you think more like my son, you will do more of the things that I want you to do.

Stop focusing on all those other things, and can you focus on doing what I've called you to do, what this word tells you to do right here and right now?

And just trust that if you do that, that if you follow my spoken will, that somehow I'm gonna lead you into my specific world.

It's a whole lot simpler than we make it out to be.

I think one final verse that I absolutely love.

Romans 8, 28.

It says this that we know in all things, say all things.

All things, God works for the good of those who love him, who are called according to his purpose.

Man, I love that.

I feel like that's just God being God.

That is God guiding.

That is God just being God.

Because some of you are in this place and you're like, Brad, man, I got this whole thing wrong.

I've tried to search for the specific will, I searched for it out here, and you know, I haven't followed his spoken will, and I think I've kind of just messed up my life, and you know, I don't know what to do about that.

The beautiful thing about that verse is it says that if we love God, that God has the ability to work all things for the good of those who love him.

That almost means that even though we can mess up the spoken and specific thing, that somehow in his sovereign will that we're wrapped around, that he still has the ability to take the mistakes that we've made, the times that we've run away, and he still has the ability to get you where you need to go.

What are we gonna do?

We are gonna trust in him, we are gonna follow him with everything inside, we're gonna make decisions, hoping, God, that we're following your revealed will and then we're gonna trust him regardless.

Let me say this.

God is a better leader than you are, a follower.

And so often we're searching for that.

Let me just tell you, if God wants you to, if he wants to get your attention, he'll get your attention.

You agree with me?

Moses, when he was looking after sheep, there was a moment where they had a burning bush experience, and it says this, while he was looking after sheep, God spoke to him through a burning bush.

So often as Christians, we're looking for all the burning bushes, but we weren't in sheep.

And God was like, just tend sheep.

And if I want to get your attention, I'll get your attention.

If I wanted to start that business, I'll talk to you about it.

But how about you just be faithful where you are right now?

And I'll tell you what to do when you need to do it.

Does that make sense?

We're so focused on all of that stuff that I think God is like, you're missing what I have for you right here.

So we're gonna follow him and everything.

And then next week I'll talk to you a little bit more about how we can know that specific.

Well, how do we know when God is actually leading us into something?

I'll help you with that next week.

But what I want you to know this week is this within God's word, choose.

Augustine said it this way: He said, Love God and do whatever you please.

And y'all are like, that sounds wrong.

Here's the thing: if you love God, you're not gonna ever do anything to displease God.

Jesus said it this way: love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind.

Love your neighbor as yourself.

If you do those two things, you're gonna be good.

And there will be times that the Holy Spirit will show you how to love someone better and how to love God better.

We'll talk about that.

Lord, I want to thank you for every single person that's here.

God, I want to pray that we'll be focused far more on what you've called us to do in this moment.

That we'll focus on your revealed will.

Thank God, that we understand that when we follow your ways, we'll always be on your will.

Your will is not hidden, it's not hard to understand.

This isn't a game of hide and seek.

Lord, you've made it clear for us.

So I pray that you'll focus on what you've called us to do.

In Jesus' name.

While you're still praying, there's some people here today.

And the Bible says this, that his will for you is this, your sanctification.

His will for you is this, that you will turn to Jesus, that you can be in eternity with God.

The Bible is simple, and the gospel is simple.

It says every single one of us have messed up.

We've fallen short of the glory of God, and because of that, we can never be in relationship with God.

Which means we are eternally separated from God.

The Bible calls that hell.

But it says this that if we accept Jesus as Lord and Savior of our life, that God brings us into his family and we get to spend eternity with him.

And if you're here and you're far from God and you haven't made Jesus Lord of your life, I want to give you that opportunity.

And I just want you to pray this off to me, just under your breath, just say, Dear Jesus, I believe that you're the Son of God and the Savior of the world.

I believe you came to this earth, you died on a cross, and you were raised, that I can have life.

I make you my Lord.

I make you my savior.

In Jesus' name.

In Jesus' name.

Hey, church, can you do me a favor?

Can you put your hands together?

Come on, fervent, who just said that.

We love you, church, and if you just said yes to Jesus, let me just tell you that is the best decision that you could ever make.

And you do have a next step.

We would love for you to text the word Jesus to 480-485-3405.

And just let us know that you made that decision because we have a resource we would love to send you.

It's a 21-day devotional so that you don't have to walk this journey with Jesus alone.

And maybe you've been watching for some time and this ministry has impacted you.

I would love for you to pray about partnering with us in two different ways.

First, I would love for you to share this message.

It's people like you watching all around the world, sharing this message.

You never know what that could do.

And the second thing is I'd love for you to pray about partnering with us financially because your giving enables us to get the message like this all over the world.

And so we just want to thank you for the way that you do give.

And if you want to be a part of that, you can head to spiritchurch.co forward slash give.

And we love you, church.

We hope you have the best week ever, and we will see you right back here next week.

And remember that with God, there is more.