To know the will of God for us is to know the mind of God at any given time, and this helps us choose the right paths in life.

Most people today spend more than half of their lives or all their entire life ignorant of the will of God for them. Maybe they’ve heard about it but couldn’t make anything out of it, or perhaps they were not given all the information that was needed to help them make a decision about God’s will for them. But hopefully, this post will help you understand the two types of will God has for us, and know if you find yourself in either of them.

The Will of God in Two Types

1. The General Will of God
2. The Specific Will of God

The first and foremost will of God for everyone is his general will. When we say something is general, it means it applies to all without exception. And when we say something is specific, it is been narrowed down to uniquely belong to something or someone.

The general will of God and the specific will of God are not interchangeable. That is, they cannot be swapped. We can’t be in His specific will without being first in his general will, neither can we aim for his specific will first and then go for his general will later. The first precedes the second. We start knowing God’s specific will for us after we’ve known and accepted his general will.

So What is the General Will of God?

1 Timothy 2:3-5
“For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have ALL MEN to be SAVED, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus”

The general will of God is to have all men saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. That statement is very broad. But to start, what does Christ wants to save us from? He wants to save us from four enemies — Sin. Satan. Self. Society. These things are what drives the natural man and render him incapable of knowing anything concerning God’s specific will for him.

We were created after the image of God but sin brought separation that hinders our access to the divine nature. SIN, which is the root, is masterminded by Satan who makes the sinner a slave to himself and the Society. This is the knowledge Christ wants everyone to have so that they can willingly permit him to carry out his saving work of grace in them.

What if you say, “Why can’t Christ just go ahead and save me, even if I don’t have to know?” Well, Christ doesn’t work that way. He wants us to know what he’s saving us from so that we can value our salvation and victory over those nature that has kept us in bondage. He does not decide for us but he will show us the truth that can lead us to make the right decision.

Have you responded to God’s general will?

Romans 10:9-10
“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

Our entry point into His specific will comes after our deliberate acceptance of his general will. The steps to receiving the first are in doing what Romans 10:9-10 tells us; First, confess with our mouth and believe with our heart. we will be saved.

 

Why we Can’t Know God’s Specific Will Until we Accept His General Will

Romans 10:23 says, “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” The reason we can’t know God’s specific will for us without real conversion is because of the unregenerate human heart. The Spirit of God cannot successfully communicate to our human spirit while it is overladen with sinful behaviors, thoughts, and practices, influences by Satan, motivated by self and society. Moreover, it is not possible to know God’s specific will when he exists outside of us. He needs to come inside first (Revelation 3:20), take his proper place at the center of our heart before unveiling those things that are specific to us. We are able to know the mind of God through His indwelling Spirit.

 

The Specific Will of God

The specific will of God for a man is that thing God had in mind while creating that man, and it is a sum total of his life here on earth. It covers every detail about him from his birth to his death. The more reason to accept his general will early.

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God brings clarity into our lives when he saves us. Our desires change, our ambitions and aspirations also seek to reflect the wonderful grace of God. Our spirit becomes open to receive directions from Him and willing to fulfill his ultimate desire for us here on earth. Not that life in Christ now becomes a bed of roses, but it is a life that is free in the yoke of Christ. It is a life that has the supernatural ability to obey God and not sin, Satan, self, or society. Being in God’s specific will for us is finding our purpose in life and this is the road to true happiness and satisfaction. He said to his disciples, “…Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” As we follow him, he begins to make us that man or woman in his own mind.