Understanding God’s Will

God’s Will Understood

I want to take this moment to thank you for reading these upcoming articles. They will explore God’s will, His causes, and human history. Each article will close with some application points to work on until the next article is released the following month. My goal is to help people understand God and apply that understanding in their lives. He created us and everything around us to reveal His majesty, authority, and being. In this series, I will begin with what I believe is one of the most important aspects of God’s will: His decretive will.

 God’s Decretive Will

When it comes to God’s decretive will, it’s important to understand certain attributes of God so that we can fully appreciate this aspect of His will.

 God’s Decisions

God has the position and power to make any decision He chooses. Scripture rightly states: “Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases” (Psalm 115:3). This is good for us because He is not a tyrant seeking to exert power to fulfill evil purposes. His power and position are matched by His wisdom and understanding.

Not only does God have all the power to bring about His will, but He also has complete wisdom and understanding to bring about the best plan for everyone for His glory. “But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere” (James 3:17).

Through His will, we see His wisdom and power on display, bringing about the greatest good for humankind. This perspective holds when we are admiring a sunrise or watching a baby’s first steps. However, critics often focus not on these beautiful moments but on tragedies like rape, murder, or child trafficking. We will explore these difficult topics later in this series.

To summarize, I want you to encounter God’s majesty by witnessing His wisdom and power in action through His decretive will. “He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding; he reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with him” (Daniel 2:21-22).

These verses show that God is actively making decisions (decrees) that unfold in human history. God is not only making these decisions, but He also reveals how time, matter, and space originated—from Him. He also reveals hidden things that can be understood.

 God’s decision-making is eternal; He cannot learn anything new, nor can anyone add to His wisdom. He sees all things as if they were already happening. Every thought, word, deed, event—every election, car crash, graduation, birth, and death. He saw it all before time began and is bringing it to His decreed end.

Defining God’s Decretive Will

God’s decretive will can be defined as the decisions (decrees) He made before time began. Some of these are revealed to us, while others are beyond our understanding and would require omniscience. “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law” (Deuteronomy 29:29).

Certain things remain hidden, not because God is being deceptively secret, but because they are beyond human comprehension. Only God, who possesses omniscience, can fully understand them. The hidden aspects of His will highlight human limitations, not any flaw in God. At the end of the verse, we see that God has revealed His laws, yet humanity has continually rebelled.

Because only God understands His decretive will, we are called to trust Him with things beyond our understanding, knowing that an all-wise and powerful God knows best. This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t seek answers, but when we encounter things too vast to grasp, we can rest in His wisdom.

When considering God’s decretive (or secret) will, we must recognize that He often uses specific causes to accomplish His purposes. These causes involve human self will, which will be discussed further in next month’s article.

 Applying God’s Will to Our Lives

1. Reflect on God’s Wisdom and Power.

Remember that God has the wisdom and power to bring about the best outcome for His glory and overall good. How does this change the way you look at the world?

 2. Trust in God’s Understanding.

God is not hiding things from you out of malice; rather, humans are limited in wisdom due to our inability to know everything. God’s hidden knowledge is beyond our comprehension, so we must rest in His ability to understand what’s best. Knowing God does not maliciously withhold His decretive will, what might it look like to rest in His will this month, acknowledging your own limited knowledge?

3. Recognize God’s Majesty in Creation.

Since God created everything around us to reveal His majesty, power, authority, and being, how should this reshape the way you view and engage with others?

We would love to hear your thoughts on these application questions. Please email your answers to: officegospelgm@protonmail.com. Until next month, go out and share the Gospel to lives transformed, for the truth worth sharing is the truth that transforms.