Accepting the Situational Will of God

Romans 8:28

"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose."

Oftentimes when we think of God's will, we think about what God wants a person to do for the rest of their life. For instance, God's will for my life is to be an evangelist. Most people think of God's will as vocational, but God's will is more than that.

The verse above is showing an acceptance of God's will. Going beyond the vocational will of God, God's will can also be situational. The situational will of God could be for a person to endure a sickness. The situational will of God can be for a family to raise a special needs child. The situational will of God is the adverse situations we must live through in life. You will never be what you are supposed to be in the vocational will of God without accepting the situational will of God.

Accepting the situational will of God is not always the easiest thing to do. The Apostle Paul had a hard time accepting the situational will of God in his life. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 12:8, "For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me." Yet, though he did not want the situational will of God, he accepted it and God used it in his life. How do we come to the point where we can accept the situational will of God?

First, you must allow the Holy Spirit to guide you. Verse 26 says, "Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered." You will notice that the Holy Spirit helps your "infirmities." When yielded to the Spirit of God, He will intercede for your situation for you. He will be your help to comfort you, for His intercession is truly His comfort.

Second, you must accept that Jesus knows what is best when He intercedes for you. Verse 27 shows us that Jesus intercedes "according to the will of God." Your will may not always coincide with God's will, but you must accept that Jesus knows what is best. In other words, you must surrender your will to accept whatever God's situational will is for your life. If it is God's situational will for you to grow up in a broken home, then you must accept it. If it is God's situational will for you to struggle with your health or finances, then you must accept it. Whatever God's situational will is for your life, then you must accept that Jesus knows what is best for you.

Third, you must settle your love for God even if your will does not agree with God's situational will. The verse above shows us that once you settle that you love God no matter what He sends your way, then that is when you realize that "all things work together for good." Stop putting God on trial and love Him no matter what.

What is interesting is that God deals with His situational will in this chapter but deals with His vocational will in chapter 12. The reason God does this is because you will never be able to thoroughly fulfill God's vocational will for your life until you accept His situational will. The situational will of God enhances the vocational will of God because it makes you rely more on God and less on yourself.

Stop fighting the situational will of God and accept it. Realize that your usefulness for God is dependent upon your ability to accept the situational will of God. You will find once you accept God's situational will that the vocational will of God will enable you to influence more people for Him. Whatever you are facing today, resign to your will and accept God's will.