Discerning God’s Will

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Following Jesus means knowing His will, as we don’t have a path to follow without knowing what God wants us to do. I’ve found that Romans 12:2 offers insight into understanding God’s will.

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect (NASB1995, emphasis added).

Notice the word “prove.” Wisdom understands the correct decision to make in murky circumstances — when a choice must be made, and there are different options — and we want to make the best decision!  

The word “prove” in the Greek means to “scrutinize” and “inspect to determine worth and value,” inferring an expert that’s studied the topic. Knowing God’s will, discerning good from evil with wisdom, and making the best choice among many options require an expert “to prove” God’s ways. 

Here’s a painting. What do you think — amazing, valuable, and by a famous painter? Many of us would think, “Hey, it’s ‘Starry Night’ by Vincent Van Gogh.” It’s incredibly valuable, with the last Van Gogh (not “Starry Night”) selling at auction for $117 million. Hearing this number, we think, “Wouldn’t it be nice to find a long-lost Vincent Van Gogh in our grandmother’s attic?”

We become experts with God by living a life that’s not conformed to this world but transformed, resisting its schemes and being changed by God’s power. The Greek word for “transformed” is “metamorphoa,” from which we get the English word “metamorphosis.” Through metamorphosis, we know that Monarch butterflies change from ugly caterpillar cocoons to amazing, colorful butterflies. While “transformed” in Romans 12:2 does mean release from the ugliness of this world, the Greek word “metamorphoa” in Scripture includes a unique idea — not just change, but changed into the image of another or becoming Christlike.

The apostles stunned the leaders of the Jewish nation with their transformation… 

Now when they [the Jewish leaders] saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus (Acts 4:13, ESV).

If you did discover a painting by Van Gogh in your grandmother’s attic, and it was authenticated, the news would stun the world. You would then need to decide what to do next: keep it, sell it, or donate it to a museum. But no matter what your choice, it’s not you that others look at, but the masterpiece.

When we are transformed, others should not see us, but Christ in us. We prove the will of God by following the good, acceptable, and perfect ways of Jesus. Others should be seeing God’s will manifested through us. 

By studying the masterpiece of Jesus that’s revealed in Scripture, we become experts in God’s will and become like Him.