How to Test & Approve God’s will

Romans 12:2 – “…be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

One of the areas where we often tend to make a wrong move is at ‘knowing God’s will’. Our life needs to be according to His ways. Proverbs 3:5,6 talks about how God could direct our paths when we lean on Him. But the problem is when we don’t know whether or not it is His will. Paul talks about a transformation to renew our minds which would help us test and approve God’s will. Interestingly he points out the characteristics of God’s will as Good, Pleasing & Perfect. Satan works around this area. It is easy for him to divert us at the point of choosing God’s ways so that our entire destination changes. This process is slow that we do not recognize we have drifted away.

When we read the life history of Abraham, choosing a life partner for his son was one of the greatest challenges. Like any other God fearing parent, he wanted it to happen according to God’s perfect plan. In Genesis 24 Abraham sought the help of his eldest servant, Eliezer, to go to his father’s country and find a suitable partner for his son. Prayerfully, Eliezer and his team set out a journey trusting God completely. Please note that God’s will is pivotal in this circumstance because it’s his master’s earnest desire and as a faithful servant Eliezer need to discern God’s will in spotting the right one. When he reached the city of Nahor, it was evening time when the daughters would come to the well to draw water. Eliezer prayed to God. His prayer is of great importance as he proposed to God what he would like the girl to be. He wanted to choose the girl who is willing to water him and his servants and willingly water the camels too.

As Eliezer was praying, Rebecca was there at the well. Verse 16 describes her beauty and how anybody would like her at first sight. As she drew water from the well, Eliezer ran to her and asked for some water. She immediately lowered her jar and gave him water to drink. Moreover she said “I will draw water for the camels too until they have done drinking”. This is the first part of knowing God’s will! “You would encounter exactly what you wanted”. But beware satan could mimic your expectations and bring the fake one before you actually see what’s destined for you. That’s why Paul uses the term “test & approve” God’s will. This is where the wisdom of God is displayed through Eliezer. Instead of jumping into conclusions, he nodded his head for Rebecca’s offer as she ran down to fetch more water.

Verse 21 is the key – “Without saying a word, the man watched her closely to learn whether or not the Lord had made his journey successful.” Eliezer waited patiently to see if Rebecca was able to fulfill the promises she made. It is clear that she had to go down to the well to fetch water and taking into account how much water each camel would drink, it would’ve been a tiring job for Rebecca to water all ten camels. Eliezer watched carefully to “test and approve” if it was God’s will. As he expected, the next verse says “When the camels finished drinking…” which means Rebecca tirelessly completed what she promised.

We all have heard stories and I personally have witnessed young people taking hasty decisions especially in choosing life partners. They have expectations and when they encounter one which appears to closely match theirs, they immediately jump into it without testing and approving. Only later they understand it’s not what God had planned and regret in that irrecoverable state. In all other matters of life we tend to make this blunder which is prime reason for guilt and regret. The fakes come with false promises and could never accomplish those. To test and approve one needs to wait patiently and see the results just like Eliezer did.

Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for your will is perfect in my life. Help me to test and approve your will that is good, pleasing and perfect for me. Amen