Paul Tripp: What about you today? Do you understand the will of God? Are you really sure that you are in the will of God, right here, right now?

Kate Crowley: From Paul Tripp Ministries, this is Right Here, Right Now, connecting the transforming power of Jesus Christ to everyday life. Here, now, is Paul Tripp.

Paul Tripp: Poor Josh! He lives in a world of constant uncertainty, and it just seemed to have him stuck. Josh thought it was his job to figure God out. He thought it was his job to look ahead and discern what God was planning for him before it ever happened. So the way Josh lived his life, Josh was always looking for signs and clues, some kind of hint out there that would appear, and that would somehow, some way, clue him in to what God was doing.

The problem was it just never worked. The problem was that, with all of the thought and examination that Josh sort of obsessively and compulsively put into life, Josh was never really very sure of anything. The problem was that all those supposed signs could actually be interpreted in a thousand different ways. Josh was not only confused as to what was really a sign from God, he was also never really confident that he interpreted the sign, if it was a sign, properly. His life was just a mass of questions, a mass of confusion, a mass of anxiety.

So, for all of Josh's zeal at being in the will of God, for all of his desire to be in the center of God's plan for him, for all that he wanted to do exactly what God wanted him to do, Josh was growingly confused and increasingly anxious. Poor Josh! He knew that he must be doing something wrong. He knew that he shouldn't be this anxious, but he just couldn't figure out what in the world it was.

Music: "Drama" by Erykah Badu Drama Lyrics

I can't believe that we're still livin'
Ooo, I can't believe now
Oh, in this crazy, crazy world
That I'm still livin'
With all the problems of day
How can we go on
Ahhhh
So tired of hearing people say how can I go on
How can I go on
Ohhhh
Fantasy, people
Make believe people
How can you go on
But your still livin'
But your still livin'
Listen, people, listen
Listen people
Lift your hearts to God
Lift up your hearts to God
Teach your children wisdom
Teach your children
Reality today
Reality today

Kate Crowley: This is Right Here, Right Now with Paul Tripp, and, in just a moment, Survival Skill #6: "Act on What You Can Be Sure Of." That's from Paul's look at II Timothy, chapter 3. Share the hope that you've found by telling your friends about Paul Tripp Ministries, Monday through Friday at 11 A.M., right here on WFIL. The purpose of this program is to help you find freedom in Jesus Christ right here, right now.

Paul will be back with more, but first, we invite you to check out our website paultrippministries.org. And while you're there, you'll find Paul's latest book Lost In The Middle and other resources on video, audio, and print that will be helpful to you. That's paultrippministries.org. Right Here, Right Now continues with Paul Tripp.

What Do You Think of When You Hear the Will of God?

Paul Tripp: Hopefully, you're not confused like poor Josh. Hopefully, you don't live that life of anxiety, but it's worth asking: When you think about the will of God, what do you think about? When you hear that word the 'will' of God, what immediately goes into your mind? Let me ask it this way: If you had a pencil and piece of paper in front of you right now, and you had to write a paragraph defining 'What the Will of God Is', what in the world would you write?

Oh, I could ask the question this way: Do you think that it's your job to read God's mind and to figure out His secret will? Has there ever been a time where you've been afraid, or you've been worried that you would be out of His will, or somehow, some way, miss His will? Do you ever worry that you may not be at the exact place where God has called you? Do you ever have trouble making decisions or committing yourself to a course of action? Maybe you're driving in the car, and you're running an idea or a potential decision over, and over, and over again in your head, and you think, "What is it that God wants me to do? What should I do? What is God's call?"

Do you ever wonder how you can be sure that you're experiencing God's best? How do you know that what you're doing right now is the right thing to do? How do you know that you're where God wants you to be? Do you really know that you're in the middle of God's will? What do you think that means-- to be in God's will? I'll tell you for sure, I'm convinced that there are many, many people like Josh out there. Oh, maybe they're not so anxious, and maybe they're not so confused, but they're confused about what it actually means to be in God's will. They're confused about what the will of God is actually about. And because of that, they have moments of anxiety and worry because they misunderstand what it really means to be in the center of God's will. God's will seems to them to be sort of an elusive and moving target.

And when it's like that, when you don't know what the will of God is, when you don't know whether you're doing what God wants you to do, then you find it hard to commit to a course of action. You find it hard to make a decision; you find it hard to be sure after you do. You tend to revisit things over and over again, trying to make sure that you've taken the right course of action, that you've done the right thing. You do everything you can to avoid being in the wrong place.

And so, I would ask you, "What about you today? Do you understand the will of God? Are you really sure that you are in the will of God right here, right now? Or, are you confused? Are you not sure about what the Bible means when it calls you to live every day in the will of God?"

Music: "These Are The Days" by songwriters: Richard Monty Powell and Keith Urban

My grandmamma was a wise old soul
Took me by the hand not long ago
Said, "Son, what's your hurry, boy, slow it down
Taste the wild honey, listen to the sound"
"Of the wind that's blowin' through the trees
Rivers flowin' to the sea
Yeah, they're all headin' home just like you and me
Life's for livin' child, can't you see them?"
These are the days that we will remember
And these are the times that won't come again
The highest of flames becomes an ember
And you gotta' live 'em while you can

Josh's Mistake: Secret Will Versus Revealed Will

Paul Tripp: So what was Josh's mistake? Well, I think Josh's mistake was a mistake that many, many Christians make. Josh surely didn't lack in love and zeal for Jesus. He didn't lack in a desire to be in the will of God. He was really serious about the way that he lived his life, but with all of his zeal, with all of his concern, with all of his commitment, he was never ever sure about what in the world the will of God was.

Think with me again. What mistake did Josh make that resulted in his life being a life of constant worry, indecision, and confusion? Let me put it this way: Josh made the mistake of acting on what he could never be sure of, rather than acting on what he could know for sure. He knew for sure who God was, and what God had promised to him and all of His children. He knew for sure what the life was that God had called him to. He had a very clear understanding of right and wrong. He knew what his values should be and what his relationships should look like. And how did Josh know all of these things? How could he be sure of all of these things? He knew them because they were clearly written in the Word of God.

Here's the mistake that Josh made: He confused God's secret will with His revealed will. Let me say that again: He confused God's secret will with God's revealed will. When God calls each of His children to quote: "Do His will," He means to carefully live within the clear limits of what He's already revealed. And where has God communicated His practical will for every human being? The answer is simple, in the pages of the Word of God.

God's secret will refers to His sovereign plan for the universe and everything in it. Now, this is a very important distinction. God has never called for me to try to figure out things that He will do that have not been revealed. God has never called me to try to read His mind, to read the signs around me and try to figure out what in the world God is doing in His secret will.

Think about this for a moment. The reasons theologians call God's 'secret will' His 'secret will' is precisely because it's kept secret from every human being walking on earth. It's secret because it's secret. Yet God hasn't left us without guidance. God knows we live in the confusing confines of this broken world. God knows that we live with the unexpected. God knows that we live with serious opportunities, and serious responsibilities, and serious temptations.

And so, God won't leave me by myself. And so in His wonderful love for you and for me, He knew that as we lived in the complexity of life in this fallen world, we would need functional wisdom and guidance. And so, God gave us the amazing gift of His Word. The Bible is meant to be this amazing guide for our lives. The grand story of the Bible tells us everything we need to know about God, to know about ourselves, to know about the world, and the meaning and purpose of life so that we can live in this right here, right now moment in the way that God designed for us to live.

We don't have to be confused about that because God has told us exactly how to live. We are guided by what He has already told us, not by the hope that we can figure out where we're supposed to be and where we're supposed to go by reading the cosmic signs.

Now, think with me for a moment. I'm always asking you to do that; I am going to ask you to do that again. Here's how it was all meant to work. God has promised to guide me; that's the job that He has promised to do in my life. He has promised to guide me just where he wants me to be. And so, because God has promised to do that, I don't need to be fearful about that because God will always do what He has promised to do. He'll never, ever turn His back on something that He has promised to do.

So, guidance is God's job, not mine. My job is to obey, that is, to stay inside the limits of the lifestyle that He has clearly called me to in the pages of the Bible. And so, as I faithfully seek to obey Him, God very faithfully directs the events, the relationships, the situations, and locations in my life to get me where He wants me to be. So, I can feel free to think and decide as long as those thoughts and decisions are within the boundaries of what He has written in His Word. And as I seek to do His will, He has promised, and He will guide me by His hand.

The apostle Paul reminded Timothy of what an amazing book the Bible is. In II Timothy 3:16 and 17, he says that the Bible, first of all, is profitable for teaching. The Bible gives me a standard by which I can evaluate all of life. Second, Paul says that the Bible is profitable for rebuking; it's like a mirror, and I can look into it, and I can see myself as I actually am.

The Bible, Paul says, is profitable for correcting. It gives me the steps of change that I need to follow to be where God wants me to be. And the Bible is useful for training. What does that mean? The Bible tells me all the skills that I need to acquire to live life God's way. You see, the Bible is an amazing book that gives me a standard, that gives me means of comparison, that gives me steps for change, that gives me training so that I can live the way that God has chosen for me to live where ever He has led me to live according to His secret will.

You see, what God has called us to is to act in faith on what we can be sure of and to entrust all the things that we are not sure of to the wise will of the ultimate source of wisdom, the Lord. You see, my job is not to figure all of that out; my job is not to try to read God's mind; my job is not to determine what will happen before it happens so I can be sure and safe. Guidance is God's job, and He has promised to do it.

We don't have to be fearful and try to figure out His secrets. That just never, ever works. It doesn't result in security; it results in insecurity. When you live a life of willing obedience to God's Word, you can rest assured that you are right smack dab, in the middle of the will of God.

Music: "God of Wonders" by songwriters: Marc Byrd and Steve Hindalong

Early in the morning
I will celebrate the Light
When I stumble in the darkness
I will call Your name by night
God of wonders
Beyond our galaxy
You are holy, holy
The universe declares Your majesty
You are holy, holy
Lord of heaven and earth
Lord of heaven and earth
Lord of heaven and earth
Lord of heaven and earth
Hallelujah to the Lord of heaven and earth
Hallelujah to the Lord of heaven and earth
Hallelujah to the Lord of heaven and earth

Acting on What God Has Made Clear

Paul Tripp: So what have you been thinking as you've listened to me talk about God's will? Are you one of those people who've been confused between the secret will of God and the revealed will of God? You have got to understand that trying to read God's mind is like trying to shovel smoke with a rake. It just won't work. It just won't work. It's, in fact, an act of personal futility. It will only leave you confused; it will only leave you anxious; it won't bring you the rest and reassurance that you're seeking.

Remember, God has promised to guide; He will lead us where He wants us to go. Our job is to carefully obey, to stay within the center of His revealed will. And as we do that, we can rest assured that God will do what He has promised to do in guiding us.

Years ago, we were living in Scranton, Pennsylvania. I was the pastor of a small church there. And out of the blue, I was offered an opportunity to move to Philadelphia to a new and exciting ministry. Now, when that happens, you can't not think about the will of God. You immediately begin to wonder, "What in the world does God want me to do?" You can't not ask those questions.

And so, I wondered in myself, "How would I ever know that it was God's will for me to leave this church and this ministry and move to Philadelphia?" How would I ever know that for sure? How could I ever say, "I am absolutely convinced that this is where God wants me to go?" You sort of want that surety because that kind of move is a huge, transitional, life-altering move.

Well, we sort of decided it was not our job to figure out all the signs and to guide ourselves. We decided what we needed to do is do exactly what God called us to do in His Word. In the Bible, God says that we're not supposed to live independent lives; we live in a community with other people, that the church is actually like a body where each part contributes to each part, and we grow and mature as all the parts contribute. So we decided we would go back to Scranton, and we would do what God called for us to do and let God guide us as a result.

So in obedience, we went back to our church, and we began to be open about talking to people about the offer that had been made. We invited people to be receptive to speak to us about what they thought we should do. And an amazing thing happened. As we obeyed, God began to guide us, and over a period of, oh, it must have been about six months, the people of our little congregation confirmed in many, many ways that we should be pursuing this new ministry opportunity. You see, you don't have to read the signs; you don't have to try to read the clouds. Rest in knowing that as you willingly obey God, God will lovingly guide you.

(Music Interlude)

Paul Tripp: So have you been trying, like Josh, to read God's mind? Think about it. If that is what you have been trying to do, you have been trying to somehow figure things out that are really God's secrets. Have you been haunted by the prospect of being out of the will of God? Or have you been haunted by the prospect of somehow, some way trying to figure out what in the world is that...does God want you to do? Where in the world it is that God is going to lead you? Have you had trouble making firm commitments, or firm decisions, or sticking with a course of action, and not sort of turning back and wondering if you did the right thing?

Well, I would invite you to do something. I would invite you to pick up your Bible, and hold it your hands, and as you do so, say, "Father, I am so thankful that You have not left me without guidance. I am so thankful that I don't have to figure all of this out on my own. Father, thank you for giving me Your Word to guide me, and from this day on, I am going to determine that wherever I am, and whatever I'm doing, to stay inside the clear boundaries of Your Word. And Father, I believe that as I do that, I can rest, thankfully, in the knowledge that You go before me, and You have promised to be my guide. I can rest, knowing that you will do what You promised, as I faithfully seek to stay inside the boundaries of the clear message of Your Word, and as I do that, I can rest."

Kate Crowley: Paul Tripp and the hope found in God's guidebook, the Bible. More "Survival Skills for a Fallen World" on Friday. Now, if you need some additional encouragement, a little hope, don't give in to your circumstances, but use them to get a grip on God's greater plan. In his new book, Lost In The Middle, Paul Tripp tells us how these moments of pain can also be moments of God's grace. That's Lost In The Middle, available at our website, paultrippministries.org. That's all one word, paultripp, spelled, T-R-I-P-P, paultrippministries.org.

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If you'd like to invite Paul to speak at your church or event, just go online for more information.

Tomorrow, Paul hones in on Survival Skills #7: "Resist Passivity" as he continues the series "Survival Skills for a Fallen World."

Now, from Paul Tripp and all of us at Paul Tripp Ministries, I'm Kate Crowley, reminding you that, in Jesus Christ, there really is help right here, right now.