How do you know God's will for you?

Hello!

About ten years ago, I was at a crossroads in my personal life, and wanted to know God's will for me--particularly as it related to serving Him in ministry. I had been told about a book, Experiencing God, and so I carefully read it, its Scriptural support, and interviewed myself with its questions. I return to it as my solid resource on ascertaining the will of God in my life. Here is what the author says about knowing the will of God;
The testimony of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation is that God speaks to His people.
In our day, God speaks to us through the Holy Spirit. He uses the Bible, prayer,
circumstances, and the church (other believers).

But as I have been studying Acts 21, I have returned to Henry Blackaby's Experiencing God again, because this text about Paul puts a little fly in the ointment, or sand in the suntan lotion, so to speak, regarding these tools of knowing and understanding the will of God, because Paul ignores the counsel of 'the church'.

Here's what we have in Acts 21.1-36 ~ http://mobile.biblegateway.com/passage/index.php?search=Acts%2021.1-36;&version=31
Paul is traveling in earnest to Jerusalem, anxious to get there by Pentecost. . . Notice the words of warning that Paul is given by the believers-- 1.-> At his stop in Tyre, believers "told Paul through the Spirit not to go up to Jerusalem" (v. 4) In Caesarea, Paul's team stayed with Philip; while there, Agabus, a prophet of the Lord, came to them, "he took Paul's belt, bound his own hands and feet, and said, 2.-> "Thus says the Holy Spirit, 'So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man who owns this belt, and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.'" 3.-> Again, Paul's team and the local believers pleaded with Paul not to go up to Jerusalem. (v. 11-12) Is Paul daft, Man? These words of warning seem to go unheeded, because on he goes. . . upon arriving in Jerusalem, Paul is urged to take a vow of purification, in order to show that he is still keeping the Law, thereby pacifying the Jews who had heard about Paul's work--among both Jews and Gentiles. That doesn't do the trick.

Paul was spotted by some of the Jewish foreigners who had traveled from Asia, (note: they were only in town to observe the Feast of Pentecost. It was the Feast of Pentecost, you will remember from Acts 2, which had brought Jewish pilgrims from near and far to Jerusalem, and they were able to hear the gospel message in their own native tongues, through the impartation of the Holy Spirit. They could hear the 'good news about Jesus', believe it themselves, and take it back to their own towns. Now this time, it is the Jewish pilgrims who nab Paul. Interesting. God's timing is always perfect to accomplish His purposes.) An angry mob seizes Paul, drags him from the temple, and beats him. . . They are interrupted by a Roman commander who assumes that Paul is the trouble-maker who had incited a rebellion previously, so he has him locked up. It was at that time, that Paul asks if he can address the crowd. We'll hear what he has to say tomorrow. . .

I think that understanding this passage, juxtaposed with learning about ascertaining God's will for us, is critical to our spiritual growth. Last week, we talked about surrendering our will to God. How are you doing with that? That situation you are in--have you taken your worries back, or are you continually giving it over to God, and trusting Him? We talked about surrender being do-able IF we know how trustworthy our loving God is toward us. It follows then, that we would want to walk in His will for us. SURRENDER -> TRUST GOD -> SEEK TO DO HIS WILL.

So, did Paul break God's will for him, when he ignored the warnings of God's people, and went to Jerusalem anyway? What do you think? He was repeatedly shown that he was walking straight into his demise. Now, over the years, I have heard many well-meaning people say, 'the safest place to be is in the center of God's will'. . . really? Are you kidding me? Ask Paul how safe it was. What is true, though, is that God's will will not take us anywhere that His grace will not cover us, or anywhere that He will not enable us to endure. So, did Paul disobey God by pushing into Jerusalem? I do not think so. . . while the believers saw that Paul was going to be bound and turned over, the Spirit did not tell Paul not to go. In fact, Jesus had said, "For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name's sake." Acts 9.16 It was Jesus' voice that Paul heard ringing in his ears, guiding his footsteps. . . it was the voice of Jesus that Paul obeyed. So while the 'church' told him not to go, Paul was guided by his calling from the start; he stayed true to it and obeyed it, no matter the cost.

This reminds me of a quote from Blackaby: When you come to know God by experience, you will be convinced of His love. When you are convinced of His love, you can believe Him and trust Him. When you trust Him, you can obey Him. When you love Him, you have no problem obeying Him. 'Want to know God's will for your life? It all begins with learning who He is, and loving Him. There is no formula-----> Obey what He has already shown you to do--in His Word; and by doing what He has led you to do, experientially. (You know what I mean, sometimes you have this inner nudge or prompting to DO something or STOP DOING something. . . do you obey?) Look around you. . . where is God working? Through whom is He working? Prayerfully get involved. Yeah, you can know God's will for you. Christine