Listen

This morning I got my Mp3 player all set and ready to go, switched it on, scrolled down and chose a sermon (Francis Chan - Grace and Love), pressed play, turned the volume up ......and nothing!
So I took it back out, turned it off and on a few times, wiggled where the earplugs go into it, played with the volume.....still nothing!
So I went to borrow another set of earplugs to see if it was them, and discovered with a lot of laughter that I didn't have the earplugs in my ears....No wonder there was no noise!

But as I thought about this, I started thinking how we can so often be like this when it comes to the will of God in our lives. We begin fiddling here and there, looking for signs here and there (as if a neon sign or lottery finger is going to come down and say "It's you"), in tears we stumble here and there hoping for a sign!
I remember talking to a girl a few weeks ago about just this, who said that she thought God didn't have a plan for her, or a will for her life!

So I asked her a couple of questions;
1 - How often do you study the Bible, I mean really study, not just a light read?
2 - How often do you pray over what you read and about your study of the Bible?
3 - Do you know what the Bible plainly states as being the will of God for you?

See the Bible tells us a few things that are the revealed will of God for you and for me.
Things like;

"This is the will of God, your sanctification; that you abstain from sexual immorality" 1 Thess 4:3

"Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit" Eph 5:17-18

" Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." 1 Thess 5:16-18

"And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." Rom 12:2

"For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men" 1 Peter 2:15

"For it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil." 1 Peter 3:17

These are some verses that plainly state what God's will is for us, but if we don't know them how can we even begin to live according to God's will.
I am convinced that when we look for the unrevealed will of God before we are looking and implementing the REVEALED WILL OF GOD first, we are how I was earlier, having the message in our hands but the earplugs aren't in! We have the Will of God revealed but we aren't listening!

I am convinced that if we know and implement the revealed will of God, that He'll begin to work in us to know His unrevealed will for us!

For more, and a better explaination of this see John MacArthur on God's Will.