Then another facet of God’s Will is His “providential Will.” Well, what is “providential Will?” What does that mean? Let me say that God’s providence—His “providential Will”—is not as easy sometimes to understand and to identify as is His “proclaimed Will.” God’s providence is His “foreseeing care” and His “guardianship” over His people. It is God’s “divine care” and “direction”—God’s “providential action” in our lives.

This is the type of “Will,” it would seem, that Paul was speaking about there in our text today, Romans, chapter 1, verse 10. It would seem that it was God’s “providential Will” that Paul was seeking, so that he might be able to travel to Rome.

Because of God’s “providential Will,” then we are to pray regarding our plans just as Paul did. James will remind us and say, “Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit’; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord Wills, we shall live and do this or that,’” James 4:13-15.

Our requests, our prayers to God are to be—as much as we possibly can—offered or given according to His Will. John will write and say, “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His Will, He hears us,” 2 John 5:14.

So, God’s “providential Will” for us—we may not always know it or recognize it with certainty, but we trust that God will provide.

And then a third facet of God’s Will is His “permissive Will.” You see, God allows things to happen that are not necessarily according to His desired Will, and that is because He has created mankind with the ability to choose. Therefore, we have a will of our own. We can be “self-willed.” Thus, God permits people to sin, even to hurt one another. Now, I emphasize again that, God does not desire that—He is not pleased with these kinds of actions. And we must recognize and be aware of the fact that one day He will render judgment, as Paul will say, referring to man’s willful neglect—man’s willful ignoring of God and not seeking after Him. He says, “Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness…” Acts 17:30-31.

But even though God has given us “free will,” “free choice,” He is still able to fulfill His Own Will, despite rebellion, despite our ignoring of His Will and His desire. HIS WILL will still be accomplished. In the Old Testament, we can see this done time and time again as God dealt with (as they are referred to often times in Old Testament scripture) those “stiff-necked Israelites.”

Also a part of God’s “permissive Will” includes us doing things that, well, are just a matter of indifference to Him. There are some things that God really doesn’t care about—that He is indifferent to. Paul speaks of that in Romans 14, verses 5 and 6. [“One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks.”] I doubt very seriously if God cares whether I have red chili or green chili with my breakfast burrito. It doesn’t matter! He doesn’t care! So this is, as well, a part of God’s “permissive Will.”

So we see that God has at least three facets to His Will. There is His “proclaimed Will.” There is His provision for us, His “providential Will.” And there is His “permissive Will.”

So how do we go about finding God’s Will? I submit to you that we ought to concentrate on the “proclaimed Will” of God. And where is it that we find the “proclaimed Will” of God? Well, it is here in His holy Word—in His revelation to us [John Phillis is holding up a Bible]. This is where we find God’s Will for us. Thus, to determine God’s “proclaimed Will,” it requires that we study diligently and we learn what God has in mind—what His Will for us is. If someone is unwilling to search out—to embrace—to practice the proclaimed Will—the revealed Will of God, what difference does it make to seek areas of God’s Will that are little known and little understood to us. Yes, the value of focusing on the “proclaimed Will” of God is that, we will then not be ignorant, not be unaware, of those things that are essential for us to know and to do. And we can avoid making choices that are clearly contrary to the Will of God.

So first, in identifying, in knowing, in understanding the Will of God, we focus on His “proclaimed Will,” that which has been revealed to us. But also, we need to ask God for wisdom and for understanding. That’s why we pray diligently, or should pray diligently to be able to discern wisely what God’s Will for us is, James 1, versus 5 through 8. [“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, Who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”]