God’s will for my life used to be a big mysterious deal for me. As a child, I thought if I wanted to follow God, I had to go to the scariest place I could imagine and live there. No, not Africa, Lord!

Then I discovered the open/closed door method of following God’s will. I don’t recall seeing this method in the Bible but I can remember many people telling of their life direction being dictated by closed and open doors. There is even a saying, “when God closes one door, he will open another.” Much to my relief, Africa wasn’t behind any doors. But if two or more doors were open, my plan was a bust.

I am not one to tell the Almighty what to do but I’m beginning to doubt that this door thing is always his go-to MO. In the Bible, Jesus always surprised people by his methods. For example, he healed with his voice, mud, water, his clothing, laying on hands, through his disciples, etc. If he healed so many different ways, why would he direct our lives only by open and closed doors?

As I have grown older, I have come to believe that we make God’s will mysterious when God spells it out plainly. Or maybe we don’t want to follow the direction given by the Holy Spirit in our hearts so we sit waiting for plan B.

So if his will is so plainly spelled out, what is it? Following his written instructions. Yes, praise the Lord, he gave us a user manual. In it his first and most persistent repeated instruction is the following.

To love Him above all else.

Of this I am sure. How do I go about loving God? By following the rest of his instructions like

loving others(even our enemies and annoying people),

taking time to pray,

taking time to seek him in his Word,

regretting, confessing and walking away from sin,

and

forgiving,

forgiving,

forgiving.

God’s will is following him in what I am doing right now, doing the next right thing. Doors may open and shut but trusting Him in every step no matter which choice we make, is his will. It is crystal clear! It may not be easy, but it is not mysterious. It is exactly what he tells us to do over and over again.