John 7.17 is not unique in being a funny Bible verse. There are several others, but we stay with this because it is extremely relevant to our journey on the promises of God. You may recall the promise in Romans 8.28 which we all enjoy claiming for ourselves. Of course, we wonder why all things do not work, not realizing we left out the trigger. And the trigger we consider now is that it applies to anyone who wills to do God’s will.
Are you called according to God’s purpose? Then, all things, and it does not matter how awful they are, will work out for your good. How do you know you are called according to His purpose? Well, you first have to know God’s purpose for your life, right? Right. And John 7.17 makes that process look really easy. It says, “anyone who wills to do God’s will shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own.”
I love that, because people often wonder how to identify God’s will and calling for their lives. It is as though someone should hand them several strategies to point them to the will of God. They wish there were an academy of learning to discern God’s will. Some would pay to attend. But God makes it easy and free by including the strategy in His word.
Anyone Who Wills To Do God’s Will Shall Know
He makes it clear that all you require is not a school but a readiness to do whatever God requires. Anyone who wills to do God’s will, He shall know concerning the doctrine. That last sentence brought a smile to my face because the number of people who want to hear God is huge. And that means the number of Christians who desire to do God’s will is tiny. What a pity.
God says we should make up our minds to do His will, and that will lead to a revelation of our calling. Daniel did not set out to make a name for himself. I doubt that he even realized he had a ministry. He only made up his mind to do God’s will. In the process, he fitted into John 7.17; anyone who wills to do God’s will shall discover God’s calling for his life (paraphrase). The king made an evangelistic decree because Daniel obeyed God.
His three friends, Meshack, Abednego, and Shadrack, also obeyed God and discovered their ministry. It is a rare one, the ministry of not caring what the political powers say. They told the King. We respect you, oh King, but we do not care to answer you in this matter. They demonstrated that anyone who wills to do God’s will shall find his calling….”
Why would God reveal His plan to you if you would not obey? Why bother? It would be like the first child in Jesus’ parable. The father told the first son to go, and although he readily agreed, He did not go. On the other hand, the second child initially refused but finally went. That second child was willing to do the father’s will. The father commended him. Everything worked together for his good.
Abraham Discovered His Calling
The Bible contains many such people who obeyed God and ended well. Abram was minding his business when God called him. God had no GPS to give the poor man, but wanted him to get up and leave home. Very few of us who pray “All things will work together for my good” would obey such a summons.
Abraham did, sensing that anyone who wills to do God’s will shall discover wondrous things. How many of us do not desire to end up like Abraham? We even sing it as a song, that Abraham’s blessings are ours. But we are not willing to do God’s will. Sorry, but we shall have to pray for a long, long time.
The man willingly obeyed God’s almost foolish command. He might have sensed that the foolishness of God is wiser than men (1 Corinthians 1.25). Now, He is the father of faith, the father of many nations, and so on. Do you want to enter into God’s promises and watch them manifest in your life? The best and fastest way is in this post. Join the group of anyone who wills to do God’s will and start obeying God’s word.
Maranatha!
