Discerning the Will of God According to Romans 12:2

"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, so that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." (Romans 12:2)

How do you know what God wants for your life? For your marriage, your job, the city where you live, the decisions you no longer know how to make? In this message, Pastor Matthieu Gerault doesn't offer you a formula, but a path: that of a heart that seeks the Lord from the morning on, that obeys rather than negotiates, and that lets the Holy Spirit renew its thinking day after day. A demanding path, sometimes an uncomfortable one, but always blessed.

Outline of the message

1. Your worst enemy isn't the one you think
2. Seeking the Lord with all your heart
3. Wherever God has placed you, you have a mission
4. The Holy Spirit, your inner compass
5. Deciding to give up your own will

1. Your worst enemy isn't the one you think

We certainly have a common enemy. But Matthieu Gerault points out that we often have another one, closer to home: ourselves. The apostle Paul confessed this without hesitation: "I do not do what I want, and what I do not want to do, that is what I do. Who will deliver me from myself?" (Romans 7).

The worst enemy you can have is the natural man, unregenerate, who stands opposed to the spiritual man born of water and Spirit. It is essential that the spiritual man rule over the natural man, as Paul writes in Galatians 2:20: "I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me." As long as you ignore this inner battle, you won't be able to discern the will of God, because your own will is going to take up all the space.

2. Seeking the Lord with all your heart

To seek the Lord, you have to bend the knee. You have to be listening to God, otherwise you're going to walk into paths that God cannot bless. The pastor says it plainly: there are paths that are "unblessable," paths where God cannot place his approval or his favor, simply because they don't come from him.

This search isn't a one time event. "I will seek the Lord with all my heart, all my life, every moment." And this search has a concrete expression: obedience. "To obey is better than sacrifice" (1 Samuel 15:22). Why is this text so important? Because through sacrifices, we often try to negotiate God's favor. But God does not want to be negotiated with: he wants to be obeyed.

3. Wherever God has placed you, you have a mission

"It isn't chance that you live here," says Matthieu Gerault. "Chance is God traveling incognito." Wherever God has placed you (your neighborhood, your job, your home), you have a mission to carry out. You aren't there for success. You are there because the Father has entrusted a part of his work to you, in this exact place.

The pastor says it with force: "The greatest security doesn't rest in this world. It rests in the will of God." Is your first concern to seek God from the morning on and to stay listening to him? Do you take the time to say, "Lord, speak to your child, I need to hear your voice"? The psalmist already lived this out: "I will bless the Lord who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me. I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken." (Psalm 16:7 to 8).

4. The Holy Spirit, your inner compass

How do you concretely discern the will of God? The pastor's first answer is the Holy Spirit. "When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth" (John 16:13).

The Holy Spirit comes to settle in you. Your body has become his temple (1 Corinthians 6:19). So you can't just do anything you want with your life. Like Moses with his slow tongue, you need to let the Spirit take up all the space to direct the affairs of God. And this guidance also comes through the Word. "Seek and you will find, ask and you will receive" (Matthew 7:7). The word of God is living, powerful, active. It is sure.

5. Deciding to give up your own will

Discerning the will of God is, in the end, a decision. Deciding to give up your own will. The pastor illustrates this with the five loaves and two fish: when you hand over to Jesus the little you have, he multiplies it. "He presented it, he said, Father, I thank you, I bless you. And he began to multiply it, to feed the crowd."

Sometimes, being in the will of God is uncomfortable. Like Paul and Silas in the prison at Philippi (Acts 16:25 to 34), it was uncomfortable. But in the middle of the night, as they were praising and worshiping, there was an earthquake, the doors flew open, and the jailer himself was baptized, he and his whole household. The will of God doesn't spare you the prison; it turns the prison into a place of freedom.

Key takeaways

• Your worst enemy isn't outside: it's the natural man who refuses to make room for Christ in you.
• Seeking the will of God happens every morning, on your knees, in listening and in the Word.
• To obey is better than sacrifice: God doesn't want to be negotiated with, he wants to be followed.
• Wherever God has placed you, you have a mission. There is no such thing as chance in his plan.
• The will of God is the greatest security there is, even when it's uncomfortable.

Personal application

1. Do you really take time with God in the morning, before the world overwhelms you? What do you need to change this week to make that meeting possible?
2. What decision are you currently trying to negotiate with God through sacrifices, instead of simply obeying him?
3. Look at your city, your job, your home: what concrete mission has God entrusted to you where he has planted you?
4. Is there an area of your life where you resist the Holy Spirit because his direction contradicts your own will?
5. Are you going through an uncomfortable season? What would happen if you started to praise God in the middle of that prison, like Paul and Silas?

Verses quoted in the message

• Romans 12:2: the renewal of the mind so as to discern the will of God
• Romans 7:15 to 24: Paul's inner battle
• Galatians 2:20: crucified with Christ
• 1 Samuel 15:22: to obey is better than sacrifice
• Psalm 117: praise the Lord, all you nations
• Psalm 133: the blessing on the family gathered together
• Psalm 16:7 to 8: I will bless the Lord who gives me counsel
• Matthew 7:7: seek and you will find
• John 16:13: the Spirit will guide you into all truth
• 1 Corinthians 6:19: your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit
• Acts 16:25 to 34: Paul and Silas in the prison at Philippi

Frequently asked questions

How can I know if I'm in the will of God?

Take time with the Lord every morning, immerse yourself in his Word, and let the Holy Spirit guide you. The will of God is discerned first in a regular life of prayer and listening, never in a rush.

Why is obedience better than sacrifice?

Because sacrifice often tries to negotiate God's favor, while obedience acknowledges his lordship. Samuel reminds Saul of this in 1 Samuel 15:22: God doesn't first ask what you can offer him, but a heart submitted to his word.

What should I do when the will of God is uncomfortable?

Look at Paul and Silas in the prison at Philippi: they praised God in the middle of the night and the doors flew open. Discomfort doesn't mean you're outside of God's plan; it is often the exact place where his power shows up.

Watch the full message on YouTube