Romans 12:2: Discerning God's Will in Everyday Life

Introduction

This Sunday, the Église Évangélique de Pentecôte de Nantes welcomes a guest pastor who has come with his wife at the invitation of Pastor Maréchal and his wife. Born in India, he served as a pastor for eight years in the western United States, the region his wife comes from (she was born in Wyoming), then for seventeen years in Madagascar with his family. He has been serving in France for fourteen years. He warns the congregation with humor that he often preaches in English, and that they will notice his accent.

Before getting into his subject, he asks a question. People talk a lot about the new generation and new things, and Jesus himself says that new wine is not put into old wineskins. But the better question lies elsewhere: "What kind of Christianity are we leaving behind?" What are we leaving to our children and grandchildren?

Then he reminds us that joy is part of God's will. This joy does not depend on circumstances. It is "airtight": nothing can make it leak out, and nothing can get in to destroy it, whatever the problems or trials of the season. Starting from a single verse, Romans 12:2, he then shows how to discern God's will through the renewing of the mind.

Outline of the Message

1. Do Not Take the Present World as Your Pattern

Paul writes to the church in Rome without having visited it yet. The preacher reads Romans 12:2: "Don't be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what is the good, well-pleasing, and perfect will of God."
In other words: do not take Rome as your pattern, do not take the Greeks as your pattern. No force is more powerful than the Gospel to transform us.
Neither our culture, nor our background, nor our parents, nor our surroundings can change us as deeply as the Gospel can. Our culture and our language matter, "our cheese" too, he smiles, since he enjoys cheese in France. But there is something stronger that transforms us: the Gospel.
Paul could say that nothing, neither loneliness, nor death, nor anything else, can separate him from the love of God (Romans 8:38-39). God has left us something "tightly sealed."

2. The Three Dimensions of God's Will

The sovereign will. When God does something, no one can say anything. When he says "let there be light," nothing can stop it. "We say thank you, Lord," and we rejoice in his sovereign will.
The decreed will. God says: "You shall not murder." That is a decree. "Love one another": that is a decree. So we follow it.
The discerned will. This is the one Paul speaks of here. The first two dimensions do not involve us in the same way. The third does: we have to discern God's will, through the renewing of our mind, to recognize what is good, what pleases him, and what is perfect.

3. The Patterns You Build Every Day

Everyone creates patterns in life, physical, social, emotional, and spiritual. The preacher's example: at 7 in the morning, he likes to have a cup of coffee with croissants. That is a pattern.
You cannot wait until "one fine morning you wake up and say: what is God's will?" Discernment comes "organically," out of the pattern you are building. If that pattern is formed through a renewed mind, you can understand and discern God's will.
The pattern Paul speaks of is the mold. Everyone has their own, but the pattern of God's kingdom goes through a renewed mind. A deep change of life requires restructuring the way you think, rather than simply redoubling your efforts on the outside.
Life naturally locks us into a mold: cultural patterns, expectations, bad habits. Looking at your phone every two seconds to see if there is a message is one example. "There is nothing wrong with having a phone," but you end up feeling trapped and wondering how you got there.
Instead of running away or repeating the same mistakes, we break the cycle by renewing our core convictions.
He compares this transformation to restoring an old piece of furniture: you strip off the old, worn layers to reveal a new, flawless finish. God wants us to strip away the patterns built on other models. This requires taking our share of responsibility, rethinking our past decisions, and freeing ourselves from old patterns.

4. A Life Made of Small Decisions

First principle: our life is made of a series of small decisions taken every day. They add up, and that is how we trace our path.
A "very ordinary" example: on the ring road the speed limit is 70, and you tell yourself you can go up to 100. It is only a small decision, but little by little it adds to the others. "It is up to you to apply it in your life, and it is up to me to apply it in mine."
These decisions have a cumulative impact on who we are and on what we do day to day. Paul calls us to renew whatever we do each day that does not conform to the Word of God, to the "template" God has planned for us.
Discernment comes in the making of decisions. If you need to discern, it is because the answer is not obvious: you have to go further and deeper to find what is good. Discernment is the ability, in complex circumstances that call for a decision, to apply the principles of the Word of God with wisdom.
To the young people, he speaks about choosing a spouse. A prophet may tell you that you must marry a certain person, but he is not the one who will live with that person. He likes prophecy, but for a decision that commits a whole lifetime, you have to discern.
He tells the story of his family. His grandparents were Hindus and were converted; his grandfather became an evangelist. His son, the preacher's father, had finished his degree and had a good job. There were few Christians then, and the grandfather prayed: "Lord, give my son a Christian wife." It was the only qualification he asked for.
One day, in town, a twenty-year-old girl walked past him just as he sneezed very loudly. She was frightened and hurried on, he followed her, she went into her home and closed the door. He came back the next day, met her parents, and asked for her hand for his son. The preacher was born of that marriage. "That is God's will, and it is a little different from the prophet," he says with a smile.

5. Decisions That Come From a Renewed Mind, Without Compartmentalizing

Second principle: all our decisions should be the result of a renewed mind. Small or great, every decision should come from a mind renewed by the Word of God.
Third principle: too often, we compartmentalize each decision. We make a decision, leave it at the church door, and walk in to praise the Lord. "It is good to praise the Lord, but we cannot compartmentalize our lives like that."
Every small decision has an impact on our whole life, because it becomes a mold, a pattern. We cannot tell ourselves: "This is not good, but still." God's will leads us to see all our decisions as a whole set of choices.
A renewed mind sees the whole picture and sees further, six months ahead, a year ahead. There is an insight here that comes from God's wisdom.
The word that sums it all up is integrity: what you are on the outside is the same as what you are on the inside. When you cut open a watermelon, you do not find bananas inside, you find watermelon.
We even have an advantage over the watermelon: Jesus lives in us (Galatians 2:20). "If you cut me, Jesus is there." He justifies us, he forgives us. He is there on the inside, and that integrity is projected to the outside.

6. A Daily Process in Intimacy With God

Fourth principle: Paul sees God's will not as an event, but as a daily process, based on an intimate relationship with God. "Without an intimate relationship with God, we cannot come to discern God's will."
God has an eternal view. So the preacher encourages us to weigh the impact of each decision on the person God wants you to become.
He quotes Psalm 37:23-24: Yahweh establishes a man's steps and delights in his way; "though he stumble, he will not fall," for the Lord holds him up with his hand. "He holds us up. He is with us."
Then Psalm 73:23-24: "Nevertheless I am continually with you. You have held my right hand. You will guide me with your counsel, and afterward receive me to glory." "What an encouragement God gives us!"

7. God's Will, a Way to Know Christ Better

To close, he gives an encouragement: God's will is not an end in itself, but a way to know Christ better.
Prayer is not a goal in itself, and neither is fasting. Everything God has given us, his Word, fellowship, the discernment he grants through his wisdom, is a vehicle for living an intimate relationship with him and knowing him.
In the closing prayer, he invites everyone to say: "Lord, thank you because you are always holding me by my right hand," and to acknowledge the decisions that did not come from a renewed mind. He asks God to help the congregation discern in a world that offers many paths, and to follow not the pattern of the present world but that of the kingdom of God.
He prays in particular for the youth of the church, that they may be a light, a witness, and a strength in the face of the world to come, then for the sick and for those going through difficulties at work, in finances, or in relationships.

Key Takeaways

The Gospel is the most powerful force to transform you, more than your culture, your past, or your surroundings.
God's will is sovereign, decreed, and discerned. Romans 12:2 speaks of the one you discern through a renewed mind.
Your life is made of small decisions that form patterns. Discernment is born from those patterns, not from a question asked one morning.
You do not compartmentalize your life: integrity means being the same outside and inside, because Christ lives in you.
Discerning God's will is a daily process in intimacy with him, and a way to know Christ better.

Personal Application

What kind of Christianity am I leaving behind for my children, or for those who follow me?
What patterns have I built (habits, phone, expectations) that mold me more to the present world than to the kingdom of God?
Which repeated "small decision," seemingly harmless, is shaping the person I am becoming right now?
Is there an area of my life that I leave at "the church door" instead of submitting it to God?
Is my intimate relationship with God alive enough for me to discern his will day to day?

Verses Cited

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the three dimensions of God's will in this message?

The preacher distinguishes God's sovereign will (when God says "let there be light," no one can stop it), the decreed will ("you shall not murder," "love one another"), and the will that we discern. This third dimension is the one Paul describes in Romans 12:2, and it is the one that involves us personally.

How do you discern God's will according to Romans 12:2?

Through the renewing of the mind. We do not wake up one morning wondering what God's will is: it is discerned "organically," through the patterns we build day after day. If those patterns are shaped by a mind renewed by the Word, we can discern what is good, what pleases God, and what is perfect.

What is discernment?

For the preacher, discernment is the ability, in complex circumstances that call for a decision, to apply the principles of the Word of God with wisdom. If you need to discern, it is because the answer is not obvious: you have to go further and deeper to find what is good.