The Easiest Way to Find God’s Will For Your Family

When I first started following God I assumed that “His will” involved finding a career or ministry that was right for me, and then pursuing that with everything in me. The thing was, God brought many different areas of serving others into my life: writing books, speaking, volunteering in a pregnancy center, and mentoring teen moms to name a few. All these things involved loving others with what I had.

At the same time I was serving others, I was also raising kids. I felt like the most horrible mom ever dragging them along. I assumed “my” service was taking me away from time with my kids. I assumed a good mom would focus on having fun with my kids rather than just helping others.

What I learned as years passed, and as my children developed servant hearts, that God’s plan for my service was also His plans for theirs. As a mom God’s will for me was also God’s will for my family. His will also just wasn’t about one thing. Instead, it involved reading God’s Word, discovering His heart for others, and saying small “yeses” to people around me. (And, yes, there were times we took for just having fun, too.)

My new book Walk It Out just released, and as I thought through all the places God has taken me and my family, I realized there were no big “neon sign” moments. Instead there were quiet whispers in my heart. These whispers took me out of my comfort zone, and they usually involved helping someone else.

Everything I’ve accomplished as a writer, volunteer and leader has come from one step of faith followed by another. And the amazing thing is that my kids have learned how to take faith steps too, by watching me.

My oldest son is a children’s pastor. My oldest daughter is a missionary. My second oldest son just published his first Christian novel. I have seven more ages 7-17, and this gives me hope. Not because I’m a perfect mom. FAR from it! Because I’ve discovered that as I’m taking steps of faith to love and serve others, God is using that obedience to train up my kids.

Jesus’ disciples learned from walking alongside Him, and that’s how out kids learn too. When we give, help, and love others—and involve our kids in the process—they are being trained on how to do that as adults.

So what’s the easiest way to find God’s Will for your family?

1. Read God’s Word.

2. Ask, “Lord, how does this apply to me today?”

3. Then ask, “Lord, knowing this truth, who can my family and I serve in your love?”

4. Then take the faith step required. (This is the place we usually fall short, but this is so important!)

5. Know that faith step after faith step is God’s Will. It’s not one big thing. It’s daily obedience.

If you’ve been wondering about God’s Will for your family, you don’t have to wonder long. God wants to tell you, and it starts by opening up His Word today. There are people around you who need to experience God’s love, and your children need to know how to give it. Years from know you’ll be able to look back and realize it was the most important thing you could do—for others and for your kids.

Walking in Him,
Tricia Goyer