Recently, I stepped out of God’s will for my life. During that brief period, I received conflicting counsel from a couple close friends. The spiritual warfare in my world was thick and incredibly daunting. In many ways, God the Holy Spirit was making it abundantly clear that I was out of the Father’s divine plan, the most obvious of which was feeling physically ill for a couple weeks. I was conflicted … was God admonishing me, or was Satan trying to sabotage something that God ordained? The Bible verse 1 Peter 5:8 comes to mind. That said, long ago, the prophet Jeremiah wrote, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9.)

After much prayer, the Lord convicted me of the woes of my ways. I immediately brought myself back into the will of God. In His amazing providence, on my schedule that day was a study of the 32nd Psalm. Two verses jumped out at me that say, “For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah. I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah” (Psalm 32:4-5).

It can often be difficult to discern God’s will for our lives, but living outside of His will is a sin of disobedience. I realize this can be quite a conundrum, but the Lord speaks to us through His Word and the Holy Spirit. Hence, it is vital that we study the Bible each and every day and pray fervently for His guidance. Often I experience His love and communication through sermons listened to over the internet that quite literally speak to the situation of which I am in. While uncanny at times, it is a wonderful example of God’s love, mercy, and astonishing providence.

Proverbs 16:9 states, “A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the Lord directeth his steps.” He does this through His Word.