In the Old Testement there is a story about a guy named Gideon. God had told him that he wanted him to lead his people against a huge army. Gideon wasn't exactly convinced that God was really telling him to do that. He's kind of like you: He wanted to discern God's will for His life. Especially when what God was telling him could get him killed.

So Gideon, put God to a test and laid a fleece out on the ground and told God, Here's the deal God, if you want me to do this then tonight let the ground be wet and the fleece dry, then I will know you told me to do this. Guess what? God passed the test, but Gideon was still not sure, so he did it again. Only this time, he told God the do it the other way, and God did just that.

Sometimes we really need to hear from God and we want to test God like Gideon did. I don't think that is really the best way to discern God's will. The bible says that “If you are God's child he will lead you” (Romans 8:14, Mr. Bob Paraphrase) the hard part is that you don't want to mess up. I think God is like my old boss, he used to tell me he'd rather see me make a mistake than not try or come to him every two minutes for advice. Learning to discern God' will for your life is something you'll do all you life. What you have got to do is spend enough time in His word and hanging out with him that you get to know his voice. All that is, trust or faith. The Bible says that you can't please God without faith, so if you think God is leading you to do something and His word agrees with it, DO IT. Do it with all your might. If it dosen't match his word, then it probably isn't Him, so don't do it.

A little hint: If your “conscience says don't do something, that is probably God”. Many times your conscience doesn't say anything and that is probably God saying, “Go for it.” . It really is that simple.

*This devo is written in response to a question asked by a child at Jenks West Elementary school.