How can I know God's will?

Understanding God's will for your life can be agonizingly difficult.  It's not difficult because God wants it to be difficult, part of the problem is that the way we "think" comes from our culture and our experiences.  God doesn't think that way at all.  God's motivation and design for us to to love him and others, and to give us his greatest good.

God sees the big picture for our lives and for everyone else's life.  We can only see one step in front of us.  So, in order for us to begin to understand God's will we need to see the big picture about God.  

The best way to do that is through scripture.  As we read and understand God's word, we understand more about God's Word.  In other words, as we understand the character of God in scripture and how he spoke to people in days gone by, we will begin to understand how God will speak a Word to us personally today.

As we begin to explore how we can know God's will, we start with who God is:

Love

Light

Goodness

Mercy

Compassion

Grace - forgiveness

Faithful to hold on to his children

Wants his children to turn to Him and trust Him

Hope

The list goes on, but that's a good start.  Can you think of other characteristics of God - ways God has touched your life?