I have mentioned the geographical will of God on many occasions. Therefore, it might be useful to have it laid out in doctrinal form.

The Geographical Will of God

1.       Anything related to the will of God has several common elements:

          a.       First of all, you must be a believer in Jesus Christ. There is no will of God whatsoever for the unbeliever, apart from, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.” (John 3:16, 18, 36).

          b.       In order to discern the will of God, including His geographical will, you must be in fellowship, which requires you to name your sins to God (1John 1:9).

          c.        You must know Bible doctrine (2Peter 3:18). God does not give you a tingly feeling when you are doing the right thing and a stomach ache when you are not.

2.       There are things which are true for all human beings, which are the laws of divine establishment. Believers and unbelievers ought to function within the confines of these laws.

3.       You do not use your free will to sin or to commit crimes. When you do that, you are out of the will of God and probably out of the geographical will of God.

4.       It is a part of man’s nature and a part of man’s responsibility to work. So, during working hours, you ought to be at work.

          a.       Adam worked both in perfect environment and in a fallen world. Gen. 2:8, 15 3:17

          b.       On many occasions, God teaches the importance of hard work. One example is Prov. 6:6–11.

          c.        When believers lost track of this in Thessalonika, Paul told them, If one does not work, then neither should he eat (2Thess. 3:10).

          d.       As an aside, a believer should not be sitting at home collecting a check from the government. I have personally known dozens of people who collect checks from the government, and, apart from a social security check collected after age 65, I have never known a single person who would have starved without this government check. In most cases, the same is true of most of the retired social security recipients that I have known.

5.       Believers and unbelievers both have a responsibility toward their spouses and toward their children. To properly function in a marriage to properly raise a child, there must be time spent on these things. That time spent with the family is being within the geographical will of God.

6.       Believers grow by means of the Spirit and knowledge of the Word of God (2Peter 3:18). That means, you ought to be under the teaching of the Word of God every day that your church is open. Unfortunately, in most cases, it is only open 2–3 times per week. This ought to be supplemented with additional teaching on the off days.

7.       Once you have taken into consideration your job, your spouse, your family, the intake of Bible doctrine, along with meals and sleeping; it is generally quite easy to be in God’s geographical will 24 hours a day.

8.       What about the big things, like moving from point A to point B?

          a.       If you are in a city where there is no Bible doctrine being taught (and there are many cities like that), and no group which studies under a pastor from another city, you need to consider other cities. I have known a lot of people over the years and very few who did not have the academic discipline of the church classroom (which could be a group in which a person meets) were able to make a go of the spiritual lives. This is a list of doctrinal churches that I am aware of.

          b.       When it comes to making a big move, there will certainly be other factors, e.g., advancement in your profession, a job promotion, specialized training for your profession, etc. You may not be able to find a job in your field in your city. However, if you are looking to make a move because of your vocation, then the spiritual availabilities where you are moving to must be a part of your decision making process.

          c.        All of your decisions ought to have a spiritual aspect to them. That is a part of being occupied with the Person of Jesus Christ.

          d.       God will not talk to you, He will not email you, He will not give you tingly feelings to move your from point A to point B.

9.       The same thing is true when it comes to any major decision in your life, e.g., changing jobs. Personal problems or a personality conflict are not sufficient reasons to change jobs. One of the best decisions I made was to stay at a job where there were problems, and that encouragement to stay came from Bible teaching which I received just at that time. Similarly, one of the best decisions I made was to change jobs (that very same job) about 15 years later.

10.     For the new believer or the immature believer, your best decision is to stay right where you are about 99.9% of the time. Paul advises that the believer remain in the state wherein he was calls. If he is a slave, do not expend effort trying to be free. If you are married to an unbeliever, do not seek to break the bonds of your marriage. 1Cor. 7:20–21 Each one should remain in the condition in which he was called. Were you a slave when called? Do not be concerned about it. (But if you can gain your freedom, avail yourself of the opportunity.) Read all of 1Cor. 7:18–24 to get the full impact of this passage.

11.     We have had several instances of God’s geographical will being made clear (that is, God came to these individuals and told them what to do and where to go):

          a.       Noah building the ark and then entering into the ark with his family.

          b.       Abram and his wife moving to the Land of Promise.

          c.        Hagar being sent back to her mistress.

          d.       You will never receiver these sorts of verbal instructions because you have the entire Word of God available to you.

12.     We also have instances of a believer being in God’s geographical will without God having to tell him exactly where to go and what to do.

          a.       Abram chose to separate from Lot because they were involved in constant disputes over the ownership of the assets of their two companies. God came to Abram almost immediately after and continued teaching the Abrahamic Covenant to him. Gen. 13

          b.       Abram in Gen. 14 gathered his men and fought to free his nephew Lot from what would be a lifetime of slavery. God did not have to come to Abram and tell him to do this. As a result, Abram enjoys the fellowship of Melchizedek, one of the pivotal people of the Old Testament.

13.     For the growing and mature believer, the key to the geographical will of God is being in fellowship with God and knowing the Word of God.

Additional resources:

The Doctrine of the Will of God (HTML) (PDF)

R. B. Thieme, Jr.’s Divine Guidance.

Buddy Dano’s God’s Will for Your Life.

The example of Paul and the geographical will of God.