3 Truths To Discover What God Says Is Possible For Your Life

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What does God say is possible for me? 

The passage in 1 Corinthians 2:7-16 has helped me move beyond my limited human thinking and enter into God’s mind, where I can discover the grand possibilities for my life within the parameters of His plan for me. 

We speak of God’s secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began … As it is written: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him” — but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God … The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned … “For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. (1 Cor. 2:7-16)

Here are three signal truths that will help you answer the question: What does God say is possible for me?

1. Before time began, God had a secret about you.

This secret was His wisdom about what He had “destined for [your] glory.” By His grace, you can now know this secret because of what Jesus did for you on the cross and more; His life, death, resurrection, and exaltation.

2. This secret is so big, so magnificent, so incredible that “no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Cor. 2:9).

Throughout my life, I’ve almost always heard this passage used to refer to eternity and heaven in all of its splendor. And while that still works, it’s actually not what Paul was teaching about — he was quoting a prophecy from Isaiah that does not merely promise a future of heavenly splendor, but rather a present reality of divine — and immediate — intervention:

Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down … For when you did awesome things that we did not expect, you came down, and the mountains trembled before you. Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him. (Isaiah 64:1, 3-4)

So, this secret is so great that we, by our own human might, cannot comprehend what God has prepared for you and me right now. No human has heard, no human ear has perceived, no human eye has seen the beyond-imagination possibilities God has destined for you. Whatever you see as possible for your life from your human perspective alone, be assured that God sees much, much more.

3. “God has revealed it to us by his Spirit” (1 Cor. 2:10).

Though you as a mere human alone cannot render the capacity to comprehend what God has planned for your life, you can know what God wills for your life by His Spirit: “The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God” (v. 10). Think about it like this: Because of the gift of the Holy Spirit through Jesus Christ, we can know the thoughts of God. We can uncover what’s in His mind concerning us and “understand what God has freely given us … We have the mind of Christ” (vv. 12, 16). 

Now that I’ve established those three truths, how does one — practically speaking — go about entering God’s mind and discovering the possibilities He has mapped out for us? Various spiritual disciplines or means of grace reveal God’s thoughts. These include, but are not limited to:

  • Studying Scripture, 

  • Praying, 

  • Meditating,

  • Receiving instruction from skilled teachers,

  • Learning to listen to that “still, small voice” (1 Kings 19:12) that comes from a developed awareness of God’s Spirit speaking within us,

  • Opening to God’s thoughts by being in committed community with other believers, and

  • Seeking the counsel of mature spiritual leaders. 

Know this, though — You must not reduce your relationship with God to a formulaic pursuit to know what’s in His mind. This insight comes solely from our personal, authentic relationship with Him. And relationships, especially meaningful ones, are not perfectly scripted or plotted. 

Don’t let your desperation to know your future override your desperation for a relationship with God. Our relationship with Him is first and foremost uniquely exciting because we come to know our Creator. And through this, we come to know what our Designer thinks about us and has envisioned for our futures.

So, continue forward, not in desperate pursuit of certainty, but in fervent pursuit of God Himself. Because when we know Him and recognize His voice, we discover the limitless possibilities He has woven into the fabric of our destiny.

Terry Smith