”Then shall ye return and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.”
How can you tell the righteous from the wicked? Or, more importantly, how can you tell if God counts you among the righteous or the wicked? At some point it will become clear. But that day is not yet. For now it can be hard to tell the difference between those who have the appearance of serving God and those who are truly serving him. Before that day when the difference is made clear for all to see, it would be good for an individual to answer for themselves, am I truly serving God or not?
To serve God requires that a person be doing that which God commands him to do. It’s not enough to even do what you think God would want you to do, or what others tell you God wants you to do. You have to be doing God’s will to be serving Him.
The problem is complicated when you don’t have the confidence to hear the Lord and to know that it is his voice speaking to you. Lacking this confidence, you can be susceptible to all kinds of voices claiming to be from God. A common problem is for men to use the name of God to send others on their own errand. Those so sent may believe that they have indeed been called by God and are on His errand when in reality it is merely the precepts of men that are guiding their service. Men can have good intentions. But are good intentions the same thing as hearing and following the voice of God?
Doing God’s will can appear complicated because those who know His will are born of the Spirit and operate by the Spirit. Jesus described the way they do things when he likens them to the wind, which blows and you can tell that it is there and it is real, but cannot tell where it really came from nor where it will go next. That is what it is like to be doing God’s will.
How can a man know the master whom he has not served? How can a man serve a master whom he cannot hear and does not know the thoughts and intents of his heart? How can he hear someone who is a stranger to him?
Assume for a moment that this latter description is you, finding that God is a stranger, that you don’t really know or understand. How can you begin to know and understand him? It’s by doing His will. But how can you do His will if you don’t even know what His will is? You have to start somewhere. You may not get it right the first time. Even if you do get it right for the first time, you probably won’t get it right every time. But if you ask with real intent and a desire to serve Christ because you truly want to know Him, He will manifest his will to you by the power of the Holy Ghost. And by the power of the Holy Ghost, you can know His will for you in all things. Seek to not just know, but to do His will. Do your best to follow Him by serving Him in doing what is your best understanding of His will. Clarity can come as you try. You probably won’t get it all right but as you do your best, you’ll come to a better understanding than you had before. His will is made known to you by the power of the Holy Ghost.