Can I Miss God's Will?
1) Direct Answer
Yes—a person can step out of God’s perfect will by unbelief or disobedience and miss His best in a season. But if you truly belong to Him, His purpose will stand; He will correct and bring you back. The Bride will not miss her place.
2) Scriptural Explanation
- The Bible shows a perfect will and a permissive will. “Prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Romans 12:2). That means some things are allowed, but they are not His best.
- Israel wanted a king. God let them have Saul, but said, “they have rejected Me” (1 Samuel 8:7). Permitted, yet outside His perfect plan.
- Balaam pressed past God’s “No” until he got a “Go,” and it led to judgment (Numbers 22; 31:16). That’s permissive will—dangerous ground.
- Jonah ran from God’s will, but God corrected him and set him back on the path (Jonah 1–3). You can detour, but God can bring His own back.
- Not everyone doing religious works is in the will of God (Matthew 7:21). We must do the Father’s will, not our own way.
- For those who are His: “All that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me” (John 6:37). “My sheep hear My voice… and no man is able to pluck them out of My hand” (John 10:27–29). He finishes what He starts (Philippians 1:6).
- We are told, “Be not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is” (Ephesians 5:17). That means it can be known, and it can be missed if we are unwise.
- God’s will is first moral and spiritual: “This is the will of God, even your sanctification” (1 Thessalonians 4:3). As we walk clean, He orders our steps (Proverbs 3:5–6).
3) Simple Clarifying Logic
- If everything that happens were God’s perfect will, there would be no warnings to “understand” His will, no call to “prove” it, and no need to pray “Thy will be done.” The Bible gives those commands because our choices matter.
- You can miss timing, peace, and reward by choosing your own way (1 Corinthians 3:13–15). But if you are His, you won’t miss salvation or your ordained place; He disciplines and restores His own.
- The Bride hears the Word, follows the Spirit, and will not fail to take her place. She is called, washed, and kept.
Practical counsel to stay in His perfect will
- Yield fully: Present your body a living sacrifice so you can “prove” His perfect will (Romans 12:1–2).
- Stay in the Word: His will never contradicts Scripture (Psalm 119:105).
- Be led by the Spirit: “As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God” (Romans 8:14).
- Watch the fruit and the peace: The wisdom from above is pure and peaceable (James 3:17); let His peace rule in your heart (Colossians 3:15).
- Don’t force God after He has spoken: Balaam did and paid dearly. Wait, obey, and don’t press past the check of the Word and Spirit.
- If you’ve stepped off: Repent now. He restores and even redeems lost time (Joel 2:25). “All things work together for good” to them that love God (Romans 8:28).
Short reinforcing statement
Don’t live in the permissive will. Walk in the light you have, and God will make the next step plain. His perfect will is knowable, walkable, and sure for those who yield to His Word and Spirit.
Ask a Follow-up Question
What did the Laodicean Church Age (our age) Angel (- messenger) Say about this?
Ranked passages from the local William Branham sermon and Church Age Book database. Relevance is relative, not a statement of doctrinal certainty.
We would see Jesus
58-0523 §31
...sm. Why? Because it's got out of the vine. It's no more being energized by the Spirit, wells of water bubbling up into everlasting life. They've lost that zeal. Something's missing. God remains the same; Christ remains the same; but His church has disassociated itself with His connection, the vine, the Spirit.
The stature of a perfect man
62-1014M §32
...ple couldn't understand how Jesus talked to the Father, and He and the Father are one. Well, there the whole thing is. Sure. Just unfolds it, certainly. See, it's not three gods---three offices. What is it? God condescending to his creation. God wants to be worshipped. The word "god" means "object of worship." And it's God trying to condition his people so He can get from them what He created them for. He never made you to be something else besides a son and daughter of God. If you have missed that, of being a son...
Does God ever change His mind about His Word?
65-0418E §50
God permitted Israel to take a law in Exodus, the nineteenth chapter, when grace had already give them a prophet, pillar of fire, a sacrificed lamb, a delivering power. But they cried out for a law. It wasn't God's will, but it was injected because man wanted it. And he was cursed by the very law that he wanted. It's best to have God's will. That's what He taught us: "Thy will be done. Thy kingdom come, thine will be done." We must submit ourselves to his will and his Word. Don't question it; believe it. Don't try...
The Seed shall not be heir with the shuck
65-0429B §16
Now you see, from ... as I said last night, any move from that original plan of God throws the whole thing out-of-cater. We can't move from that original word. It's got... We talked on it last evening, or evening before last, rather, on Balaam. He got God's answer straight and clear: "Don't go!" But he had the permissive will, and you can work in that if you wish to. And God will make it honor Him, but still it's not God's perfect will. And that's what we should strive for---His perfect will, not His permissive wil...
Does God ever change His mind about His Word?
65-0418E §48
But ... and if the people won't walk in his perfect will, He does have a permissive will He'll let you walk in. Notice, He permits it all right, but He will make it work out for his glory in his perfect will. Now, if you'd like... Just like in the beginning, it was not God's perfect will for children to be born on the earth through sex. No, sir! God created man out of the dust of the earth, breathed the breath of life into him, and he become a living soul. He took from that man a helpmate and made a wife to him. Th...