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.
Trying to do God a service without it being His will
65-0718M §23
Who is it that will dare to correct Him? and say, "Now, Lord, You made a mistake by putting this man in the ministry. This man doesn't believe like we believe." Who's going to tell God He's wrong in it? It would take somebody that's a little more of a delinquent that I am to tell Him that. He knows what He's doing. He knows who to choose and who not to choose, what to do and when to do it. No matter how much we think that a certain person is qualified to do a certain job, God knows who's qualified for the time and...
Trying to do God a service without it being God's will
65-1127B §121
...those old dead denominations, because they're putting their hand on the Ark when they're not ordained to do so. Now you can believe it or not believe it, that's up to you. God's your judge. God never did take back His Word. What He said the first time, He says for every time. He told Balaam, "Don't you go!" And then Balaam come back, said, "But Lord, could I go?" Now look. God said, "Go on!" Now, He give him permission to go. There is a permissive will of God, and not the original will of God. You see what a troub...
The Queen of Sheba
60-0401E §1
...ion. They almost worship it, it's so wonderful. I think all translations might leave something to be desired. So I'm not going to vouch for any translation, but I know that God has seen to it that the translations are such that nobody will miss heaven if they'll do what's written in the Scriptures. Dr. Lamsa has in thirty years worked on a translation that is direct from the original, and now there is a Bible published which is his translation. When I spoke to him yesterday, he said to me, "I would like to meet Bro...
Unbelief does not hinder God
62-0128M §30
We hear so much today about God being a good God. And that's true. He is a good God. We believe that, but He's also a God of judgment. In order to be good He has to bring judgment. To keep his law there must be... There must be penalty to law, or law is non-effective. If there's a law that says, "To run a stoplight is against the law," then if there's no penalty to that law to be executed, then the law is no good at all. Just might as well run it, or anything you want to, 'cause there's no law. But when you trespas...
Does God ever change His mind about His Word?
65-0418E §80
Notice here, God never changed his mind, his Word. But He is a good God, and He'll give you the desire of your heart though it be against his will. You believe that? Look. God told Moses, "You go down there [this anointed prophet]..." Said, "Go down there and speak to that rock. It's already been smitten." Moses went down there in his anger, picked up the rod, and said, "You rebels, must we fetch you water out of this rock?" and smote the rock. The water didn't come. He smote it again. It come. It was against God's...