God's will has been told to us all throughout Scripture. It came to Adam in the command to be fruitful and multiply. To name the animals, and have dominion over them. To cultivate and guard the Garden. This pattern of cultivating and guarding was in place so that when Eve was made, Adam would know that he had to do the same with her.

And then brokenness happened. Yet, God didn't keep Man in the dark. He told them what state they would be in, what Satan would attempt, and what God would do. From this revelation, Adam named the woman-person Eve (Life), because she was the mother of all who would live.

Adam believed God's words, that there would be a future for he and his wife. He acted out of a grounded hope in a sure promise. He knew God not to be a liar, so he took strong comfort in this.

Noah and his sons. Abraham and Sarah. Moses. David to Solomon. Isaiah and the Babylonian captivity. Esther and Mordecai. Nehemiah. Mary and Joseph. Peter, James, and John. Paul. Jesus.

All these knew God's will for them. And all of them had limited understanding. Yes, even Jesus. He grew in wisdom (Luke 2:52). He learned obedience (Hebrews 5:7-10). He asked questions (Mark 9:20-22, Mark 5:29-33). He didn't know when He would come back (Matt. 24:36). He wondered if it was possible to not have to suffer separation from the Father (Luke 22:41-44).

We see in the OT Law that God's will in various areas of conduct were expressed. People still received direct messages from God saying to do this thing that hadn't been done before. In the NT we still see that, but the focus is on Jesus. He is revealing something new to the people, but it was of old- it had been prophesied.

After He left, there were still some revelations to do certain things, but most of the revelation was found in new understanding of the Old Testament. After Revelation, Church doctrine holds that we don't believe in continuing revelation. God does not speak to us in a way that shows us a new thing for us to do. We believe that the Scripture is complete, inerrant, and sufficient to meet our daily need through the Holy Spirit's work.

Therefore, we know God's will. His commands are laid out in Scripture, and it is authoritative- we are required to follow them and not another. This includes making disciples, loving one another, prayer and fasting, being sanctified, honor authorities, etc. This does not include sinning or the OT Law (except for Acts 15:20).

The problem is that we don't know how much is essential for daily life. Many are seeking direct answers from God on things like their job, who they'll marry, which school to attend, whether they're favorite team will win or not. While these things are good, they are non-essential. God does not require us to have assurance about these things. We often ask for signs and visions for such things as confirmation. While He is capable of it, Jesus says seeking this is wicked (Matt. 16:4).

Consequences arise when we believe that we've found His will out for ourselves in these non-essential matters. When that thing fails to come true, we will call God a liar for not fulfilling what He "promised." It was well intended on the person's part. They wanted to put their full trust in God and go where He leads. But they may lose trust simply because they deceived themselves, not being informed by the Word.

This is where preference, wisdom, and solid hope should come in. 1 Timothy 3:1-13 tells us that one can have their own desires and pursue them. In this case, being a deacon. The text tells us that it's a good desire. However, there are character requirements (displayed sufficiently in the Scriptures) that the man has to pursue in order to be one.

If we want to run a business, we seek wise counsel from others in our church to see if it is a good thing and good desire for us. And use wisdom to see if it's feasible for us to pursue it. However, it cannot run our life to the extent that we spend little time with the Church. 

If our preference is to go to one school over another, that is allowed and profitable. However, ask the Spirit to check our heart whether our criteria is godly or discriminatory. 

Our wife or husband should be wise before we start dating, and their fruit should be evident before all. But if the dating breaks down before making a covenant of marriage, that is the preference of the two in question. If they were godly, and we discerned that they were headed in a profitable direction for you both, you were seeking a good thing. God isn't angry with you for pursuing that thing, and therefore made you "fail." Though He cause grief, He doesn't do it to His people in condemnation (1 Cor. 11:32).

God does everything for His ultimate glory and for our ultimate good. His will is that we be sanctified (1 Timothy 4:3-7), because it brings honor to the One we're being conformed to, and we'll be happiest when we've gained more of a capacity to enjoy Jesus. His will is that we rejoice/pray always and give thanks in all circumstances (among other things- 1 Timothy 5:14-24), because He laid out works for us beforehand so that we should walk in them, knowing that we'd be just like Jesus in His earthly life. Limited in knowledge, but expectant of satisfaction. 

It's obvious that this doesn't happen by accident. The Holy Spirit does this work in our mind during our progressive sanctification (Romans 12:2). We take things step by step. The more we walk in His commands, the more we'll have them ready in our mind to discern good and evil at a glance (Heb. 5:14).

The Bible commands us to fear and love God. These are not contradictory, even though 1 John 4:17‭-‬18 says, "In this our love is made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear: because that fear has to do with torment. He that fears punishment is not made perfect in love."

Fear and hope are related. We often fear what we don't know. Christian, know this: God's plans of goodness will surely come to pass. We need not fear Satan or Man. Their plans aren't inevitable. Fear is a belief that something or someone has power over us and whatever it is will happen. The Lord is both eminent (He reigns) and imminent (He will come).

God, willing more abundantly to show to the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath: 
That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong comfort, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: 
Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters into that within the curtain.
Hebrews 6:17‭-‬19