Note:
A perennial question among (some) Christians is about what is God’s will for our lives, what God wants us to do. In real practical terms. Things like: Should I go to this school or that? Major in this or that? Take this job or not? Marry which person? Buy this car or house, or that one?

Werner Elert explains that — based on what Jesus said in the Gospels (which should carry great authority for His followers) — maybe it just doesn’t matter so much to God. Those kinds of specific answers, those tasks, all that is small potatoes in the Christian life. What matters to the Father, what Jesus tells us, what the Spirit whispers in our ears is that we need to love God and love our neighbor. The specifics we aren’t going to get. We don’t need them. And we absolutely don’t need to stress over them.

Quote:
“If we expect the Lord and Master to assign a definite list of tasks to us, we shall be disappointed. Obedience is usually felt as compulsion. Many experience it as a welcome compulsion which gives them the feeling that they are secured in a stronger will and relieves them of the odious necessity of making their own decisions. However, the quest for particular assignments in specific situations is futile under the authority of Christ. In economic distress or national emergencies we often receive puzzling replies to our questions — How many calories? What shall we eat? What shall we wear? Christ answers: ‘Look at the birds of the air.’ That is unfortunately not the kind of exact answer we want. When I ask where to find shelter, his answer is, ‘The Son of man has not where to lay his head.’ Guidance in legal difficulties? ‘Man, who has made me a judge or divider over you?’ Advice in tax matters? ‘Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s.’ ‘Entirely unnecessary,’ says Jesus, whether I should attend a funeral, even though not attending would be socially impossible. It even appears that Jesus mocks the weather forecasters. [Matt. 16:2] If an individual with strong needs of dependency chooses ‘obedience toward Christ’ as a means of receiving specific directions which will relieve him of personal decisions and planning, he will be sadly disappointed.” (p. 251)

Source: Elert, Werner. The Christian Ethos. Philadelphia: Muhlenberg Press, 1957.