God's Will...
I seem to be having a lot of conversations about God's will lately. It's something that, at this age, I find a lot of my peers questioning. What is God's will for my life? What is my destiny? Is it God's will for me to marry so-and-so? To have this job? To go to graduate school? To change majors? To eat at Wendy's?
I've always been bothered by "God's will," and I'm guessing a lot of you have too. It seems like a lot of pressure to put on a young person...map out your life, and hurry up before you make a bad decision and step out of God's will! I don't know how many times I've answered an altar call to come and pray that God would show me His will for my life. The problem is, I'm still not really clear on it. At least, not as far as what job I'll end up with, whether or not I'll have children, and things like that are concerned.
I'm starting to believe (understand?) that God's will for our lives is much bigger than the day to day decisions we have to make. After all, God gave us talents. He gave us strengths and weaknesses. And He gave us brains. For example, I don't have to wonder if it's God's will for me to be an astronaut...I'm not interested in space travel, I don't enjoy math, and I'm just a little claustrophobic.
I can say with certainty, though, that it's God's will for me to love, honor, and serve Him and the people around me. It's God's will for me to be in full-time ministry, whatever my job title might be. It's God's will for me to tell others about Him. Does it matter what I get paid to do if I'm doing all of the above? I don't think so.
The problem is, that's not enough for most people. The people I know who have wondered about God's will (including myself) want to know the specifics. What is that all about? Are we that scared that we're going to mess something up? And, if we are, what does that say about our belief in the sovereignty of God? Or our faith in our own maturity? I think a lot of people just want someone to tell them what to do. If their parents won't do it, and their friends won't do it, maybe God will. We have to understand that God has given us specifics for our life through His Word, the Bible. They just aren't the specifics we're always looking for.
Does God sometimes answer the question of "What job should I take?" Of course. But sometimes He just lets us choose, you know? Does that mean you should not consult God and be open to His answers when making decisions? NO! It just means that sometimes, God may open several doors and give you the opportunity to choose. Have you ever thought that the end result might be the same no matter which door you select?
I've always been bothered by "God's will," and I'm guessing a lot of you have too. It seems like a lot of pressure to put on a young person...map out your life, and hurry up before you make a bad decision and step out of God's will! I don't know how many times I've answered an altar call to come and pray that God would show me His will for my life. The problem is, I'm still not really clear on it. At least, not as far as what job I'll end up with, whether or not I'll have children, and things like that are concerned.
I'm starting to believe (understand?) that God's will for our lives is much bigger than the day to day decisions we have to make. After all, God gave us talents. He gave us strengths and weaknesses. And He gave us brains. For example, I don't have to wonder if it's God's will for me to be an astronaut...I'm not interested in space travel, I don't enjoy math, and I'm just a little claustrophobic.
I can say with certainty, though, that it's God's will for me to love, honor, and serve Him and the people around me. It's God's will for me to be in full-time ministry, whatever my job title might be. It's God's will for me to tell others about Him. Does it matter what I get paid to do if I'm doing all of the above? I don't think so.
The problem is, that's not enough for most people. The people I know who have wondered about God's will (including myself) want to know the specifics. What is that all about? Are we that scared that we're going to mess something up? And, if we are, what does that say about our belief in the sovereignty of God? Or our faith in our own maturity? I think a lot of people just want someone to tell them what to do. If their parents won't do it, and their friends won't do it, maybe God will. We have to understand that God has given us specifics for our life through His Word, the Bible. They just aren't the specifics we're always looking for.
Does God sometimes answer the question of "What job should I take?" Of course. But sometimes He just lets us choose, you know? Does that mean you should not consult God and be open to His answers when making decisions? NO! It just means that sometimes, God may open several doors and give you the opportunity to choose. Have you ever thought that the end result might be the same no matter which door you select?
posted by Michelle at 2:32 PM
4 Comments:
Yeah, sometimes it isn't all that much fun having to wonder what God's will is for our lives. Reading a book called..ahem.."Knowing God's Will" last semester, I realized that sometimes the best way to find out what God wants us to do is to do the little things that he has already told us to do. Like Leah said, we already know some of the things that are God's will for our lives, so why not do them while we are wondering. God's plan is not for us to stumble around blindly in the dark, struggling for our next step. He gives us just enough guidance to let us see the next step in front of us.
Besides, I don't think that "God's Will" is some superspiritual chain of events that we are commanded to follow in order to make God happy so he won't blow our heads off. It's more like what God knows will be the best for us, whether he sends down a lightening bolt with a note addressed to us, or he sends us a candle in a dark room. He hasn't let me down yet, and I'll be sure to let you know if *not likely* he ever does.
I'm reading "Believing God" by Beth Moore and one of the things that have been permeating my spirit it that, I am who God says I am. What does he say that I am? In His love I am: favored, blessed, chosen, adopted, forgiven and redeemed. If I am all of those things to him....is he going to leave me hanging? Absolutely not! But how he chooses to identify the way (will) only God knows. I think we can know God's will at times...but we block it by what we want and what looks "natural" to our human perspective....and as Jennifer McGee puts it, "God plays on a much higher playing field."
so what do you do when God leads you into something that fails?
er....doesn't turn out like he has told you? what does that mean?
I don't feel like i have trouble knowing what God's will is. But i do have a lot of questions that are unanswered. Why would his will cause me so much pain?
That doesn't seem like the God of love I know.
Barrett - I don't know specifically what you're talking about when you say sometimes things don't work out the way you thought they would, but here are a few things to keep in mind...
- When dealing with other people, you have to remember that they are struggling with doing their will over God's will, just like you are. If you think something has failed because you were obedient, but things still didn't work out, examine if there were other people involved. Perhaps they didn't do what God was leading them to do. Or maybe they don't even care. What's important is that WE, as individuals, are obedient.
- How do you know it failed? Just because it didn't work out the way YOU thought it would, doesn't mean it didn't work out the way God planned. Who knows what God's ultimate plan for each situation is? What looks like struggle or failure to us may be exactly what we/someone else needed at that time to push us/them toward the next level of relationship with God.
- Don't forget that our ways are not God's ways and our thoughts are not His thoughts. He has the advantage of knowing how it all turns out in the end. Even when we don't know how it will end up, we still keep the faith that if we are doing our best and truly seeking Him, things will work out the way they're supposed to.
Hope that all made sense!
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