What
is God's will for your life?
Is it really about what house to
build, what car to buy? We've been hearing so much about finding the will of
God especially before making big decisions, and then when you find that 'will',
you need to stay in it. Like it's not hard enough to find it; now you'd have to
stay holy to stay in the will of God.
Then there are those who say that
there's such a thing as His 'permissive' will, and His 'perfect' will; Still
there are those who talk about how God could place a group of doors in front of
us, just for us to choose a door, and either reap the rewards or suffer the
consequences.
But you see here how all this places
people in bondage, which is actually far from the liberty upon which Christ has
set us free!
So,
what is God's will for your life?
God's
Will Is Salvation.
- God's Will is actually obvious and
clear and part of His will for us is, clearly, to be saved!
'The
Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient
toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.' - 2 Peter 3:9
God so loved the world, and that has
never changed. There are no special groups and cadres that are saved, and there
are no groups and people groups that are doomed to hell. It is God's will for
everyone to come to the decision of believing in Christ and His finished work.
'This
is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to
be saved and to come to the knowledge of the Truth.' - 1 Timothy 2:3-4
Again, 'ALL' is emphasized here. Take
a look back at what you thought God's will was before, and compare it to what
we are learning so far - If God's will is for you to be saved, isn't it nice to
know that Christ's finished work guarantees your everlasting life a.k.a. your
salvation? In other words, isn't it nice to know that as you have believed in
Christ, that you have been placed and secured in God's will?
We're seeing that God's will is
certainly not something hard to grasp or achieve.
God's
will is salvation for the Gentiles and the Jews.
God was in the business of saving Jews
and protecting Israel.. but, as Andrew Farley says, this is a news flash! God's
salvation has been extended to the Gentiles as well as the Jews!
'He
made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which
He purposed in Him with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of
the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the
heavens and things on the earth.' -
Ephesians 1:9-10
Is God's will a mystery? Yes, but He
has made it known to us. It was a secret, but now it is revealed that His will
is 'the summing up of all tings in Christ', not just in the heavens, but in the
earth, where lives Jews AND Gentiles. Christ is the unifier that allows us to
merge in spite of our diversity. God's will, in this context, is unity - unity
with Him, and unity with each other, in spite of our color, our looks, our
other affiliations.
'By
referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery
of Christ, which in other generations was not made known... to be specific,
that the Gentiles are fellow heirs.' -
Ephesians 3:4-6
God's will is for the Gentiles to be
made fellow heirs. Indeed, blessed are we in this generation where this is made
obvious. We, Gentiles, are part of God's will.
--
Now, yes, there are choices we have to
make, but these aren't choices such as the ideal spouse, or the best job, etc.
but rather linked more to our attitudes. God's will is that we exude certain
attitudes, that we take on certain mindsets... God's will relates to attitudes.
'Rejoice always; pray without ceasing;
in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.' - 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Are
you wondering what God's will is for you? There it is.
God's
will for you is to Rejoice.
God's will for us is to come to the
attitude of 'Wow! Amazing! Incredible! Awesome!' It's the attitude which comes
from being absolutely overwhelmed by the Good News of Christ, the Gospel that
saves and sets us free!
God's
will for you is to Pray.
God's will for us is to come to the
attitude which says, 'Father, I need you, and I know that we are united, and
that You are alive in me, and I am alive in You.' This is the attitude of
living FROM Christ, and not FOR Christ. The idea of praying without ceasing is
not literally staying in prayer, but understanding that throughout your life,
you would eventually comes to the attitude of talking to Dad, and letting Him
know all that you see and feel, believing that He always wants to hear from
you, always staying with you no matter what.
God's
will for you is to Give Thanks.
God's will for us is to come to the
attitude which is able to find a reasonable thing to thank God for in ALL
circumstances. And because He is with us forever, in any event, this is a
reason to give God thanks, and thanks in all things. It's not positive
thinking, it's not faking it till we make it, but it's just that we recognize
who God is and knowing He is always with us even in what the world says could
be the worst that could happen.
What are we seeing here? It's not
about God giving you the instructions to buy a certain camera, or to drive a
certain direction at a given time, but it's about attitudes - attitudes which are,
by the way, of Jesus Christ, - that are being worked in us day by day.
God's
Will relates to actions.
For
this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from
sexual immorality. - 1
Thessalonians 4:3
Paul continues by mentioning that your
body is a temple of the Holy Spirit , and should not be used for flippant
things; it should be used in honor, knowing that you carry Christ within you.
Sanctification? You have been
sanctified, set apart for a purpose. You are holy, blameless, and sanctified.
You HAVE been sanctified. These are the actual daily choices - do you choose to
use your body for Christ, do you set apart your temple for Him, or for sin and
other purposes altogether?
Don't waste away time and energy
chasing after sin, and letting your body be abused by sin, instead, waking up
every day, and offering yourself to God as someone who is alive to Him, with a
body that is holy and acceptable to Him, which is an act of worship! Worship
isn't just music - 99% of our worship is any step taken in dependency to Christ
who is alive within us.
'Now
the God of peace... equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us
that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ...' - Hebrews 13:20-21
The pressure is off. Break it down:
The writer of Hebrews prays that the God of peace - the God who is at peace
with you, who likes you and loves you, may He equip you through the knowledge
of Him - as you are equipped in your heart, may you continue to be equipped in
the mind through the renewing of the mind. - in every good thing to rejoice,
and to pray, and to give thanks in all things, through Jesus Christ who is
alive in us.
In other words, as God is the One
working through us, the pressure is off! It's no longer about the works you do,
but the works that God has prepared in advance for you to walk right into them.
God has designed you for good works - not just in a period of time, but in each
and every day of your life! You be you, and you let Christ work in and through
you! God is doing the work in you so that you can see what is pleasing in His
sight!
Submit
yourselves for the Lord's sake to every human institution... For such is the
will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men. - 1 Peter 2:13-15
Here, Peter talks about what it means
to suffer, and how foolish it is to suffer for wrong reasons. Why suffer for a
crime which goes against the rulers of the land, spending the rest of your life
in bondage because you deserve it? Peter is also saying that if you are
suffering for what you believe in Jesus, then so be it; it is an honor, but
really, it's foolish to waste your time suffering as an evildoer.
God's will is for us to be sensible,
that we walk in the wisdom of the Lord, that we do not waste time and energy
doing foolish things like people who do not know Christ.
Therefore
be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your
time... do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. - Ephesians 5:15-17
Before going any further, go back to
what the current trend is regarding how most Christians believe regarding the
Will of God; that you need to find it, and it's a tough road, and that you may
need to get rid of all the sin in your life to find His will, and to get into
His will, and to stay in His will.. and THEN you'll be okay with God.
Have we seen any of this funny
business, this bondage? No, what we've seen so far in the Scripture is that
God's will is salvation, that this salvation is for all (for Jew and Greek),
that God cares about our attitudes in general (love, patience and kindness
towards others), that God cares about our actions, and how we carry ourselves
in a daily basis, caring for others, as temples of the Holy Spirit.
Is this hard to understand? It's not
about being scared to make the next move lest you fall out of God's will, but
sadly, this error has been more pervasive! No, God's will is big, it's Jesus
Christ in you, and expressed through you! Don't be foolish, make the most of
your time, and take time to understand what God's will really is!
God's
Will Is Not Paralyzing
I
do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that often I have planned to come to
you (and have been prevented so far) so that I may obtain some fruit among you
also, even as among the rest of the Gentiles. -
Romans 1:13
Paul planned to go to Rome so many times,
but he wasn't able to in more than one occasion. Paul operated like a lot of
us, not knowing what tomorrow would bring; he kept packing his suitcase, only
to be 'prevented'.
This is saying we aren't alone in
making decisions without a feeling or a knowledge of what tomorrow brings. We
all walk by faith. The will of God is not about where to live, and who to
marry, and if you make the right decisions, you'll be okay, and if not, you
won't... Your 'okayness' does not depend on your decisions, but on the finished
work of Christ.
WARNING:
Don't
let a frantic search for getting in God's will and staying in God's will become
a works-righteousness for you!
Let's not fall to the temptation of
believing that we may mess up God's will for us totally because of our
decisions! We are so tempted to make our choices connect to our rightness
before God... that our choices would cause God to place us in some sort of
lesser experience with Him.
[I've felt this way too many times.
I've felt in the core how my actions in the past gave me what I suffer for
today, and that I would have been in a better version of God's will if I did
better in the past.]
This is clearly not a Truth that
liberates! This is a worldly view of destiny and future prediction.
REMEMBER:
You are righteous by NEW BIRTH, NOT by daily choices! You are right before your
Father by your New Birth.
Don't get us wrong - if God gives you
wisdom for specific choices, then consider it! Consider the views of others,
and from your righteousness in Christ, make the decisions, without fear that
what you decide would derail you from God's will!
God's
will is salvation for anyone! - Jesus In You!
God's
will relates to attitudes and actions! - Jesus Through You!
God's
will is NOT paralyzing - God's will is JESUS in you and expressed through you!
_________________________
email me at jibee@rocketmail.com.
May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift His countenance upon you and give you His Shalom. - Numbers 6:24-26