“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies
as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual act of
worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of the world, but be
transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test
and approve what God’s will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will.” (Romans 12:1-2)
We all want to know what God’s Will is, don’t we? But do we really know
what we are asking? Are we willing to put in the required effort to know
it?
Usually, when we want to know God’s Will, we want to know what our next step is
or what plans God has in store for our future. We think of “His Will” as
“His plans for our life.”
But is that how the Bible defines “God’s Will”?
Does “God’s Will” mean what He wants for us/asks of us? Is it His plans
for our lives? Is it just whatever happens … because God always does His
Will, right? Such as “Well, it must have
been God’s Will that I got pregnant . . . or lost my job . . . or that our
house got destroyed in a tornado, etc. because it’s what happened”?
Personally, I think that “His Will” is not necessarily about His future plans
for us and it’s not really whatever happens to us. I think it is most
accurately defined as what He desires.
It’s
what He wants for us (the choices He wants us to make and the path He wants
us to take and the blessings He wants us to obtain, etc.), and it’s what He wants from us (living God-glorifying lives and
being obedient, etc.).
His Will isn’t about some pre-set path that we have to figure out in prayer,
crying out to God, “Lord, what is Your Will for my life?” It’s bigger
than that. And, yet, smaller. It’s about how He wants us to live
daily - abiding in Him, walking with Him in daily obedience to Him and His
Word. It’s more about the moment than it is about the future. About
the small daily things than the huge future things.
And if we are living as He wants us to live daily, “the next step on our path”
will become clear . . . as we walk with
Him.
But if we just focus on finding “the next step” instead of being more concerned
with how we walk with Him daily, we will be off-track. We are pursuing
the wrong thing. Yes, it’s great to want to know what His plans are for
our lives, but He doesn’t reveal those before it is time. He doesn’t
often explain why He’s allowed something in our lives and where it will take
us.
But He will reveal to us how we are supposed to live today, how we can
be obedient today and what changes we need to make and how we can walk closer
to Him. Focus on that, and the next step becomes clear when it
needs to become clear and we will always be on the path He wants us to
take.
I also think we are off-track to think of His Will as “whatever happens must be
God’s Will.” Living like we have no effect on whether God’s Will gets
done or not, like He will always do His Will regardless of us, will cause us to
be lazy in our daily pursuit of God, lazy in prayer, lazy in obedience, and
lazy in reading and applying His Word.
But if He is just going to do whatever He wants anyway and if everything
that happens is “His Will” then it doesn’t matter what we do, right?
Wrong! God is very clear that our obedience is critical in obtaining the
blessings He wants us to have, in staying on the path He wants us to take, in
staying in His Will for us.
Consider the Israelites at Passover. It was God’s Will that they be
spared when the Angel of Death came and killed the firstborn of the
Egyptians. But in order for God’s Will to be done, they had to be
obedient in putting the blood of a lamb on their doorframe. God had a
Will, but it was carried out by the people’s obedience.
God’s Will was to get the Israelites from Egypt into Canaan. But in order
for this to happen, Moses had to be obedient in getting them set free and the
people had to be obedient in following him to the Promised Land.
Disobedience and a resistance to follow Moses was equal to resisting God’s Will
and plans, and they earned themselves death through an extended stay in the
desert. Had they just obeyed and followed God’s directions, they would
have obtained the blessing.
But God’s Will was still accomplished; He took the next generation of
Israelites into the promised land because they were willing and obedient.
Getting God’s Will done requires our obedience, a responsibility on our part to
follow Him in His plans for us, to live as He wants us to live. He does
not force His Will upon us and not everything that happens is because He planned
it that way, because He caused it, or because it was His Will. The
Israelites didn’t have to die off in the desert, but they resisted doing it
God’s way. Yet, God made a way to accomplish His ultimate Will for the
people, just with the next group of willing people.
Let’s look again at Romans 12:1-2:
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies
as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual act of
worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of the world, but be
transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test
and approve what God’s will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
Out of thankfulness for the mercy that God has shown us, we are to live holy
and pleasing lives as God calls us to (this is what I call seeking
righteousness or living righteously). We are to sacrifice our desires and
plans for His sake and for His kingdom, offering our bodies to be used by Him
and for His purposes. And this includes our minds, which we are to
transform and renew by the power of the Holy Spirit.
This is to be our daily lifestyle.
We need to get our hearts and minds in line with Him. And this can only
really happen when we choose to stop conforming to the world.
We can’t do both: have our minds
conformed to the world and
transformed by the Holy Spirit. But when we choose to let go of our
worldly pursuits and mindsets - when we seek righteousness, holiness, and God’s
Kingdom and seek to be pleasing and submissive to Him - we give the Spirit room
to come in and transform us. And it is then that we can discern
God’s perfect Will for our lives, what He wants for us and from us and the ways
He wants us to walk.
And then, it’s up to us to
obey! And as we walk in obedience, the path will become straight and we
will know the “next steps” when it is time.
“If the Lord delights in a man’s way, he makes his
steps firm.” (Psalm
37:23)
“The righteousness of the blameless makes a
straight way for them, but the wicked are brought down by their own
wickedness.” (Proverbs
11:5)
We won’t know God’s plans for us by trying to force Him to reveal it, by trying
to make it happen, or by going about our business while neglecting a serious
pursuit of God and our responsibility to be obedient. We have a lot more
to do than just “going with the flow,” thinking we’ll stumble into God’s Will
for our lives.
We need to be delighting the Lord by being spiritual sacrifices, by letting the
Spirit transform us into humble, righteousness-seeking, God-honoring,
God-fearing, totally-committed and radically-obedient Christians if we want to
remain on His best path for us, if we want to know what His good, pleasing,
perfect Will is.
I think we cause problems when we misinterpret verses like “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord
. . .” (Jeremiah 29:11), “In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines
his steps.” (Proverbs 16:9),
and “. . . for it is God who works in you to will
and to act according to his good purpose.” (Philippians 2:13).
We hear these and we think that it means that He has plans and that He will
always do whatever He plans. We think that they are set in stone and it’s
going to happen regardless of what we do. Right?
And in a way, that is true. God’s plans eventually get done. But we
have a right to refuse to follow Him in His plans. And if this happens,
He will just find someone else to work His plans through. Just ask the
Israelites who were led out of Egypt but died off in the desert because they
refused to follow God in His plans. His Will does get done. But it
is up to us if we will be a part of it, through our obedience and humility and
spiritual transformation … or if we will fall outside of His Will and miss out
on the blessings because we chose to do it our way.
Philippians 2:12 echoes the need for
daily obedience in order to see His purposes accomplished.
“Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always
obeyed. . . continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling. . . .”
- and then comes verse 13 – “for it is God
who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.”
We are to continue in our obedience, in fear of the Lord, because God works in
us to accomplish His purposes. But if we are not living in active
obedience – if we are just floating through life thinking God’s Will for us
will always get done because God always does whatever He wants regardless of
our responsibility or obedience – then we cannot expect to be accomplishing His
purposes. Usually, when we float through life without consciously and
actively abiding in Him in reverent fear, we are just accomplishing our own
purposes and putting His name on it, even though they might seem good, godly,
and reasonable to us.
Our problem is that we would much rather seek His plans than seek Him
with our whole hearts.
We would much rather believe that
His Will has to do with finding out His plans or the next step on the path than
it does with transforming our life.
We want a quick open door, not a
makeover of our spiritual lives and disciplines.
We want the blessings without any
work or responsibility on our parts.
We want to believe that every
problem we have in life is because He made it happen for a reason, not that it
might be some consequence of our own doing or a result of disobedience.
But we do have responsibilities and we do create consequences. His best
plans for us don’t always happen because we can choose to obey or
disobey. We can choose to pray or not. (For more on my view of
prayer, go to the “Understanding God’s Will” series, questions 5-9, at https://sweetlybrokengirl.blogspot.com. You’ll find it listed under the “labels.” Or check out the post “Prayer, Faith, and God’s Will” for a short review of it.)
God allows us to be
disobedient, to not seek answers in prayer, to fail to pray for His Will to get
done.
And He allows us the consequences that go with it.
He honors our free-will and our
choices and allows us to have an influence over what happens in life, for good
or for bad. We have a hand in (and a responsibility in) making His Will
happen and in reaping blessings instead of curses. By obedience,
righteous living, and prayer.
Yes, God is all-powerful and He does indeed know what is best. And
whatever He does is best. But just because He knows what’s best and wants
what’s best doesn’t mean that He always causes those things to happen, apart
from man’s cooperation.
I
believe that He voluntarily limits His use of power in causing things to
happen. He does not always use His power to force things. He
doesn’t always do “His Will,” regardless of us. Oftentimes, He hinges it
on us. (Of course, as I said, His Will does eventually get done, but
through people who are willing to do it and to follow Him His way. Those
who neglect to do it His way miss out.)
But most of us don’t want to put that kind of effort in. We’d rather just
convince ourselves that every open door is from God, that everything that
happens is because God planned it that way, and that He always does whatever He
wants, that His best plans for us always get done because God always does what
He plans.
After all, that’s a lot easier and a lot less disruptive than transforming our
lives and our minds … right!?!
But . . .
“He guides the humble in what is right and teaches
them his way. . . . Who, then, is the man that fears the Lord? He will
instruct him in the way chosen for him.” (Psalm 25:9, 12)
“My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning
your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding . . . Then
you will understand what is right and just and fair - every good path . . .
Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you.” (Proverbs 2:1-2, 9, 11)
“The integrity of the upright guides them . . .” (Proverbs 11:3)
“He who walks righteously and speaks what is right . . . this is the man who
will dwell on the heights, whose refuge will be the mountain fortress.
His bread will be supplied, and water will not fail him.” (Isaiah 33: 15, 16)
“This is what the Lord says: ‘Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the
ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find
rest for your souls. But you said, ‘We will not walk in it.’“ (Jeremiah 6:16)
“Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always
obeyed. . . continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it
is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good
purpose.” (Philippians
2:12-13)
Humility, wisdom, understanding, discretion, integrity, righteousness, seeking
“the good way” and walking in it, obedience, and reverent fear of God are what
will take us down the good, restful path. It’s what will keep us safely
within His Will for us.
But that path is not pre-set and fixed. Because we can refuse to look for
or go down that path. We can refuse to include Him in our choices.
We can disobey. We can fail to put the blood on the doorframe. We
can fail to trust that He will lead us into the Promised Land, fail to follow
in faith. His plans for our individual lives don’t happen apart from our
effort and obedience.
His Will - what He desires from us, how He wants us to live - is not a
mystery; it’s all there in His Word. But do we take the time to discover
it? Do we abide in Him? Do we put aside our own selfish desires and
plans in obedience to Him instead? Or do we waste our time and energy
pursuing “the next step” instead of pursuing Him, trying to figure out what the
future holds instead of trying to figure out how He wants us to live today?
When it comes to our daily lives, the way I see it is this: His Will is a
verb. It is how we are supposed to live daily. The Bible talks
about doing the things that God wills, things that He desires us to
do. It does not as often talk about waiting for His Will or trying to
find it as though it is a pre-set path or plan.
Matthew 7: 21: “‘Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter
the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in
heaven. . . .’“
John 7:17: “If anyone chooses to do God’s will . . .”
Psalm 143:10: “Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may
your good Spirit lead me on level ground.”
Ephesians 5:17, 18: “Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what
the Lord’s will is. . . . be filled with the Spirit.”
1 Thessalonians 4:3: “It is God’s will that you should be sanctified . .
.”
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18: “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in
all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
And a line in the Lord’s Prayer says, “your kingdom
come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:10) I used to read
this as “May Your plans come to pass,” as though we had no real responsibility
for that happening and that it would happen no matter what. We were
simply acknowledging that we wanted His plans to happen. But I’m
beginning to wonder if it really means, “May Your Will be obediently done by us
on earth, as it is done up in heaven by your angels. May we do what You
want us to do, and may what You want to have happen, happen; by our obedience
and prayer.”
It seems that, in general, His Will for us is how He desires us to live, in
obedience to His Word.
So if you really want to know what the Will of God is and how to stay on the
path He wants for you, let me put it this way:
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all
your mind. . . . Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:37, 39)
“Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me.” (John 14:21)
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be
given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:33)
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in
him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5)
“ . . . whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 10:31)
“Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will
be exalted in the earth.” (Psalm 46:10)
Love God and others with all you’ve got! Obey His commands! Seek
His kingdom and seek righteousness! Remain in Him always, through prayer
and His Word! And if you are living for His glory, your life will
be fruitful and God-glorifying! And we don’t have to know everything;
just be still in Him, for He is God! He will be exalted!
If our lives do not show evidence of
this then we are outside of His Will - His best plans - for us.
And we need to get on our knees and ask His help in making it right.
So why am I saying all this? Why such a huge post on God’s Will and our
responsibility to seek righteousness and be obedient and abide in Him?
Why repeat it over and over again in various posts throughout my blogs?
For one, I am saying this because I think that many of us are missing out on a
genuine, loving relationship with Him. Maybe because of our own negative
self-views, because we are not comfortable trusting others (even God), because
we don’t know how to let ourselves be loved, or because of our misconceptions
about who He is. And our lack of obedience and lack of abiding in Him
reflects that. And we are probably creating serious, negative
consequences for ourselves, missing out on the kind of healing, love, peace,
joy, and blessings He wants for us. And it’s time to seriously take a
look at the walls that you have up between you and God.
But mostly I am saying this not for the hurting Christians who struggle with
letting Him love you but for the multitudes of apathetic Christians who are
coasting and compromising in their spiritual lives. I think that lazy,
lukewarm, self-serving, comfortable Christianity is what has greatly helped our
country get into the moral mess that we’re in.
We are ruining our “Promised Land”
because we are becoming the Israelites who died off in the desert: too focused
on our own comfort and happiness, complaining about our circumstances,
forgetting what God has done and Who He is, worshipping “golden calves” in our
hearts, hardening our hearts to God’s convictions, and failing to fall down
before the Lord in humility, failing to live in reverent fear, and failing to be
obedient.
I have been there before – lazy, lukewarm, self-serving, and comfortable. Not
truly understanding the incredible responsibility and need for seeking
righteousness, for actively pursuing Him daily in His Word, for praying for His
Will to get done, for doing my part to make it happen, and for walking with Him
moment by moment in humble dependency. I figured that God would just do
whatever He wanted anyway, regardless of me. And I didn’t understand that
prayer really does matter, that God works His Will through willing
people.
But a five-month stretch of demonic harassment (in the post, “Supernatural Stuff and the Armor of God”) opened my eyes to the spiritual battle that rages
around us, to the reality of the invisible world working alongside this one,
and to the very real need for us to get off of our lazy, lukewarm,
self-serving, comfortable, Christian butts and get on our knees and get into
the Word and pursue Him, His Kingdom, and His righteousness with all we’ve got.
That is how we are a part of His Will getting done! That is how we impact
the world for His glory!
If only we will begin to take our Christian responsibility seriously then we
might see God intervene in our country. We might see revival! This
is why I am writing this post.
“Help, Lord, for the godly are no more; the
faithful have vanished from among men.” (Psalm 12:1)
“The Lord looks down from heaven on the sons of men
to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God.” (Psalm 14:2)
“Go up and down the streets of Jerusalem, look around and consider, search
through her squares. If you can find but one person who deals honestly
and seeks the truth, I will forgive this city.” (Jeremiah 5:1)
“I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me
in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found
none. So I will pour out my wrath on them and consume them with my fiery
anger, bringing down on their own heads all they have done, declares the
Sovereign Lord.” (Ezekiel 22:30-31)
“For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the
earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.” (2 Chronicles 16:9)
“If my people, who are called by my name, will
humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways,
then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their
land. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers
offered in this place.” (2 Chronicles 7:14-15)
