Will of God

Enter His Rest

“Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ” Philippians 1:6

There are times when we wonder how the Lord Jesus is ever going to be able to complete His work in us. When young in the Lord it seems quite reasonable that He will do it but as time passes we realise that the greatest enemy to this completion is ourselves and we seem further behind than ever.

A spiritual war ensues when our will comes into conflict with the will of God. He never pressures us into conforming to His will or obedience. We will either respond willingly or not at all. Grudging obedience is still rebellion. We find many ways of convincing ourselves that we are obedient to the will of God when in fact we are resisting, grieving or quenching the Holy Spirit and hence God’s will for us.

How often have we gotten ourselves into a mess and then asked Him for help to extricate ourselves from it. There are two great errors in this. Firstly, that we are usually in a mess because we didn’t first seek counsel or direction from the Lord. Joshua made the mistake of presuming that the Lord was with him when he went against Ai but he didn’t check. He was soon in a mess and people died. Secondly, in our pride and arrogance we ask the Lord to help us. Think about this. Do we make the agenda or does the Lord? It may be that when we ask the Lord for help we are asking Him to enable us to complete our plans and goals rather than His.

Jesus Christ has His plans for His church and each living stone in it. He is the One who sets the agenda. He knows what He is aiming at and He alone is able to achieve it. When we take the lead it shows that He is not Lord to us. It reveals that we think we know better and can, with a little help from Him when we get in a mess, achieve the goal. Can you see the abomination of this; of the clay dictating to the potter?

As we grow in Christ we know that we have resisted, grieved and quenched the Holy Spirit but now we have come to the place of absolute surrender. As the writer of Hebrews puts it, we enter God’s rest.

“Lord, You lead, You direct, I will follow. Not by my hands and will but by Your hands and might. Show me when I am resisting You and I shall surrender. Show me when I have grieved You and I shall ask forgiveness and mourn over that sin. Show me when I am quenching Your Spirit and I will immediately repent and serve You.”

“Not as I will but as You will”

Step by Step

“Lord, what do You want me to do?” Acts 9:6

More than three decades ago I became aware that there was a need for a Sunday School teacher in our church. When I offered myself for the role I was quickly accepted. There was a class of seven or eight boys that had proven to be difficult for others and no one seemed keen to take them on. I was quite unaware of this.

This class proved to be very difficult. These days at least one of the boys, perhaps as many as three, would be on some drug for behaviour issues. Fortunately they weren’t available then.

As the first weeks passed I began to find the role becoming a chore and something I anticipated with a measure of dread. Preparation was difficult and done with reluctance.

At the point of giving up thinking that this wasn’t for me the Lord gave me a clue as to the problem. I cannot remember why but I began to ask the Lord whether this was really something that He wanted me to do, “Lord, what do You want me to do?”

Within a couple of weeks the Lord had assured my heart that this was indeed what He wanted me to do. What I discovered then was that He changed my entire attitude and focus with regard to the class. Preparation became a blessing and joyous time and I looked forward to the half hour that I could spend in class with the boys. I was also able to visit some at home and take an interest in their lives. I found ways to make the difficulties with the three over-active boys an aid to learning instead of an impediment.

What had changed? The difference was that I knew that I was where the Lord wanted me to be and doing what He wanted me to do.

If we are to find satisfaction in serving our Saviour it is necessary that we first surrender ourselves entirely to Him and humble ourselves and ask this question, “Lord, what do You want me to do?” He may not respond until He knows that our heart is genuinely surrendered and willing to do what He asks. We do not want to be like Jonah who had his own ideas about serving the Lord. Jonah’s life could have been so much more pleasant had he obeyed with a glad and willing heart from the start.

Quite often we want the Lord to reveal what we consider the “big thing,” life’s direction, the career, that He wants us to do but, I think, for many people He reveals little by little, step by step as we progress in faith. We can ask the Lord this question often to ensure we haven’t gone off course or missed a change in place or role. This will give us encouragement and confidence.

When the Lord answers we can then take Mary’s counsel to the servants, “Whatever he says to you, do it” (John 2:5).

Lord Willing

“He who does the will of God abides forever”  1 John 2:17

When people speak of the “will of God” they sometimes speak as though it were mystical and almost unknowable or that it is limited to the Ten Commandments. In some instances there may be a little truth in this but the Bible is jam packed with details concerning the will of God.

There are some very clear statements in the Bible concerning knowing the will of God, like: “For this is the will of God, your sanctification” and “In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thessalonians 4:3; 5:18).

Every command that God has given is an expression of His will and every description of the Divine Nature is an expression of God’s will concerning our attitudes and behaviour. Every description of the sinful nature also describes for us that which is not the will of God.

The difficulty may be that we are not interested in an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ and holy living but only in what He can do for us. How mercenary is that?  We would like to know other kinds of details, like career path, marriage partner, role in the church or ministry in the church. There is nothing wrong or unspiritual about wanting God’s will for these areas of our lives and we should seek His leading but we will not discover His will if we are not interested in Him as a Person.

One of the first things I learned about driving buses is that one cannot see where the bus is on the road by looking ahead. That only tells me where I am headed. Where I am is seen by also looking in the two rear view mirrors at the white lines painted on the road and/or curb.

The Bible gives us the forward view so that we can set our course but we must regularly check our rear view to observe where we really are in our walk with the Lord. This does not mean we go on a “witch hunt” for sin but make an honest and genuine appraisal of how we are travelling. If we are deviating off course we are better off noticing it sooner rather than later.

There are many aspects of the will of God that are not specifically given in the Bible. We may only see His will in hindsight. Oswald Chambers wrote, “The disciple who abides in Jesus is the will of God, and his apparently free choices are God’s fore-ordained decrees.”