Because more than a few of us struggle with the question, “How can I know the will of God?,” imagine this scenario:
We plead with God to show us what he wants us to do in a difficult situation. That night as we toss and turn, we dream that God shows up to answer our request. In his presence, we sense a love that is far beyond anything we ever imagined. But we are surprised when, after hearing our request, God asks us two questions: “Why are you asking? “What do you want to do?” Then we wake up…
While trying to imagine such an encounter, let’s try to think this through together in light of the way our Lord talks about his will in the Bible.
When looking for what the God “in whom we live and move and have our being” wants us to do,
1. What can we learn from asking ourselves “Why we are asking?”
2. How important is what we want to do when seeking to know what God wants us to do?
3. How much can we get from King David’s words when he says, “Trust in the LORD, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass” (Psalm 37:3-5)?
I’ve heard it said that there are two ways of understanding the will of God. One way is to see it as a narrow line that we must walk to connect the dots of what God wants us to do– from one specific instruction to the next. A second way is to see the will of God as being like a large circle full of general principles and bounded on the circumference by lines that we are told not to cross.
The first approach amounts to to following a narrow line that requires more specific answers than the Bible gives us. The second says that anything within the boundaries of God’s revealed will represents the freedom that has been given us to delight ourselves in him, while focusing on what he has already told us about trusting him, and about loving one another in love and truth.
While not wanting to dismiss the need for due diligence, or listening to the voice of wisdom, is it possible that sometimes we are far too preoccupied with details, when the Lord is looking primarily for our hearts?
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