As the new year gets under way, I can't help but wonder, "What's next?" What is the next big thing I am going to tackle, achieve, do? I have a few things that I am working on, but as I see the year stretching out in front of me I am uncertain about which project I should throw my self into. So as I was praying this morning I found myself thinking about God’s will. I often wonder, how do I know for sure what God’s will is? I certainly know what my will is. I want all sorts of things from my world and the people around me. I want their love. I want them to listen to me. I want them to do what I want them to do. Of course that happens only some of the time. God wants the same from us. We, of course, even when we are listening, rarely do everything we should do. Why? Because we don’t want to. It takes too much energy. It might require some kind of sacrifice of time or effort on our part. It might be uncomfortable. It might feel scary.
So as I was pondering what God’s will for me is in this new season, I suddenly thought of the famous Corinthians scripture about love.
"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
"Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails." (1 Corinthians 13:4-8)
Since the Bible tells us that God is Love, it occurred to me that I could change the word love in that passage to God. And then I could see more of who He is and what He wants for me. God is patient, kind, hopeful, trusting. He perseveres in His love for me. He never fails. Oh, I as human fail him all the time. We all do. We don’t trust. We aren’t patient. We aren’t kind. But God loves us anyway and never gives up on us.
So how to determine His will vs. our will? His will will reflect the Corinthians passage. His will is kind and patient, not easily angered, envious, proud or boastful. If we are looking at what we want to do, we can hold it up to that standard. Do we want something that is about our pride or our impatience? Are we envious of what someone else has, that we don’t have? Are we acting out of fear instead of faith?
How to follow God’s will? When I first became a Christian, I was afraid it would be something awful. That God would make me do things I didn’t want to do. Like send me to a third world country where I would have to suffer. How interesting it was to discover that God wants me to use my gifts and talents in the way He designed me. To write. To teach. To create. He actually has people that love doing the other things that He designed them for. I have many friends who have gone to third world countries to help. And all of those friends WANTED to go and do what they are doing. None felt forced. All felt privileged to be able to do the work they are doing. Our brilliant God really does know us very well and He has placed us exactly where we can serve Him.
So in this new season of my life where I am discerning new paths and new priorities, I can rest in knowing that God is faithful and kind and will guide me. My job is to abide and listen to Him. He may gently ask me to occasionally step out of my comfort zone. But if He does, He will give me the ability to do that. I know that He has guided me brilliantly thus far in my life. When it was time to change direction, He very clearly presented a path to me. An opportunity would suddenly open up. I would come across a book. A friend would make a suggestion that confirmed an idea I already had. A piece of scripture that I had read a thousand times before would suddenly make sense in a new way. If He has done so in the past, He will certainly guide me now. I had a friend tell me a few years ago when I was mulling over a decision, that if I didn't have the answer yet, it was because it wasn't time to make that move. She said that if a puzzle piece was missing, I would need to wait until I found the the correct piece.
Wait. Oh, how I don't like to wait. Patience is definitely something I need to work on. But the truth is, if I don't know what to do, it means I need to wait and pray for my next step. In the mean time, I joyfully do what is already in front of me. Love my family. Get healthier. Be a friend. Pet my cats. That's my next step. And when God wants me to do something more, or bigger (or smaller) He will let me know. I know that when I rest in Him and allow Him to guide me, in His timing, I will be rewarded in ways I can’t even imagine.
#godswill #inspiration #praying #discernment #whatsnext #seekinggod #makingadecision #agingtoperfection