Pastor’s Corner
Believe it or not, years ago I used to be a competitive swimmer. I was a lean, mean, swimming machine! My parents had enrolled me when I was about 6 and competed for years. Without sounding too braggadocious, I was one of the best in the state for my age group. But I had one big problem. I was very inconsistent. My coach always complained to my parents that I could win any event I was in if I wanted to but for some reason, he couldn’t figure out why at one meet I would swim my fastest ever, and at the next meet, I would add a few seconds onto my time. I even recognized this in myself and found out that the pressure of the meets would get into my head. I would practice, practice, practice, in order to get the muscle memory down but then completely overthink it when it came time to compete.
Sometimes discerning God’s will feels this way when it comes to making a decision, especially the big ones. You know all the truths of scripture, that God loves you, will take care of you, and will bless you in your obedience, but you just have that nagging thought in the back of your mind that second guesses everything. This feeling reminds me of the knot in my stomach I would get every time before I would swim an event. This happened especially in the events that I was favored to win. I would run various scenarios in my head. How will I approach the start? What’s the fastest way to make the turn? How can I conserve enough energy to give a good push towards the end? I inherently knew how to do all these things because I had practiced hundreds if not thousands of hours working on them. But the overthinking froze me up when it came time to compete.
We have to be aware of this when we approach trying to discern God’s will for our lives. We can overthink it way too much, so much so that it freezes us on a decision and we can potentially miss the blessing of taking action. Francis de Sales wrote of this freezing effect and its negative impact, “While they [people in general] busy or worry themselves trying to discover which [decision] is better, they miss the opportunity of doing much that is good. Deeds give God far more glory than any amount of time wasted in trying to discriminate between good and better,” (De Sales: Finding God Wherever You Are, 118). So, if you are fretting over which decision is good or better, remember that the enemy might be using that to take you out of the game. Don’t overthink it!
God’s Will Isn’t Always a Tightrope
One of the ways many of us, including myself, overthink God’s will is to think that He has some secretive singular path that he expects us to blindly guess correctly. If we take the right path, He blesses us tremendously. If we take the wrong path, insurmountable heartache and sorrows await us. It feels like we have to perfectly walk the tightrope of God’s will. I don’t believe this is how God’s will works.
Certainly, there are very clear paths in tances that are clearly better than others, such as determining whether to cheat on income taxes or get a summer job to make ends meet. One is clearly a better choice than the other. But in some of those more nuanced situations, we can think there is a certain way in which God wants us to go and we aren’t budging until He makes it clear. Jerry Sittser, the author of The Will of God as a Way of Life, says this, “There is no need to sit by the telephone, waiting for god to call. For some reason, we assume God has opinions about everything. I’m not sure God does. God might remain silent because He has nothing to say. his silence might mean little more than, ‘Fine, you can be an accountant or a teacher, move to Orlando or stay in Chicago, marry Sam, or remain single. It doesn’t much matter to me. I’ll bless you either way,'” (Sittser, 98). God isn’t some cruel master waiting on us to make a mistake or read His mind. So, we can stop fretting about every little decision and focus on the big picture, which brings us to two important questions to ask when seeking God’s will for our lives.
What’s God’s Big Picture Plan?
This question is vital because it puts things into perspective. We often come to God with the question, “what do you want for me and my life?” first. In all actuality, we just need to stop after the 4th word of this question, “what do you want?” Here’s the truth, God is going to accomplish His plans and His will regardless of what we choose on any given decision. This is why in the passage from Sunday, Jesus puts seeking God’s Kingdom first above even seeking our most foundational needs of food and clothing.
So, what is the answer to the question? In essence, it is to bring the greatest glory possible to Himself and restore humanity to a right relationship with Himself. It’s a two-part answer. We know the first part is true because that is how all of history will culminate, (see Rev. 21-22). This is basically the end zone of the bible. The second part is true because, since Genesis 3, God has been working out this redemptive plan throughout history. 1 Timothy 2:4 makes clear that God desires that everyone be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. 2 Peter 3:9 likewise echoes this sentiment stating that God wishes that no one should perish but that all should come to repentance.
Therefore, we know that there are things we should do in every aspect of our life in order to carry out God’s will. Jesus tells us in Matthew 28:19-20 that we are to make disciples and teach them to obey Christ’s teaching. It doesn’t matter where we live, what job we have, or who we marry. This is what we are to do no matter where we find ourselves. Knowing that these are the things God is working towards, we can approach our decisions with the right perspective. This is how we seek first the Kingdom of God.
How can I participate in God’s Big Picture plan?
As I stated earlier, God’s plan is going to come to fruition regardless of our various decisions in life. With that being the case, we find ourselves honored that God would allow us flawed messed up humans to participate in His beautiful plan! Likewise, because God can accomplish His plan in any way He should like, it serves almost as an umbrella under which our various decisions can fall. This gives us many different directions we can go and still accomplish His goals!
This question, however, has some follow-up questions, like how has God gifted me and where has God put me?
I recently read an article from LifeWay Research where the author laments the way people speak about their current situations. In it the author, Daniel Darling says, “‘My dream is to one day save enough money so I can quit my job and do real kingdom work.’This is a sentiment I’ve heard many times over the course of my ministry. On one hand, it makes me rejoice to see followers of Jesus so committed to seeing the gospel spread around the world that they’d give up wealth and their career ambitions to make it happen. I love to see people say yes to God’s call. But at the same time, I cringe at the false dichotomy I hear in statements like this. As if “real kingdom work” only takes place when one is volunteering at church or getting a paycheck from a nonprofit organization,” (Darling, 5 Truths Working People in Your Church Need to Hear).
Be faithful wherever God has put you. Carry out the Great Commission where you are. Use your giftedness to reach unbelievers and exhort other believers around you. Often times God is brought the greatest glory when we are faithful wherever He has placed us. This also echoes Jesus’ sentiment in Matthew 6:34, concerning not worrying about tomorrow. We have to be here in the present because it is in the present that God works.
3 Other Truths about God’s Will
When seeking God’s will for our lives, it is important to have muscle memory. What I mean by that is that we need to be intentionally walking in God’s Truth so regularly that obedience becomes more of a habitual reaction than a thought-out process. I think about learning to play the guitar and sing. It took me FOREVER to connect the two. When I concentrated on singing, the strumming and chord-making would suffer, and vice versa. However, the more I practiced, the more familiar I became with doing both simultaneously. It finally just clicked and I didn’t have to think about it anymore. It just happened.
Such is the case with following God’s will. We have to know His Word intimately and discipline ourselves to be obedient to it in clear matters. The more practice living faithfully and righteously the more the Spirit makes the will of God a way of life.
Second, we have to stop associating suffering and trouble with not being the will of God. Now, of course, God has no desire for us to suffer. Like a loving Father, it grieves Him to see His children in pain. However, if pain and suffering mean that we aren’t following God’s will, then Jesus really screwed up! Of course, we know that He didn’t. Pain and suffering are what happen when the things of a Holy God interact with the things of a sinful world. There is conflict. There is suffering. But we can take hope because Christ tells us that we are blessed when we are persecuted for righteousness sake (Matt. 5:10).
In Jesus’ High Priestly prayer, Jesus prays, “I have given them your word. The world hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I am not praying that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one,” (John 17:14-15). It should be a stark reminder for us that if we are going to be “in Christ,” opposition from the world comes with the territory. So, don’t let potential suffering and pain be a deterrent when trying to make a God-centered decision. Also, don’t let suffering make you feel as though you made the wrong decision. Because, even in our suffering, God can get the glory.
Lastly, just have faith. God doesn’t always make the path clear. Sometimes, indeed all the time, we have to just trust Him. If there is a deadline for an important decision and you still aren’t clear on the best answer, make the decision and trust God to handle it. Keep chugging towards God’s ultimate goal whether the scenery changes or not. This is often the hardest part for many.
Many people, like my wife, want to know how everything is going to work out. They want to know every detail before it happens. In essence, they want to tell the future. Or at the very least, just want to know that everything is going to work out okay. And I get that. People like that are usually gifted in administration. They are great planners and ensure that things run smoothly. God has gifted them in that area for a reason. And that gift blesses many people, like me, who aren’t so keen on planning everything (though I certainly value and appreciate it). But sometimes we have to just trust God and wing it. The greater we know our Savior, the easier this becomes because we’ve been able to walk through some things together with Him. And it’s always incredible when, like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, we can walk out of the furnace with our Savior seeing us through on the other side.
Brothers and sisters, there is much more to write on this subject. We’ve only scratched the surface. If you’d like to read more on this the book mentioned earlier, The Will of God as a Way of Life by Jerry Sittser has been incredibly encouraging to me. It is certainly worth a read. But if you got nothing else out of this article, my prayer is that you understand this: faithfully obey God’s Word when He gives clear direction and trust Him in those things that aren’t so clear. Seek God’s glory and share the Good News with the lost and dying world around you. May the Lord bless your various efforts as you learn to trust Him more!
Your Fellow Sojourner,
Pastor Trenton
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