Answers
While at a family reunion a few years ago, one of my cousins asked my youngest daughter (who was then four-years-old) when she would be five. Her response was simple and direct, “When I’m done being four.” My amused cousin pressed on, determined to find a date. He asked when she would be done being four and would be five. She replied, “On my birthday, of course.” Asked when her birthday would be, she answered, “Next year.”
I doubt my daughter intended to be disrespectful in her response. In her four-year-old way of thinking, she answered the questions correctly. My cousin, however, did not get the answer he was seeking.
This reminded me of how often we ask God questions, yet become frustrated when we do not get the answer we are seeking. We may go to Him in prayer and seek guidance, but are we looking for Him to lead us in our direction or in His?
I catch myself trying to find His will within my own instead of adjusting my will to meet His. Too many times I try to find His path in my plan, rather than finding my path in His plan. I find myself in a battle, wondering why the Lord isn’t giving me the guidance I am seeking. I ask the wrong questions, expecting Him to give the answers I want to hear.
This is my selfish nature. I want to do the will of the Lord, but on my terms. All too often I forget His terms are much better than anything I could ever hope for and His way is much easier.
I find it comforting to know the Apostle Paul faced some of this selfish human nature in the disciples around him before he went to Jerusalem. A prophet had just told them Paul would be captured and handed over to the Gentiles (most likely a reference to Roman authorities, which in turn would equate to a sentence in prison for trumped up charges and allegations).
We find Paul’s response in Acts 21:13-14, “…‘Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.’ When he would not be dissuaded, we gave up and said, ‘The Lord’s will be done.’”
The disciples feared what would happen to their close friend if he was captured and turned over to the authorities – they had a fresh memory of what happened to Jesus in the same situation. Yet Paul knew the Lord’s will in his life, and more importantly, Paul accepted the Lord’s plan. He would go where the Lord wanted Him to go, and He would do what the Lord wanted Him to do. If the consequences caused him hardship, he could rest assured that his reward would be in Heaven.
He remembered what Jesus taught the disciples, which is recorded in Luke 6:22-23, “Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven…” Simply put, there is nothing anyone can do that would take away your reward in Heaven if you are doing the Lord’s will.
The Lord encourages us in His Word to follow His will, and reveals what to expect. Matthew records what Jesus taught them in Matthew 11:29-30, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Some might resist this, as I have, because we are asked to discard what we want to do and accept another plan, the Lord’s plan, for our lives. We are required to step beyond our comfort zones. This is a challenge and a struggle, but I have found when we do step out in faith – step out into that very uncomfortable area beyond our control – the Lord prepares us and equips us to succeed in His plan.
We find this promise in Philippians 2:13, “…for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.”
When we ask the question, “When will we know God’s Will?”, His answer is often similar to my youngest daughter’s answers to my cousin’s question: “When we are done with our own.”
Glenn Sasscer
www.glennsasscer.com
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