"What is God's will for my life?"
Bruce Waltke says that is the wrong question. I'm in a discipleship group and we are working through his book, Finding the Will of God. His approach is atypical to much of what's out there. One of the things that struck me is that I typically read the Bible to enjoy the stories, get the principles, and teach others. The question Waltke asks is, "Are you impassioned with finding God's heart as you interact with His word?" As I thought about that, the norm for me is reading in order to teach and communicate with others - not wrong, but it is easy for me to ignore the part about finding God's heart. So, basically, he says that asking what God's will is for your life is not the question, God's will is easy to follow if your heart is continuously confronted with God's heart and the two begin to beat together. When that happens, decisions come easy because your life lines up with God's desires and will. He even gives steps that we need to follow to bring our hearts into line with God's: Reading the Bible, developing a heart for God, seeking wise counsel, looking for God's providence, does it make sense, and divine intervention. He sees the first, reading the Bible, as the foundation and most important by far. Anyway, I read the chapter on providence last week and decided that I hated it because it hits too close to home for me. He says,
"There will be times you believe the Word of God is leading you to do something, it becomes the desire of your heart, and other Christians encourage you to follow your heart, but providence will not allow it. Assume that god has something else planned. Learn to trust God in spite of your circumstances."
Have you ever been somewhere and everything seems right but that silly providence screws everything up? I hate that. As much as I have accepted where I am right now, I still struggle with not being where I desperately want to be. Now, thanks to Waltke, I have a name to blame for my frustration - Providence. And what it comes down to for me is the issue of trust. I know that God has a plan and that He is good. My issue is whether or not His plan has been endorsed by me. Being a pastor in a church is not unbiblical, it's the desire of my heart, and other believers and seekers encourage me to pursue that end but that dammed providence keeps all of this just out of reach. And in saying "dammed providence", I really am saying that if that is what you want God, then take it back and let me pursue my dreams! Do I really trust that God is going to do what is best? When everything seems like it is not on schedule and I see little to no hope, do I trust God? Part of trust is letting go of your own image. We are created in God's image and then we spend the rest of our lives trying to create our image. What I think I want to be comes colliding with what God wants to do. Perhaps eventually, I will look back in hindsight and say, "Oh, yes, now I understand what God was doing." Until then, I have to trust and live in that tension of passionately living life by striving for goals and getting out of the way of what God is doing whether that may or may not look like much.
Bruce Waltke says that is the wrong question. I'm in a discipleship group and we are working through his book, Finding the Will of God. His approach is atypical to much of what's out there. One of the things that struck me is that I typically read the Bible to enjoy the stories, get the principles, and teach others. The question Waltke asks is, "Are you impassioned with finding God's heart as you interact with His word?" As I thought about that, the norm for me is reading in order to teach and communicate with others - not wrong, but it is easy for me to ignore the part about finding God's heart. So, basically, he says that asking what God's will is for your life is not the question, God's will is easy to follow if your heart is continuously confronted with God's heart and the two begin to beat together. When that happens, decisions come easy because your life lines up with God's desires and will. He even gives steps that we need to follow to bring our hearts into line with God's: Reading the Bible, developing a heart for God, seeking wise counsel, looking for God's providence, does it make sense, and divine intervention. He sees the first, reading the Bible, as the foundation and most important by far. Anyway, I read the chapter on providence last week and decided that I hated it because it hits too close to home for me. He says,
"There will be times you believe the Word of God is leading you to do something, it becomes the desire of your heart, and other Christians encourage you to follow your heart, but providence will not allow it. Assume that god has something else planned. Learn to trust God in spite of your circumstances."
Have you ever been somewhere and everything seems right but that silly providence screws everything up? I hate that. As much as I have accepted where I am right now, I still struggle with not being where I desperately want to be. Now, thanks to Waltke, I have a name to blame for my frustration - Providence. And what it comes down to for me is the issue of trust. I know that God has a plan and that He is good. My issue is whether or not His plan has been endorsed by me. Being a pastor in a church is not unbiblical, it's the desire of my heart, and other believers and seekers encourage me to pursue that end but that dammed providence keeps all of this just out of reach. And in saying "dammed providence", I really am saying that if that is what you want God, then take it back and let me pursue my dreams! Do I really trust that God is going to do what is best? When everything seems like it is not on schedule and I see little to no hope, do I trust God? Part of trust is letting go of your own image. We are created in God's image and then we spend the rest of our lives trying to create our image. What I think I want to be comes colliding with what God wants to do. Perhaps eventually, I will look back in hindsight and say, "Oh, yes, now I understand what God was doing." Until then, I have to trust and live in that tension of passionately living life by striving for goals and getting out of the way of what God is doing whether that may or may not look like much.
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