God's Will

God's will often seems difficult to see, & sometimes it's difficult to understand His will when we do see it.

Most of us are probably familiar with the passage in 1Kings 19 where God addressed the prophet Elijah in a still, small voice. When I pray & ask God a question, I will sometimes say "God, you know how dense I am.  I need a loud, definite answer to my prayer.  This still, small voice thing doesn't work with me." I even think how great it would be if God would just send Gabriel to appear before me & give me the answers I seek.  I want to do His will, after all.  Why not make it plain to this dunderhead (me) what it is?

I know I'm not the only one who has ever felt this way.  I have been rereading the Gospels these past few weeks & had a good laugh when I came across the following passages in both Matthew's & Mark's account of Jesus responding to a question the Pharisees asked Him.  These passages are in Matthew 15 & in Mark 7.  The Pharisees asked "Why do your disciples not follow the tradition of our elders?  Why do they eat with unwashed hands?"  Jesus responded by telling them a parable regarding how they were concerned with promoting outward expressions of cleanliness when they should really be concerned about the evil & deceit in their own hearts.  Later, as Jesus is sitting with his disciples, they asked Him to explain this parable to them.  You can almost see Jesus' shoulders heave & fall as he takes in a deep breath & sighs.  He asks them ... these men who have been with Him day in & day out for the past 3 years ... "Are you still so dull?" I love The Message translation of what Jesus asks.  "Are you being willfully stupid?"

There are many things that are God's will which are spelled out clearly in the Bible. Other things ... like should I change jobs, should I attend a college close to home or one in another state, should I sell my second car or keep it in case something happens to the other one, & should I sell my house & move somewhere else or stay put ... the answers to these things are not spelled out for us in the Bible.  We must pray & ask Him what we should do, & then we must listen for His response.  His response might be a clear revelation to us ... almost like the sounding of a trumpet.  His response may also be a general feeling of unrest in us ... a sort of hesitation to move forward.

There is, of course, always the chance that we will misinterpret His will for us, or somehow justify what we want to do as being His will.  I'm sure this happens quite often, but God will not abandon us if we make such a mistake.  He is, after all, always with us.    We may have missed His best for us, but He will never leave us or forsake us.

I set my radio alarm so I will wake up early each morning.  I have the radio set to a Christian station.  It helps me to focus on God the moment I awake.  This morning I heard a song I had never heard before.  It is a beautiful song that fits with the theme of this post ... "Help Me Find It" by the Sidewalk Prophets.  I will share it with you here.  I hope you find it as inspiring as I do.

Have a very blessed day!