I was recently reading a blog post titled, Are You Called to be a Missionary? at Guy Muse’s blog, and this caught my eye:
This couldn’t be more true! I have always had an idea of what I wanted my life to be like. I spent a lot of time planning how I wanted things to be in my life, and doing everything I could to make my dreams happen. Even when everything was fighting against me, I still had a voice in my head saying, “keep fighting, you deserve to have everything you want.” This voice was lying.
Shortly after I dedicated my life to Jesus, and after I had the revelation that inspired this blog, I really started to pray for God’s will in my life.
What did I get myself into? I had a preconceived concept of what God’s will was. I was actually thinking that my will was His will. Well, I slowly began losing everything that I thought was important. The more I prayed for His will, the more my life turned in a different direction.
I said I began losing things, but really I gave them up. It was only by surrendering to God that I was able to slowly get in His will. How many people aren’t surrendering? How many people never step out of their comfort zone? How many of us are believing that lying voice that tells us we deserve things that God never told us we could have?
Sometimes it is really hard. Sometimes you literally have to say out loud, “alright God, I don’t want to do this, but I’m going to because you told me to.” God has had me do many things that were not even in my character to do. I know for certain there are going to be even more things that I have to do, that I never thought I could. That’s one of the great things about God and His will for our lives! It turns us upside-down. I completely agree with Guy’s statement about God’s plan being “more glorious”. Obviously! Now all we have to do is trust in that!
I challenge you to do something different today. Maybe it’s something that God has put on your heart for awhile, but you have refused to surrender. I challenge you to get out of the boat, and to get into the will of God. It’s a scary and exciting place to be, and it’s worth it every step of the way!
Thanks for the link to the “Are you called to be a missionary?” post. The quote comes from Elisabeth Elliot who was a missionary here in Ecuador many years ago. Her first husband Jim was killed by jungle Indians back in 1956 when he and four other missionaries tried making contact with them. I love Elisabeth Elliot’s writings and have read a great deal of her published writings.
As you seek to be more and more conformed to God’s will, try to be faithful and obedient to the “little things.” If we will do those, the bigger things (like going overseas as a missionary) will come in due time.
A nice blog. Keep up the good work!
Comment Submitted: November 25th, 2007 at 4:01 pm
Being at a crossroads in my career at the moment, I’ve been thinking a lot about the will of God. I’ve also been reading some books on it, to learn more. Much of the modern teachings on it seem to be about finding what you like to do and then becoming all you can be. However, this does not go along with what the Bible teaches. The older teachings I’ve read talk about “praying through” — that is, seeking God until you get an answer.
Following what I want to do is selfish and may not be in the will of God. Suppose my lifelong dream was to play video games and eat Cheetos all day. That’s certainly not God’s plan for my life!
Sometimes God’s will might not make sense at first, and/or it might be kinda scary because it’s so big. But if we trust God…
Along those lines, here’s a verse I keep coming back to in my search for my next steps : Proverbs 3:5-6 :
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”
Comment Submitted: November 25th, 2007 at 9:27 pm
Guy - It’s a great quote, I love it! Also, I am in agreement with you about being obedient to those little things. I think that’s where God has me right now. Almost like a training and building up season. I feel like I’m being prepared for something, but obedience has definitely been one of the lessons I learn frequently. I have written on it several times actually, and it never ceases to amaze me how faithful God is, when we do our part to obey Him.
Beppo - I’m glad you realized how selfish those teachings were. It’s a tricky trap that the devil has set up for people in these days. It seems so harmless, but as usual it’s taking the control away from God, and placing it on self. Something the devil has been doing for a long time.
That’s funny that you mentioned that scripture, because it’s one that I use often. Especially to people who question what I am doing or don’t understand why I’m not rushing around looking for a new job. Or why I’m not panicked that it appears in the natural world, that I might not have my rent. God is doing a work with me that doesn’t make sense to anyone (except my Christian friends), but I know what He’s doing, and the parts that I don’t understand, I do my best to trust that He’s got me taken care of!
Comment Submitted: November 25th, 2007 at 11:10 pm