How to Know and Do God's Will

This week I've been reflecting on how to find a new direction.When life changes, how do we know where to go or which way to turn? It's where I'm at--and I've had the same discussion with at least four others this week. Circumstances have changed, life has changed, there has been a loss--now what?

http://kesaus.org/frequently-asked-questions/

Here are some words of encouragement for myself and others:

God's Word is vital. No, the Bible will not tell me which job to take, hobby to pursue, or which church to attend, but it will tell me "how" to make those decisions.

-  God's Word distinctly tells me God's priorities--1) to love Him first, to love Him most and 2) to love my neighbor as myself (Matthew 22:36-40).

-  It guides my motivation: I should do all things for the glory of God, not selfish ambition or empty conceit (1 Corinthians 10:31, Philippians 2:3).

-  God's Word also gives me a goal: to make disciples.

Even if I don't know which passages to study or where to look, God promises to make Himself known as I seek Him (Jeremiah 29:13).

The problem is that I'm often asking the wrong questions when it comes to decision making. Most of the time we want to know "what," "when," "where," or "who:" What should I do? Which job should I take? Whom should I marry? Where should I go to school?

Instead, the Bible says:
For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality.... (1 Thessalonians 4:3

Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:2)

Great. But but that still doesn't answer the question of "what" to do. I have learned to be careful about making decisions based on the "open door" philosophy. If you're not familiar with that form of Christianese, it generally means: "If you have an opportunity that's an open door from God. Take it. If you face opposition, it's a closed door. Stop."

Instead, Scripture says:

[God] opened a door of faith to the Gentiles. (Acts 14:27)

I [Paul] came to Troas for the gospel of Christ and when a door was opened for me in the Lord... (2 Corinthians 2:12)

... praying at the same time for us as well, that God will open up to us a door for the word, so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ (Colossians 4:3).

In God's words, open doors relate directly to sharing the gospel of Christ, not making decisions. (Sorry to crash your party.)

So how does one move forward and make good, God-honoring decisions? Here are things a few things to keep in mind:

-  Pray. God promises wisdom when we ask (James 1:5). He commands us to ask for help (Matthew 7:7-11). And when we cry out, He hears and answers (Psalm 18:6).

-  Study God's Word. What am I missing? What are God's priorities? I know God calls me to trust and obey. Using His Word I can evaluate my heart--am I trusting? Am I obeying what I already know? (Psalm 119:105--God's Word is a lamp to my feet (where I am) and a light to my path (where I'm going).)

-  Ask others. Proverbs teaches that there is victory in an abundance of counselors (Proverbs 11:14). I need to talk to people I can trust; people who know me; people with life experience and people God has blessed. I have learned there is wisdom in asking questions and listening even if I disagree. They may have insight that I need to hear; things I wouldn't come up with on my own. Sometimes they tell me things I don't want to hear but are truthful and helpful.

- Get busy studying God. If God's priorities are loving Him first and foremost, I must start there. Am I committed to daily time in His Word and prayer? Am I faithfully attending church in worship and fellowship with other believers? Am I a witness of His goodness and the gospel? Am I a good steward of the resources He's given Me--my home, family, time?

Get busy studying others. The only way I know how to serve and love others is to spend time with them asking questions and listening. Then I look for practical ways I can help? I can always pray--sometimes I can pray aloud with them in that moment.  Maybe I could watch their children, run errands, provide a meal, stop in and visit,  or make a phone call. If people are God's priority they need to be mine, too. Ecclesiastes 9:10 says, "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might...."

Get busy studying self. What do I do well? What do I enjoy? How might God use my gifts and abilities to bring Him glory and serve others? What do I need to do to improve in those areas? Take a class? Ask a friend to hold me accountable? Seek out someone who is willing to invest in helping me learn?

What God has given us is not simply for our benefit. His design, plan and purpose is for us to use everything He's provided as a means of bringing Him glory and loving others. He wants the world to see Him and know Him. More importantly, He is worthy. He deserves all of my praise, every breath, ability, and resource He's given (because, ahem, He's the One whose given it and He's the only One who is worthy to receive it). In other words, God's will isn't about the what. It's about the Who--who He is, what He's doing, what He's given, what He's worth.

Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Give no offense either to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God; just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit but the profit of the many, so that they may be saved. (1 Corinthians 10:31-33)

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us. In all wisdom and insight He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory. In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.


For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you and your love for all the saints, do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers; that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the [w]knowledge of Him. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. (Ephesians 1:3-23)

Hearts: a Sunday Vignette

Katie sat in church, wondering why she was the only one with doubts and struggles. Life was so hard. Did God really love her? If He did, why didn't she feel like it? And if God loves me, why do I have to work so hard to get what everyone else already has? Peace and joy. Is that too much to ask?

Ryan sat ahead of her, wishing those kids would stop jostling long enough for him to keep a train of thought. I'm trying to worship, for crying out loud! What was wrong with their parents? Didn't they know church was for sober thought, reflection, and awe? This was his one shot at worship and they were ruining it. Next time he'd sit somewhere else.

Jane was afraid. Afraid people would see who she really was. She never did anything right. Her husband said so and she had the bruises to prove it. What if everyone knows? They would say the same things he did. She would never hear the end of it. Never be safe.

Courtney sat alone; felt alone. The more she needed people the more they avoided her. She didn't know how to reach out, how to get past herself. No one cares anyway. Why would they?

Jim smoldered in the pew. Half a handshake. Wimpy fingers, insecurity. He expected to be treated like the man he was. He'd caught his coat in the car door in the parking lot and looked like a fool. Life was fight. Always had been. Always would be.

Karen admired her new shoes. What a miracle! They matched her purse perfectly. Sue would absolutely die of envy. Speak of the devil. "Sue! Sue! Did you hear about the sale at Dillards? You're never going to believe how much I paid for these adorable shoes."

Dan thought of nothing. He'd made it to church; a little hungry, no time for breakfast. Lunch would be worth waiting for. Nothing. Sing. Nothing. Yeah.

Erin's hair was arranged nicer than usual. She hadn't missed any buttons this morning and remembered to polish her shoes the night before. She was ready to worship. Distractions aside, heart free, thoughts focused. Others saw a gray woman, wrinkled and worn, chunky black loafers, sagging hose, aged cardigan. But her heart--her heart had been meeting regularly with the Master. Each morning, she looked into His face, saw her poor reflection and prayerfully made adjustments. Little by little, hour by hour, she shifted her thoughts, fed kindling to the flame of desire for her Lord, and rearranged her choices. In the darkness of the night, when fear crept out of the dark, she brandished the torch of truth and hummed quiet tunes of praise. She didn't see people the way they saw her. Free from judgment, fear, need, she saw the hurt, fear, loneliness, anger, despair and she prayed, loving them, loving her Lord.

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave,free; but Christ is all, and in all.

Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (Colossians 3:1-17)

Jesus Has Left the Building... Or Has He? (with Guest-Writer, Brittany Whitcher)

Our teenage daughter was unusually snappy a couple of weeks ago; distant, reserved, short. Instead of addressing it, I decided to pray, observe, and wait. And guess what? It wasn't her, it was me. I was distracted, giving her little time, little attention, little care. Words were not enough. I would have to prove I loved her by giving up something valuable--just for her--again and again. I did. And she responded. How did I know it would work? I followed a great example: God.

God showed His love for me by sacrificing His greatest treasure--Jesus, the most valuable asset in the universe--to meet my need. I have no way to come to Him; I cannot earn His favor or grace, but because of Jesus, I no longer face condemnation and judgment. Now that I belong to Him, He has given me the ability, by His Spirit, to love others.

Here's a  jump that could put some of you on the defensive. That's not my intent, so please hear me out.

Christians--fundamental, Bible-believing, Christ-honoring, conservatives (we know who we are)--when people around us are snappy, maybe it's because we aren't loving them the way God loves us. Yes, the gospel is offensive. But look. Stop, look, and ask, "What am I sacrificing to meet _______'s  needs?" Personally, I don't have this nailed down and I never will. Pride rears its ugly head over and over and I struggle to be like Jesus--but despite personal failures, our family strives to love our community, neighbors, and schools. They are our friends, classmates, fellow parents, and community. We know them, pray for/with them, and give of ourselves because of Jesus.

So here's what's been rolling around in my noggin. How many school shootings, bullying issues, drug overdoses, and suicides could be averted if more authentic, Jesus-filled students attended public school? If you hear yourself saying, "That's not my problem," I think there's something bigger going on.

But if you love your neighbor as yourself, if you want a different, God-honoring neighborhood, community, and society, think about how God could use you to love others. What does it look like when compassionate Christ-filled students sit with lonely, rejected, hurting ones? When praying students walk to and from class silently lifting up teachers, support staff, and students? When thoughtful students meet for Bible study or prayer once a week (yes, they can)? When caring students ask questions, see needs, and look for answers? I'm here to tell you if they don't, someone else will. Confused, hurting, and needy people prey on confused, hurting, and needy...creating a cycle of self-destruction.

https://www.edgarsnyder.com/images/large-550/people/kids-getting-on-bus.jpg

What if godly, caring parents were in classrooms, interacting with teachers, diligently praying, serving students, going on field trips, getting involved in school boards, holding after-school Bible clubs? What if someone cared? Someone with real answers? Someone who offered the lifeline of Jesus--only Jesus--because they lived, looked, and acted like Him? What would our society look like if people of hope intersected hopelessness? If joy took on despondency? If freedom encountered slavery? If love, people of love, simply cared?

Society has not taken God out of schools. We have. Christians. Parents. And we still are. But Jesus has not left the building.

Anywhere God's children reside, He is there. Our children do not go to school alone. He is with them. Their family and church are praying with and for them; they know what's going on and offer support. Christian children in public schools grow in their dependence for God, their love of others, and their knowledge of personal sin.

If you are a parent you may ask, "What about our kids?" Listen to the voice of Brittany Whitcher, daughter of David and Melissa, who wrote this paper as a school assignment for her high school English class:

Our Purpose is the People: What I’ve Learned In a Public School by Brittany Whitcher

I spent the first several years of my life as the typical Christian homeschooled kid. My parents were missionaries, and we traveled around the country almost constantly. My mom would teach us in a little room in the corner of our house, and the only kids I ever saw were the children at churches or the ones I passed in the grocery store. 
The real, unsaved world was foreign to me, and an environment I never believed I would really be submerged in. When we moved to Texas and I was enrolled in a public school, I was in for a huge perspective change. 

The Wrong View
As a child, I took to heart the admonishments of my Sunday School teachers: “Be careful who you are friends with!” and “Don’t let the world influence you while you spread the Gospel!” I interpreted this mostly as, “Stay away from the unsaved, unless you are immediately witnessing to them!” 
Without knowing it, I had developed an erroneous but understandable fear of, and even a sort of disgust for those who were not saved. 
I never saw myself as mean. I was kind to everyone, and those who were kind to me in return became my friends. But when I saw someone acting up, doing what I had always been taught was wrong, I watched from the sidelines in horror and steered clear of them. 
There is nothing wrong with avoiding sin and trying to dodge destructive relationships. However, it does become wrong when we begin to despise and fear the people. Even up until recently, I found myself almost hating those who were rude, disrespectful, and obviously unsaved. 

The Godly View
I didn’t realize how much I despised my fellow classmates and how wrong I was until I was reminded of a verse from Matthew. Jesus, in the midst of His ministry and being assaulted with hatred from the Pharisees and religious Jews, looks out upon the people, and has compassion on them. 

‘But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”’   Matthew 9:36-38

Wow. Though Jesus had every reason in the world to despise the Jews for consistently disobeying God, and though he knew that they would all deny Him and cry out for His death, He looked at them and felt compassion for them. He saw the crowds, lost with no purpose in life, no true happiness, and no loving God to guide and care for them, and He pitied them.
Now, Jesus by no means loved their sin. He hates sin. The Bible says that those who sin are at enmity with God. The question is, does He want any man to be His enemy? Certainly not! Do not forget the widespread, moving verse:

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Begotten Son, that whosoever believes on Him, should not perish, but have eternal life.”    John 3:16

With these verses in mind, I now see my classmates in a very different light. That one boy, with a problem with authority and a foul mouth? How sad and pointless his life must be! That one person, so obviously addicted to drugs? What hopelessness and hunger for more must have led them to seek solace in such a substance! They may not see their own lives in so harsh a light, but it is true. Without God, we are every one deprived and helpless. 
By what leaps and bounds would our ministry grow if we saw every sinner as God sees them! 

The Reason Behind the Sin

Upon coming to the realization that my entire viewpoint on my fellow man was wrong, I began to wonder: why do we let ourselves be so blinded to the truth?

The only answer I could come up with was this:

Pride.

We are proud of being Christian. We take pride in the fact that we know what is sin and that we avoid the atrocities of the world. We look at our Christian upbringing with pride, and admiringly examine our daily Bible and prayer time. The fact that they would choose to do what is so obviously wrong automatically makes us see them as beneath us. 

To sum it up, we show off the gift that was given to us freely, which we really did not deserve. We take pride in the fact that we simply accepted salvation. We brag about God’s endless work in us, which we could never accomplish ourselves. We look back upon our upbringing which we had no way of controlling and shake our heads at those who were not so fortunate or blessed. 

If God were to take away what He had freely bestowed upon us, and is abundantly willing to bestow upon anyone else, we would be just as bad as them, if not worse. 

So, it is nothing other than pride that causes us to hate the unsaved and look down upon the lost.

Our Purpose

So what do we do now? 

We understand that our previous bitter views stem from irrational pride.

We see that the unsaved are no worse than us, and that if we are truly being Christlike, we will love them and have compassion on them.

What comes next?

Notice the last few sentences of the passage from Matthew. Jesus says that there are not enough laborers to take in the blooming harvest. 

In other words, there are plenty of people out there who need to be saved, and who would be saved, but there are not enough Christians out there labouring in the field of souls, working to lead the hearts of men to the threshing floor of the cross. 

So, what is our purpose when we are thrown out into the world? What should we be doing while we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses? 

The answer is simple. 

The people are our purpose. We should be always receptive to the Holy Spirit, constantly looking for opportunities to share the amazing love of God with the people we come in contact with. We were put on this earth to glorify God, and what better way to do so than by bringing more men and women to an awareness of His glory and wondrous gift? 

Lord, open our eyes so that we see the people as You see them: lost, as sheep without a shepherd. Help us to recognize our purpose and pursue it. Give us a burden for the people, we pray, and enable us to spread the Gospel lovingly and unashamedly, labouring diligently to bring in the harvest of souls.

If you believe God can use you, your children, and your family to love your community through the public school system, pray, do your homework, and get ready for a great adventure!

I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders?  (1 Corinthians 5:9-12)

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. (John 3:17)

I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth. (John 17:15-19)