“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” ~Ephesians 3:20-21
It occurs to me that after encouraging people to test themselves by seeking God’s will, I should really say something about finding God’s will. This is a little tricky. Most of what I have to say on the subject has been said before. God is reliable. If you ask, He will answer. If you are looking and listening, God will tell you. Even if you are being incredibly obtuse about seeing His signs, if you are honestly looking, He will make sure you find them.
I will post more on seeking God’s will next time, but for now, let me throw out this question: have you sought God's will and waited for God's will and then passed on God's will because it didn't seem possible? If you have, you would not be alone.
Let me give you an example:
When Seth first got his call to ministry, we began earnestly seeking God’s will in several ways:
- We had asked godly friends who had been through seminary if Seth should continue to work full time and study full time as well.
- We had fasted and prayed and asked others to pray for us while we tried to figure out what kind of ministry Seth should go into. (He’ll tell you himself that he did not want to be a preacher in a church. More on that later.)
- We spent time listening and reading Scripture and recalling Scripture.
- And we interpreted the signs God gave us in circumstances.
The leading that we received was clear: full time seminary and full time work were not conducive to a healthy family or faith life, especially not when one works in the electronic industry, which can suddenly demand 60 to 80 hours a week without warning. So based on what we understood, we decided that Seth would quit his job as soon as I found full time teaching work. Obedient, right? Yes. Sacrificial too? I thought so. And God led us to that point, right? Yes. That’s what we asked for.
Note the words “based on what we understood.” A lot of times in our efforts to follow God, we are well meaning, but we are not understanding because our scope is not big enough. Human beings, like it or not, are limited by time and space and limited experiences. Seth and I had been raised to believe that God does supply, but we had not experienced the many ways He could supply. We anticipated that He would provide work for me. I had been maintaining my teaching certificate. I had been developing a reputation as an excellent substitute. Naturally the next thing that should happen is that I should get a full time teaching job so that Seth could devote himself to pursuing God’s calling.
Long story short: I did not get a full time teaching job. And Seth got fired.
To sum up, at this point we were willing, we were listening, and we were anticipating, and we were confused. We plunged ourselves more deeply into the job market. Was this our fault? Not really. Our life experience up to this point had taught us that God provides work, and thus he provides everything else we need. Moving forward with no job felt insane. However, God had lessons that he wanted to teach us. Specifically, He wanted to teach us that everything we need comes from Him, and we do not need to depend on human institutions. We needed to be weaned off the idea that security meant a full time job and health insurance. And because we were willing, listening, and anticipating, we were ready for those lessons to begin. For the next two years, we worked as substitute teachers and never failed to pay a bill. Those two years were plenty anxious, especially at first, but God came through one day at a time.
Do not worry about what you will eat or what you will drink or what you will wear. The nations run after such things, but your heavenly Father knows that you need them.
How many of us, being faced with the will of God, reject it (at least at first) because it doesn’t match with what we believe about other things. You’re not going to perceive God’s will if you aren’t willing to let go of a lot of preconceptions, such as your notions of security. When the Apostle Paul says, “immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine,” he means that literally. We have no idea what God can do with the circumstances that He lays in front of us. When we say and mean, “Thy will be done,” we are opening a whole new horizon in front of ourselves. Look at Jacob; look at Mary; look at Jeremiah; look at Paul. Could any of them have anticipated what “Thy will be done” would do to their lives?
I think more often than not that this is the part where faithful Christians stumble. We urgently seek God’s will, but when it’s revealed, we can’t cope with it. So often, God’s will isn’t just for our obedience; it’s also for our expansion to move further into our destiny as Sons and Daughters of God. In our case, God’s will was not only to pursue ordination; it was also to learn to rest completely on God for the provision of our daily needs.
Now, it would be nice to say that these two years really pounded this lesson home, and we never doubted God’s provision again. (because that’s just like human nature. <Snort>) When I said obtuse earlier, I was speaking strictly from a been there/done that perspective. I can’t count the number of times that Seth and I said to each other, “I just want an itinerary. I just want to know the next couple of steps or the way over this obstacle” or that we reacted with fear and frustration until God made His answer very plain. If you read the Bible, you know that this is one of those primary points where humanity really struggles, and we really struggled too.
- Seth got offered another job, and we fretted over whether he should accept it. After we decided to decline (see above), the company informed us that they had cut the position anyway.
- Our unemployment insurance kept getting hung up and delayed, until finally Seth decided to just focus on school and let God provide as He would. Then the insurance, the G.I. benefits, and the possibility of Seth working as a substitute teacher as well fell into place in the space of a week.
- I was overlooked for full time jobs. Well, it turned out we were moving.
- We watched the Grand Rapids housing market from a distance fruitlessly for six months. The weekend that we got to Grand Rapids, the perfect house went on the market, two blocks away from an excellent church, ten minutes from the seminary, five minutes from my work. Because houses sell for a lot more in Oregon, we could pay cash.
- Seth missed out on a necessary internship our first summer there, so he was available to take a pastoral internship which turned his calling toward preaching and parish ministry and paid a much-needed stipend.
None of these were what we were anticipating, and it was only slowly that we learned to stop reacting in frustration and to see these “disappointments” as redirections and expansion and the shaping of God’s will. By the time we were actually seeking Seth’s first full time position, worry had gotten a lot weaker and trust had gotten a lot stronger. We were more open to the possibilities of wherever God might take us. We still had moments of panic and frustration, sometimes on a daily basis, but there was a certainty underneath them that hadn't been there before.
Now, I’d like you to notice two things here:- These all took time. All of our fretting took place in the waiting. Two weeks to hear back from a job interview. A semester before we could begin to relocate. Three years before we could seek a call. I think a lot of our disappointment in hearing God’s will comes from our expectation that something miraculous (and convenient) is going to be revealed immediately, and we can hop right into doing. God develops us in stages, and only He knows what kind of development we need. Walking forward step by tiny step and adjusting to the new view at each step takes time.
- If you are serious about doing God’s will, then you never really get a respite from the attitude of looking and listening. There is no point where it just falls into place, and He reveals the whole plan in front of you, and you can relax and take it from there. There were times when Paul didn’t even know which port to sail for next. We get the plan piece by piece, but He always gives us enough to let us know that we are still in His hands.
No comments:
Post a Comment