“Your will be done on earth, as it is in Heaven.” Matthew 6:10 NIV
“To know God’s will all you have to be is willing! ”
My thoughts today are about being “willing.”
Your will is a powerful thing, a wondrous gift given to you by God. God meant for your will to serve you, to give you strength of determination and direction. Your will is at its best when in submission and agreement with God’s will. When you allow your will to wrongly rule you, it replaces determination to do what’s right with stubbornness to do only what you want.
Once I shared a teaching that I titled, “The will of man, what every man has that the devil wants. The devil would take it if he could, but he can’t; God could take it if He would, but He won’t.” Quite a lengthy title, but a good summary of the teaching.
The devil tries by every deceit and cleverness to turn your will away from God. God waits for you to yield your will to His. “A final word: be strong with the Lord’s mighty power. Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies and tricks of the devil . . lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of His devices.” Ephesians 6:10-11 NLT/2 Corinthians 2:11 NKJV. Be warned, others may try that as well. Don’t be fooled for a moment; it is an enemy not a friend who would seek to coerce your will to do wrong.
Your will is given to empower you to serve God with loving wholeheartedness, not because you must but because you choose. Who but a loving God would give such a gift and trust you to use it wisely and well? God does not usurp your will even when you use it wrongly. He will not coerce nor control your will, against your will; He desires to rightly direct your will through your trusting cooperation. King David’s Godly advice to Solomon would be my encouragement to you: “Serve God with wholehearted devotion and a willing mind!” 1 Chronicles 28:9 NIV.
God wants your pure and voluntary love, not forced, involuntary love. Can you imagine the empty dissatisfaction of love that was not at all genuine? Someone loving what you do, what you have, or what you give, rather than loving you? Someone loving you only for what they personally benefit by doing so? Extremely wealthy, exceptionally beautiful, or famous people can often feel unsure of love for just that reason. Do you think that might be why there are so many serial marriages in the entertainment industry and world of high finance, or even a lot of ordinary people like most of us are?
The Bible says, “I plead with you . . that you present your body a living sacrifice – holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service . . not conformed to this world, but transformed . . that you may prove what is that good, acceptable and perfect will of God.” Romans 12:1-2 NKJV. Notice the honest description of God’s will – good, acceptable, and perfect. To know God’s will all you have to be is willing!
A willing heart will discover how true that description actually is. “If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land.” Isaiah 1:19 NIV. See also Hebrews 13;18 KJV.This is the question to answer: am I doing the will of God for my life as I understand it? Your answer determines so much about your life, here and now and there and then!
My prayer for you today is that God finds your heart willing to know and enjoy His will always.