"Father, if you
are willing, remove this cup from me; yet, not my will but yours be done."
NRS Luke 22:42
For many years I have had a purpose statement
for my life. It is: “Know the will of God for my life and be in it.”
I have always found my ability to know the will of God to wax and wane
like the tides of the ocean. It would be easy if I heard a voice
every moment of every day that was undeniably the voice of God. Or
perhaps if, daily and in each situation, I could see one of those planes
fly overhead with a message on it, “Way to go Don Shelton, you are doing
my will. Love, God.” It seems Jesus was in the will of God.
Yet, even Jesus must have had a moment or two in which he wondered.
Why else would the thought even come to him that he pray, “Not my will,
but thine”?
So, how do I know if I am in the will of
God? I do have some guidelines I follow. But even they have
inherent problems. In random order they are:
1. Is the situation to which I am
responding (or something similar) in the Bible? If so, what does
the Bible say? Problem: do I understand the Bible properly?
2. Is there something in the Bible
that speaks directly to my situation? Problem: I am not a literalist;
therefore, a situation must be considered in accordance with the times,
then and now.
3. Pray. Listen. Respond.
Problem: If voices are heard, are they of God? Or, are they voices
similar to those heard by the person who thought God told him to climb
a tower in Texas and shoot people. Another person I knew said she
could pray and feel whether something was the will of God for her or not.
I have heard some people say they felt God wanted them to do something.
It seems clear to me it was their way of justifying their choices.
4. What has the church said and/or
done in history? Problem: Some parts of the church were supportive
of slavery in the United States. Do I accept that part of church
history? In addition, they proved their point of belief with scripture,
albeit a misinterpretation of scripture. Time and space prevents
me from exploring the Salem Witch Trials, the Crusades and more.
5. Check out my understanding with
the community of believers. Problem: If David had listened to the
community of believers around him, he never would have taken on Goliath.
I cannot afford to let the Goliaths in my life (most of whom are within)
dominate me.
6. Be open to the fact that God
may be calling me to do something with which others disagree. Problem:
All persecution is not because what I am doing is in the will of God.
Knowing the difference between spiritual persecution and human persecution
that I bring on myself is difficult.
7. What does my own history with
this, or similar situations, say to me? Problem: History is circumstantial.
That which is appropriate in one setting may not be in another.
8. Place a fleece before God. (See
Judges 6:36-40) Problem: Fleecing can be done at every whim. I end
up “fleecing” myself with a faith too simple. The temptation is to
make a fleece hard enough that I think the response is of God, but in reality
it could happen without God’s involvement.
9. I believe God’s will to be circumstantial.
Problem: Does this mean the mind of God changes?
Space prevents me from listing more.
So, I live forward, trusting with certainty that I HAVE BEEN in or out
of the will of God. With all that said, I try to be in the will of
God and I place my hope in the Grace of God, now and forever.
Dawn Breaker #87:
Know the will of God for my life and be in it.
"There are a number of
guidelines I try to follow in life and ministry. I find that when I follow
them, situations sometimes become like the rising of the sun. There
is a luminous glow turning to great light, and occasionally, inspiration.
When I don't follow these adopted guidelines, they sometimes become Don
breakers, making life frustrating at best. I do not suggest
you should live by all the principles I choose for my life. If they
are helpful for you, make them your own. They work for me."
Don Shelton
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