The word ‘faith’ means many things. [Definition here] But I have determined to keep it simple and describe my faith in God as a ‘confident trust’. As if I am holding onto a safety line in a storm, or in this case my Saviour’s hand.
I have struggled to determine God’s will for my life. I have been asked to help determine God’s will for others. I have come to understand that some things God will not reveal. (Deuteronomy 29:29; Acts 1:7-8) At least God will not reveal what we already know, but don’t want to admit to ourselves.
For most Christians, God’s will is already known and understood, but we simply refuse to see ‘forest for the trees’. We want expediency, exactness, singular purpose, excitement, expectation, and fame. We don’t like anything that resembles or makes us comfortable.
Welcome to the neighborhood! Any Christian or any maturity should know that God NEVER works the way want or expect. God ALWAYS comes out of left field. It is God’s most endearing trait and the most enduring part of God’s interaction with us. An old, but new country song that says, “And if you wanna hear God laugh, tell him your plans.” (Get Right with the Man) I can only hope God doesn’t cry when he hears mine.
Three Bible verses come to mind now when I think of seeking God’s will for anyone’s life, Matthew 6:20-21; Colossians 3:17; 1 Peter 2:12. There are others of course, but these stand out as a guiding force of what God’s simple, straight forward will for my life has always been.
A devotion my wife found on this website (www.proverbs31.org) speaks to this very notion of understanding God’s will. Keep it simple. Keep it straight. Keep it sincere.
I could not have given a better description of our present experience as confident trusting believers. Believed this for a while, taught this for a while, now I am learning to live it.
