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Posted By Aaron Marcelli on June 17, 2010

Though I said in my last post that I no longer sweat over trying to figure out how God reveals His will, I am still fascinated by the idea of the concept, as well as how people misunderstand it.  Allow me to share the following illustration that I have totally stolen from a Donald Miller message (though now that I told you where it’s from I guess it’s not stealing anymore).

Let’s say you are invited over to a family’s home for dinner.  You accept the invitation.  You sit at the meal table with the father, the mothers, the son, and the daughter.  Before beginning to eat, the father calls for all of the family’s attention and says,

Family, I don’t want any of you to make any decisions without my approval.  You are not to pick out any new clothes until you have cleared it with me.  No new friends until I have said ok.  When it comes to deciding on a college, a mate, a home, or a job, you are to do absolutely nothing until I have told you exactly what to do.  I will be the one who tells you precisely what to wear, specifically who to date, and the exact moment you are to move out.  You can and will do nothing until I have told you and then you will do exactly as I say.

You would think that father was nuts.  You would think he was a mean, power-hungry dictator. Yet, that is exactly how we view God when it comes to this issue of His will.  We make it about specifics such as places, times, and people rather than simply living in a way that pleases Him.  We use the term “God’s will” as an excuse to sit and do nothing until there is writing on the wall.

I heard Perry Noble once say that he gets mad when people say they are waiting on God.  “We don’t wait on God because He is not late” Perry said.  Living pursuing God’s will in my life, it is easy to point out the flaws in those who are not.  But it is perhaps looking back over my own struggles in this area that I realize how much time I wasted praying and waiting for God to just do it for me when in reality I had been called to action.

God’s will is not a time, a place, a school, a house, or a job.  It’s Him!  God’s will for us is God.  And if we are living with that as our focus and pursuing Him, it’s very interesting how things just tend to work out.  Now, that’s not to say that everything you do will be the “right” move, but it will become painfully obvious when you misstep and you will know to move again.

Category: Jesus
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