The
will of God is like marriage. In marriage there
are many facets of activity—the husband works,
the wife may keep her house or also work. The
parents spend time with their children; they
fulfill many responsibilities and relationships
and positions.
But
none of these is the focal point of marriage.
The marriage focal point is that intimate love
relationship between man and wife, the tender
affection at the core of marriage which gives
meaning to all the other obligations of
marriage, and without which nothing else in
marriage has any significance.
So
it is with the Will of God and the Christian.
There are many earthly facets of activity to
God's Will... “Where
do I go Lord?... What shall I do, Lord?... How
shall I do, Lord?... When shall I go, Lord?..
With what shall I accomplish this, Lord?”
But
these are not the focal point of God's Will. The
core of God’s Will is the intimate relationship
of knowing God and being known of Him... loving
Him, from which our obedience and sensitivity to
His earthly plans awakens to respond. This love
is the focal point which gives meaning to all
earthly aspects of God's commands, and without
which no obedience to God has any significance.
It
has been said that marriage is not a matte r of
finding the right person, but being
the right person. Likewise, the Will of God is
not a matter of finding out what God wants done.
It is rather a matter of being
that loving child of God who through his love
for God becomes in turn responsive to His Lord's
earthly wishes. Like marriage. God's Will is not
founded upon the outward position, status,
circumstances, activities, or responsibilities.
It's first a matter of heart, after which all
the rest falls into perspective.
This
preponderance with earthly activity as the seat
of God's Will has given us some foolish notions.
Many talk of God's Will like some sort of boat
that you can "get
in" or "get
out of" at will. This is nonsense. Can one
step in and out of marriage at will? Hardly so.
Neither
can we step in and out of God's Will. Once we're
in, we're in. There's no getting out.
Ask Jonah. And if we fail to co-operate in
performing God's outward earthly plans, that
does not put us out of His Will. It only makes
us miserable in the face of His ongoing plans.
Forbid the thought that our foolish weakness and
rebellion could stymie God's eternal
purposes.
God's
Will is accomplished in spite of our failures as
far as earthly things go. But at the heart of
God's Will, our love for Him, here we see our
stubbornness take its toll. Our failure to obey
signals that our love for God has broken. And as
a marriage gone sour, so is he whose love for
God breaks, although God's plans continue to
grind on in spite of him.
Jesus
said, "If
ye love me, keep my commandments." This
tells us that the fruit of true love is
obedience to God's purposes. But it also tells
us that the fruit of God's plans for our lives
is founded in the root of our love for Him.
Where there is no root, there is no fruit. Where
there is no love for God, there is no obedience;
and there is no further revealed plan to us.
And
so, if we have a problem in understanding God's
earthly plans and responding to His direction,
it is only because we have a problem at the root
of God's will, that is, our love for Him. If we
would cure the fruit, let us mend the root.
To
sum, then, the Will of God for a Christian is
not in an earthly set of activities. That is
superficial. Rather, the Will of God for a
Christian is a matter of the heart's love for
God alone, from which all earthly occupations
spring in their natural bloom. And to know the
Will of God is not to seek the Will of God, but
to seek after the God of Will with all our
hearts and souls and minds and strength; with
all of our wills. Then, and only then shall we
know the Will of God... and that without a
second thought.
**********
PS-
Let's consider one more thing in closing.
Perhaps it is so that God often will purposely
hide His earthly will from us until the last
minute just to teach us that what God wants done
is not to be sought as an end in itself. By
hiding it from us, He brings us to depend on Him
personally in love, not seeking the purpose of
God, but rather seeking the God of all purpose.
And just think how little attention we would
give personally to God Himself if we always knew
all the time what He wanted us to do. Our
concentration would be absorbed in the "What of
God,” and not in the "Who of God."
Thank
you Lord for bringing us to the end of our own
selves, that we might be brought unto Thee,
who art our All in All.