FROM THE PASTOR
HE LEADETH ME & YOUR WILL BE DONE
A scenario: a group of pastors were having a deep and meaningful conversation, and one said that looking back over his years in the ministry, that what ‘he’ had taken to be God’s will was more often the assumption that ‘God’ wanted what ‘God’ wanted rather than ‘he’ wanting what God wanted. I remember my pastor saying to me (when I was questioning as to what to do, i.e., go into study or continue working), and my pastor’s comment was along the lines of, “Our Good Lord leads us where he wants us to be” – I took a great deal of grace from that knowing whatever decision is made, was made under grace! How easy is it for us to confuse my will with God’s will? Even when we are praying, “Your will be done”, how silently we feel, “Please Lord, be it my will!”.
Here's a folk tale: A cotton picker in Alabama, on a very hot day, threw down his bale and looked up into the sky exasperated and said, “O Lord, de cotton am so grassy; de sun is so hot; de work am so hard; dat I believe I’m called to be a preacher!”.
Scripture tells us that God’s ways are not our ways, and what we think is wise, God sees as foolish, and that God’s wisdom seems foolish to us. So how do we know God’s will, what God wants you to do? Some Christians believe in the “dabster” method – randomly choosing a text out of the bible, and out of context using it to help steer a path through tricky decisions, or situations. Generally speaking, we Christians know what God wants; how God wants us to act, think and treat others, and we can recall the Ten Commandments at this instance. We also know we are to “Love the Lord with all our heart, mind, soul and strength and love our neighbor as we love ourselves”. And we know God’s overall will – God will have all people to be saved” – God’s general will is there in scripture.
But as to God’s particular plan, or will for you and me, in a particular situation, that particular will of God is rarely found in scripture. Here a few useful guidelines:
Follow the general will of God as revealed in the Bible.
Spend time in prayer. In other words, pray about the situation. We don’t know the will of God, perhaps, because we don’t ask for it.Think through the situation. Does a decision have to be made right away? Use your God-given mind – sanctified common sense. Weigh up all the pros and cons carefully before you “feel led”. I’ve lost count as to how many times in my ministry I’ve heard people say, “I feel led…”, which usually ends up being led to follow some ridiculous situation.
Similar to above, wait for God’s time. More mistakes are made by haste, than delay.
Seek a Christian friend, consult a trusted Christian counsellor, others.
Finally, and most importantly beware of imposing your interpretation of God’s will on others – this can be detrimental not only to one’s faith, but other people’s faith as well. When two strong wills go head-to-head, and both believe God is on their side, then only one conclusion can be drawn and that is God has it wrong. What’s more, claiming something to be God’s will, can be used to manipulate others to fall in line with your will. This has been the cause of dissension within congregations and churches over the years.
Our Good Lord Jesus leads us to where we need to be, yet not my will but yours be done on earth as in heaven.
(Parts adapted from an article by Rowland Croucher)
We Pray For:
† The ministry of word and sacrament.
† All involved in Bible translation.
† Literacy workers, enabling people to read the word.
† Christian publishing, multi-media, TV and radio.
† Those who are doubting, fearful, weak-willed or guilt-ridden.
† Those who care for the very old and the very young.
Here's a folk tale: A cotton picker in Alabama, on a very hot day, threw down his bale and looked up into the sky exasperated and said, “O Lord, de cotton am so grassy; de sun is so hot; de work am so hard; dat I believe I’m called to be a preacher!”.
Scripture tells us that God’s ways are not our ways, and what we think is wise, God sees as foolish, and that God’s wisdom seems foolish to us. So how do we know God’s will, what God wants you to do? Some Christians believe in the “dabster” method – randomly choosing a text out of the bible, and out of context using it to help steer a path through tricky decisions, or situations. Generally speaking, we Christians know what God wants; how God wants us to act, think and treat others, and we can recall the Ten Commandments at this instance. We also know we are to “Love the Lord with all our heart, mind, soul and strength and love our neighbor as we love ourselves”. And we know God’s overall will – God will have all people to be saved” – God’s general will is there in scripture.
But as to God’s particular plan, or will for you and me, in a particular situation, that particular will of God is rarely found in scripture. Here a few useful guidelines:
Follow the general will of God as revealed in the Bible.
Spend time in prayer. In other words, pray about the situation. We don’t know the will of God, perhaps, because we don’t ask for it.Think through the situation. Does a decision have to be made right away? Use your God-given mind – sanctified common sense. Weigh up all the pros and cons carefully before you “feel led”. I’ve lost count as to how many times in my ministry I’ve heard people say, “I feel led…”, which usually ends up being led to follow some ridiculous situation.
Similar to above, wait for God’s time. More mistakes are made by haste, than delay.
Seek a Christian friend, consult a trusted Christian counsellor, others.
Finally, and most importantly beware of imposing your interpretation of God’s will on others – this can be detrimental not only to one’s faith, but other people’s faith as well. When two strong wills go head-to-head, and both believe God is on their side, then only one conclusion can be drawn and that is God has it wrong. What’s more, claiming something to be God’s will, can be used to manipulate others to fall in line with your will. This has been the cause of dissension within congregations and churches over the years.
Our Good Lord Jesus leads us to where we need to be, yet not my will but yours be done on earth as in heaven.
(Parts adapted from an article by Rowland Croucher)
We Pray For:
† The ministry of word and sacrament.
† All involved in Bible translation.
† Literacy workers, enabling people to read the word.
† Christian publishing, multi-media, TV and radio.
† Those who are doubting, fearful, weak-willed or guilt-ridden.
† Those who care for the very old and the very young.