Will Of God 7 – Become a student
Your Word is a lamp to my feet, a light to my path (Psalm 119:105).
The lens through which we understand what God has already willed, and is about to will – in the world, in my life – is the Bible. We get too hung up on whether to take this or that item in the Bible literally, and we forget that the Bible is something God wanted to happen, and God’s desire is that we read, listen, immerse ourselves in it, and view everything from its perspective.
Why phone up God with some appeal (“God, tell me what your will is on this major decision?”) when we haven’t bothered to pattern our lives earlier today, yesterday, and last year on what God has willed to put right in front of us all along? People who are deeply involved with God via Scripture don’t agonize so much over God’s will, because they are “in shape” spiritually, they sense the grammar, they have strong footings on which their quest for God’s will is constructed. So, you can start planning now to figure out what God’s will might be in the year 2011: become a student of Scripture.
The Bible develops in us mental habits that mirror Christ; we learn to think theologically in the face of tragedy. God is a God who makes and keeps promises, and so God’s will is trustworthy long-term, able to weather any storm. God owns everything, so it’s never God’s will for me to be possessive or grasping. God sacrificed his Son, so God’s will probably involves me making sacrifices. If you notice gifts in you (are you smart? good with numbers? do you cry when children suffer? is there money in your pocket?), their proper use is for the glory of God, not your personal advancement.
The beauty of God’s will is that we have a foil against which to measure what we’re about. Too many spiritual people use the “hunch” method: what is God’s will? Intuitions swirl, then I lunge… but most of the time, to paste God on a hunch is a convenient excuse for carnal living, so I can label my self-indulgence as “God’s will.” But why did God will the Bible to be so counter-cultural, so difficult, so at odds with my cravings? Stay tuned…