06/13/10 "So Where Do You Want To Be?"

Ecological disasters, economic uncertainty, lingering wars, terrorist threats and attacks, accelerating persecution of Christians around the globe are evidence that God is warning the church in America to be prepared for hard times should they come in their full fury here. Obviously many have already been caught off guard and are in dire straights. It behooves the rest of us, therefore, to be ready for whatever comes. The first thing we need to do is to cultivate the voice of the Lord in our minds and hearts. Without divine guidance we will not be able to navigate the troubled waters that have engulfed many already. In John 10:1-16 Jesus speaks of himself as being the “Good Shepherd” of the church. He says that his sheep know his voice and follow him instead of a stranger. But how are we to know the Lord’s voice or his will?

Romans 12:1-2 (NIV) enlightens us on how we can know God’s will: “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy to offer your bodies as living sacrifices holy and pleasing to God-this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve WHAT GOD’S WILL IS (caps my own)- his good, pleasing and perfect will.” There is much that can be said about this powerful scripture, but it can be summed up in the following words.

The pursuit of God and his will in our lives begins by being obedient to the fundamental requirement of God that applies to all of us without exception. We are to dedicate our lives to him and make him the center of our lives. Second, we are to learn to love and yearn for his will in our lives. Jesus modeled that for us when in his Gethsemane prayer (Luke 22:42) he said to the Father “...nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done (even if it hurts, parenthesis my own).” Third we need to practice the will of God during relatively good times so that we will not be overwhelmed and unprepared when the going gets tough (see Matt. 7:24-29). Fourth, we can’t do this stuff if we hold on to the ways of this sinful generation. We need to be transformed by the Holy Spirit. Our whole outlook needs to change. The rich young ruler (Luke 18:18-27) wanted to hold on to his current life style and still be a follower of Jesus until he sadly realized that this is “not in the cards.” So he walked away from what might have become a great calling. Finally, the will of God is not something that is “imposed” on us without our understanding or cooperation.

As we move away from our own agenda and conform to the Lord’s agenda, we literally discover what that good, and pleasing and perfect will of God is and we like it. This is more thrilling than anything we can experience pursuing a self-centered sinful life because His will covers the smallest details as well as fitting us into his grand plan for the whole church, namely, to eternally thrive in heavenly places in Christ Jesus (see Ephesians 1). Now that’s where I want to be.