God's Will
Most Christians concern themselves with "God's will" when they make a decision. It's a more complicated process if one brings God into it. Of course, that's the wrong way of thinking. God's not a consultant, an independent contractor there to give you advice. The whole decision-making process is supposed to be predicated on the belief that God wants you to make a decision and that He gets the controlling vote.
I have heard hundreds of sermons on God's will and finding it, but none of them makes finding and doing God's will easier. Some observations:
1. Don't ask for knowledge of God's will if you aren't going to follow through on it. That's a slap in God's face, a waste of time and breath, and self-deceiving.
2. Most of the time God's will is clear--the moral choice, the Biblically-mandated choice. That doesn't mean easy, just clear. It's not a question of whether God expects Christians in church. Which church may be a little harder to discern, but even still churches should hold to gospel standards.
3. It's easy to deceive oneself about God's will. Humans are masters of rationalization.
4. Do signs mean anything? Other people's voices? Or only the witness of the Holy Spirit within?
I ask these questions because I don't know if I should stop teaching my Sunday School class in order to focus on something else, but I love teaching and would like to accomplish something, but I'm not all that successful at it, to say the least--yesterday I had an attendance of one, other than me. Yet everyone tells me what a great teacher I am. Obviously I'm getting mixed signals! And I am so tired. For some reason, I'm just tired all the time, even now as I type this on a day off and having slept a good eight or more hours. The fatigue is leading to depression that I don't like, so I have to wonder if I should focus on self-care rather than ministry right now. (That was too personal, sorry, but I think it's something a lot of women like me face.)
I have heard hundreds of sermons on God's will and finding it, but none of them makes finding and doing God's will easier. Some observations:
1. Don't ask for knowledge of God's will if you aren't going to follow through on it. That's a slap in God's face, a waste of time and breath, and self-deceiving.
2. Most of the time God's will is clear--the moral choice, the Biblically-mandated choice. That doesn't mean easy, just clear. It's not a question of whether God expects Christians in church. Which church may be a little harder to discern, but even still churches should hold to gospel standards.
3. It's easy to deceive oneself about God's will. Humans are masters of rationalization.
4. Do signs mean anything? Other people's voices? Or only the witness of the Holy Spirit within?
I ask these questions because I don't know if I should stop teaching my Sunday School class in order to focus on something else, but I love teaching and would like to accomplish something, but I'm not all that successful at it, to say the least--yesterday I had an attendance of one, other than me. Yet everyone tells me what a great teacher I am. Obviously I'm getting mixed signals! And I am so tired. For some reason, I'm just tired all the time, even now as I type this on a day off and having slept a good eight or more hours. The fatigue is leading to depression that I don't like, so I have to wonder if I should focus on self-care rather than ministry right now. (That was too personal, sorry, but I think it's something a lot of women like me face.)
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