Chapter 6: Forget About His Will for Your Life!
“I think a lot of us need to forget about “God’s will for my life.” God cares more about our response to His Spirit’s leading today, in this moment, than about what we intend to do next year. ”
“It is easy to use the phrase “God’s will for my life” as an excuse for inaction or even disobedience . . . My hope is that instead of searching for “God’s will for my life,” each of us would learn to seek hard after “the Spirit’s leading in my life today.””
Figuring out God’s will for our life can be a huge preoccupation that could make us ignore the decisions and actions that God wants us to act upon right here, right now. We could be so dead focused on the things we planned for the future. Sometimes, we channel so much of our energy into something that is not even there yet or something that we could not even grasp — the fascinating ideas of the “future” and “God’s will”. And yet we easily lose sight of the “now”, where God is, inviting us to simplicity of life, asking us to walk in His Spirit (Galatians 5:16;25), and reminding us the implications of the actions we do and not do today.
Instead of focusing so much in God’s will for our life, we should start focusing on His purposes for us today:
At this current season or level of intimacy with God, what is the purpose that you think God has for you right now?
“I think dwelling on God’s plan for the future often excuses us from faithful and sacrificial living now. It tends to create a safe zone of sorts, where we can sit around and have “spiritual” conversations about what God “might” have planned for us. Thinking, questioning, and talking can take the place of letting the Spirit affect our immediate actions in radical ways.”
The goal here is not to completely dismiss God’s plans for us individually. We know that He does have a good plan and a good future prepared for us (Jeremiah 29:11). However, Francis is pointing out one of the many excuse cards that us Christians always bring to the table. One of those things that we love to do is pretending that we can know God’s wisdom like it is something that can be fathomed. We think that by saying that we are waiting for God’s will to unfold in our lives, we can get a glimpse of God’s promises in its entirety. When for the most part, we already have an idea (or rather an imposition) that we are only waiting for God to reconcile and amend with His plans.
For instance, we postpone going for things that we are called to do and claim the delay as part of God’s divine schedule (when in fact we are trying to follow our own timetable). We grow complacently in our comfort zone and mistaken our lukewarmness as God’s promise of peace and comfort (when in fact we are just simply indecisive towards His call to complete surrender). We choose to make our own preconceived decision and claim it as God’s direction (when in fact we already made up our mind). We act subconsciously against the Spirit and justify our actions with God’s grace (when in fact we are comfortable living in secret sins knowing that He will forgive us every time).
What does sacrificial living looks like for you? And what are the things that may have been hindering you from living like this (if ever)?
“The God of the universe is not something we can just add to our lives and keep on as we did before. Jesus Christ did not die in order to follow us. He died and rose again so that we could forget everything else and follow Him to the cross, the true Life.”
God does not want a little bit of your spirituality
“And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? ”
To deny oneself is to let God take over our desires, passion, preoccupation, and our very life for the purpose of allowing Him complete access to our life’s agenda. By doing so, we are consciously welcoming God in our hearts to be able to follow His ways rather than our own. Further, by deciding to follow God, we are declaring that He is the most important person in our life and everything else comes in second — our comfort, successes, achievements, possessions, career, and even our loved ones to some degree.
What do you think is the “cross” that God wants you to carry? What does “radical faith” looks like for you?
“When Jesus calls us to take up our cross, He is doing much more than calling us to endure the daily, circumstantial troubles of life. IT IS A CALL FOR RADICAL FAITH. Jesus is calling us to be willing to suffer anything and forsake everything for the sake of the Gospel. His call is to consider everything a loss for His sake. His call is for total surrender.”
The business of Sanctification
“Christians can’t ever lost the Spirit, but His filling is something we should constantly pursue. The business of sanctification is a lifelong process we are engaged in.”
One of the reasons why we trip over our own walk of faith is by deliberately thinking that we “arrive” one level closer to God whenever we do good things. Conversely, we think we sink few levels down when we stumble. The Bible reminds us that this business of sanctification is a slow process that may take years, if not our whole lifetime. And the best part of it is that God is patient towards us in this lifelong process. We may disappoint Him time and again; but He does not run out grace and lovingkindness. It reminds us to not lose heart as we are being renewed by Him through the Holy Spirit day by day. We may not see our progress, but He does. And He acknowledges our successes regardless how small we deemed it to be.
“And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit; For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self his being renewed day by day. ”
The key is to “constantly pursue” the infilling of the Spirit and choosing to listen to His leading. And trust me, I know how hard it is to regularly keep in step with the Spirit with all the temptation and distraction all around us. But the one thing we need to make sure we never lose is our conviction. Conviction is acknowledging sin as it is and actively choosing to repent from it. Conviction, however, is not wallowing in shame and succumbing to fear of being unforgiven — this is condemnation. Conviction does not take away our identity as sons whenever we sin; in fact it only magnifies its truth as the Father extends His grace through the work of His Son Jesus on the cross.
“This does not mean that if you sin, you don’t have the Holy Spirit or aren’t a follower of Christ. It does mean that when you are sinning, you are not simultaneously submitted to the authority and presence of the Holy Spirit in your life. If the Holy Spirit is in you, as a believer, then when you sin you are not listening to the Spirit’s leading.”
Partnership with God
“Therefore, my beloved, fas you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”
The Bible tells us to “work out” our salvation “with fear and trembling.” But this does not mean mustering up our own goodness to live up to our salvation. It is quite the contrary. It says in the next verse that it is “God who works in you,” which means that He ultimately is in control and He alone provides our salvation. It takes partnership with God through the Holy Spirit in order for us to become who He wants us to be. Until then, His will for our lives remains a mystery. But we see a glimmer of hope even in the mystery as He slowly unveil our eyes of faith.