Monday, August 17, 2009

The Knowledge of His Will

Did you ever wonder what you were supposed to do with your life? Did you ever NOT wonder what you were supposed to do with your life? If you're at all like me, you frequently find yourself biding your time and waiting for God to show you what His will is. Why does it always seem to be a mystery? What job do I take? Where do I live? What standard of living should I choose? How much do I give and how much do I save? Do I go to the mission field some day? Do I stay in the job I'm in? What is His will?

God has been teaching me more and more lately that His will is really very simple. Know Him. "We have not stopped praying for you asking God to fill you with the knowledge of His will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please Him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God."- Col 1:9-10 If I could ask the great man of God, Paul, how I could know what God's will for me is, I think this would be his answer! Of course, you absolutely must have a personal, real relationship with Him in order to have any idea what this is describing. If you don't know that you know that you know the reality of His Person, at least as much as you know that of your mom or husband or friend, ask Him to show you that first! He'd be delighted to!

Jesus Himself had clear instructions to give on this point.In Matthew 24, Jesus is answering a question about how the disciples will know when this mysterious and foreboding 'end of the age' is coming. He gives them some signs to look for, and then gives them the warning to "keep watch". You know how when you're waiting for a visitor that you haven't seen in a while to come over and the house is all cleaned and everything is set, you keep peeking out the window to see if they're pulling in? It's like that. Keep watch. He then gives an example that they would understand. In our century it's kind of like having a good, reliable friend taking care of your house for you while you are on a business trip in Alaska (they do have businesses in Alaska). He is staying in the house, feeding the cat, walking the dog, and making sure nothing burns down. You trust this friend completely and have no qualms about leaving him for a while to take care of the house. After a couple weeks, you find out you need to stay in Alaska for some undetermined amount of time. Does your friend fret because he doesn't know when you're coming back or what he's supposed to do while you are gone? No. You talk to him on the phone, tell him about the change of plans, but have no need to tell him again that he needs to keep feeding the animals. He knows that. He keeps feeding the cat and walking the dog and doing the things he knows needs to be done. In 1st century terms, rather than a friend, the most trustworthy servant would give the other servants "their food at the proper time" (v. 45). The job wasn't glamorous, the servant just made sure everyone in the house was eating because he knew it needed to be done while his master was gone.
What things do you know need to be done while your Master is away? What responsibilities has he left you? He wants you to stay in close correspondence with Him in case something new comes up, but, meanwhile, He wants to you to do the job you've been given.

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