We pray it.
I pray it constantly myself… “Lord show me Your will for my life.”
Because I believe that something deep inside each of us desires to know His will. I believe that we all desperately long to know what we have been called to do. We have this deep need for revelation in the area of giftedness and how we can change the world around us for the good.
And an honest reading of His Word will always reveal the answer.
However, it may not always look the way we intended it to.
Because I think when we ask the question, we are looking for direction about a physical calling. Should I become a nurse? Should I go into the field of engineering? Should I take this job in marketing?
But I think God’s call for our lives is much more than a career.
I think it’s much deeper than a decision about employment.
Because I see in the pages of scripture that when He speaks about His will, He’s speaking about aligning the motives of the heart with the nature of who Jesus is. He’s giving us divine directives that give us opportunities to look more like the Christ who’s image and likeness we were created.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 says this, “Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.”
Ahh… and so could it be… these three things are the will of God for my life?
Always be joyful.
Never stop praying.
Be thankful in all circumstances
Because isn’t His main concern… not whether or not I find the perfect job… but whether I develop true Christlike character? Whether I can be entrusted to carry His presence into a hurting world?
Because I believe with everything in me that He is actively looking for a body of believers who are filled with the Holy Spirit, and who have the spiritual strength needed to carry the weightiness of His glory into the areas of darkness where those without Jesus are dying without hope.
And you and I have been given specific instructions on how to live out God’s will for our lives.
Always be joyful.
Never stop praying.
Be thankful in all circumstances
1.) Always be joyful.
Always.
It’s a Greek word, Pantote.
And you know what it means?
Always.
Always be joyful. At all times.
And yet we find ourselves saying it, “But I don’t feel like it.”
Yep. Me neither.
And that’s why it’s a choice.
I get to choose.
And if my desire is to look more like Jesus, than I’m going to have to get this one down.
ALWAYS be joyful.
It was indeed a command for a reason. Because He knew we had not the ability to do it naturally.
And when we look for them, they’re all around us.
Growth opportunities.
The long wait at the grocery store that causes me to be late for an appointment.
The car that won’t start after I’ve had it in the garage 2 times this past month for the same problem.
The blow dryer that’s stopped working an hour before I have an interview.
Life’s frustrations.
But our choice for joy is always within reach.
And it is our choosing joy in the midst of unfortunate circumstances that causes us to look more like Jesus. It opens the door to greater blessing. Because when He sees that we can be trusted with keeping our weak emotions in check, than He knows we can be trusted with more! Blessing flows like a river into a heart occupied with joy because in it is the capacity for abundance and reproduction.
2.) Never stop praying.
I love the Passion Translation of this verse (17), “Make your life a prayer.”
I was meeting with someone the other day whom I have had the privilege of mentoring and I told her that prayer doesn’t have to be so structured. God is more interested in the relationship developed through conversation than He is of the act of structured, rote prayer.
He’s simply after our heart. And He simply desires to hear His children speak.
I said it once in an event a few years ago that I believe He longs to hear us speak, in part, because He loves to hear our voice.
And so His will for our lives… includes praying always. Maintaining dialog with the Father. Never giving up on the pursuit of answered prayer. Oh how it IS His will to answer the aches and the cries of our heart!
3.) Be thankful in all circumstances.
I heard it said once, “Thankfulness takes the sting away from something sent to harm you.”
Ahh yes - - because what the enemy meant to destroy, God meant for good!
And so we combat what the enemy means as destructive, with thankfulness!
When we can take a situation of job loss and remain thankful IN the midst of hard times, we are basically choosing to co-labor with the Lord. We are making a decision to give God the glory that is non-dependent of outcome. And when I can learn to appropriately navigate the rough waters in the darkness, He will lead me safely to the shore every time.
Oh that we might be willing to say every day… “I am thankful for the opportunity to grow! Take this life and use every part of it to magnify Your name Jesus!”
And so I wonder… if changing my perceptive on His will, will in fact change my entire life?
Because His word is clear. And changing my assignment is not an option.
What is the will of God for my life? For YOUR life? It’s the same:
Always be joyful.
Never stop praying.
Be thankful in all circumstances
I will begin today putting into practice those things that cause me to look more like Him. Because once I can learn to manage these tasks in my daily living, He will reveal the path in which I am to step boldly and bravely into. All for His glory!
No comments:
Post a Comment