A Note to the One Who Is Afraid of God’s Will
I’ve been thinking about our conversation the other day and have a few more thoughts for you to consider. In your present state of indecision, which we identified as being caused by fear in your heart—fear that perhaps God will ask you to do something with your life that is different than the plans you’ve already made—you acknowledged, which I sincerely believe, that your overall plan for your career choice is God’s will for your life. I have no reason to disagree. However, the timing of its fulfillment and the best road to get there is the subject of your present struggle.
We discussed Romans 12:1-2 a bit and were refreshed to know that as God calls you to the full surrender of your body as a “living and holy sacrifice,” in response to the gospel, He is not calling you to something inferior. Rather God’s will for your life is “good, acceptable, and perfect.” So we concluded that whatever the Spirit of God is up to in your heart and life right now we know that it is for your good. He is for you in Christ, not against you (Rom. 8:31).
Being conscious daily of our own depravity we readily acknowledge that it’s impossible that your will could be “more good” than His. The challenge, therefore, is to align your will with His will based on the secure revelation of His Word. That was our line of thinking a few days ago.
Today, I was reading Psalm 34:10b-15 and this further thought occurred to me: When we trust the Lord and walk in His ways then we will never miss out on anything good. It was verse 10b that really hit me between the eyes: “but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.” Think of it. Those who trust the Lord, seek His will, lack no good thing. What an incredible promise!
That got me thinking of Satan’s oldest lie, which he used on Eve in the garden. He basically told her, “God is holding out on you. The reason for His command is that He’s keeping something good from you. Don’t do things His way. His will is restrictive. Your will is the path to freedom. Reach out and take it now (in her case, the fruit).” This is the oldest lie around.
So, you see, this side of Eden we are still struggling to believe that God’s revealed will is for our ultimate good. We continue to wrestle with the temptation to think that God is somehow withholding from us “the best” and will make us settle for “second best” and, therefore, we better grab the product of our own will now, while we have the chance.
Please know this. The Lord has a good plan for you, a plan that is infinitely better than the one you are able to imagine (though it certainly may include some of your present dreams). I will continue to pray for you—that simple trust in God and His goodness will defeat your deepest fears. And I hope you pray for me too.
