Since my recent post on the will of God, I have had a number of related thoughts. They include the following:
The will of God, the best I can make any sense of it, involves . . .
Holiness . . . “This is the will of God, your sanctification,” says Paul. Among others things, he lets us know that God’s will is that we be sanctified or “set apart.” Of course the point is not that we are to simply be different for difference sake, that we are to be weirdos for the kingdom of God. But it does, I think, involve being different for his sake. This has little to do with dress codes and whether or not we drink of attend movies, but has everything to do with the big things like kindness, energetic joy, and love. In case you haven’t noticed, there is a big need for such things in my world, our world, the world.
The will of God . . . .
is (often generally objective but also necessarily) subjective . . . This means that God reveals numerous things to us in Scripture, but the outworking of these is often difficult to define with any precision. Though there are some things that are fairly basic, a good portion of what he has clearly revealed is also impossible to define. For instance God says that we are to be holy, but the exact “look”of holiness is–contrary to the opinion of the more rigidly-minded–quite difficult to prescribe. God says pray, but he does not provide directions for when, where, or how long. He tells us to love, but there is no exact template as to the manner in which this will take shape in our lives. Please understand, I am not saying that this whole holiness thing is completely relativistic or that we can never distinguish holiness from unholiness. What I am saying, though, is that the exact manifestation of such things cannot be pinned down or reduced to a formula. Such is the will of God.
Because the details of God’s will are at least somewhat subjective, the will of God is therefore . . .
Dependence-oriented . . . which means that we are, by the nature of the case, compelled to say, “Lord, help!” And this, I would argue, is a good part of what God is after in the first place. I don’t think he is as much interested in our ability to decipher which job we take as he is that we lean on him while trying to make our decisions. Therefore, the will of God is, in ways that differ from the typical views, quite personal–not personal in that God tells us which flavor ice cream to order but personal in that we are moved to trust in and turn to God himself. This leads to the next point.
On a related not, the will of God is . . .
Faith-centered . . . Thus, in the very act of turning to God, looking for his intervention, crying for his assistance, etc. we connect ourselves with the Lord of the universe, the Maker of all things, the Savior of the world. This is the essence of faith. If it is impossible to please God without faith, as the author of Hebrews argues, then faith itself must be a major component of what it means to please God. Thus, the demonstration of imperfect but genuine faith is, in this sense, the very will of God.
Obviously, there are many more things that could be said about the will of God. These are simply some current thoughts. God’s will involves holiness, is subjective, forces us to look outside of ourselves, and includes faith. These, I believe, all point us in a direction that produces hope, draws attention to the wonder of God in our lives, and yields the type of liberty that energizes our lives.
The will of God, the best I can make any sense of it, involves . . .
Holiness . . . “This is the will of God, your sanctification,” says Paul. Among others things, he lets us know that God’s will is that we be sanctified or “set apart.” Of course the point is not that we are to simply be different for difference sake, that we are to be weirdos for the kingdom of God. But it does, I think, involve being different for his sake. This has little to do with dress codes and whether or not we drink of attend movies, but has everything to do with the big things like kindness, energetic joy, and love. In case you haven’t noticed, there is a big need for such things in my world, our world, the world.
The will of God . . . .
is (often generally objective but also necessarily) subjective . . . This means that God reveals numerous things to us in Scripture, but the outworking of these is often difficult to define with any precision. Though there are some things that are fairly basic, a good portion of what he has clearly revealed is also impossible to define. For instance God says that we are to be holy, but the exact “look”of holiness is–contrary to the opinion of the more rigidly-minded–quite difficult to prescribe. God says pray, but he does not provide directions for when, where, or how long. He tells us to love, but there is no exact template as to the manner in which this will take shape in our lives. Please understand, I am not saying that this whole holiness thing is completely relativistic or that we can never distinguish holiness from unholiness. What I am saying, though, is that the exact manifestation of such things cannot be pinned down or reduced to a formula. Such is the will of God.
Because the details of God’s will are at least somewhat subjective, the will of God is therefore . . .
Dependence-oriented . . . which means that we are, by the nature of the case, compelled to say, “Lord, help!” And this, I would argue, is a good part of what God is after in the first place. I don’t think he is as much interested in our ability to decipher which job we take as he is that we lean on him while trying to make our decisions. Therefore, the will of God is, in ways that differ from the typical views, quite personal–not personal in that God tells us which flavor ice cream to order but personal in that we are moved to trust in and turn to God himself. This leads to the next point.
On a related not, the will of God is . . .
Faith-centered . . . Thus, in the very act of turning to God, looking for his intervention, crying for his assistance, etc. we connect ourselves with the Lord of the universe, the Maker of all things, the Savior of the world. This is the essence of faith. If it is impossible to please God without faith, as the author of Hebrews argues, then faith itself must be a major component of what it means to please God. Thus, the demonstration of imperfect but genuine faith is, in this sense, the very will of God.
Obviously, there are many more things that could be said about the will of God. These are simply some current thoughts. God’s will involves holiness, is subjective, forces us to look outside of ourselves, and includes faith. These, I believe, all point us in a direction that produces hope, draws attention to the wonder of God in our lives, and yields the type of liberty that energizes our lives.
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