May You Never Grow Up
Usin' and Thummin' for the Will of God
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The phrase “the will of God” seems to invoke in some an elusive and far-gazing mysticism. What immediately comes to my mind is the abiding presence of God and His determination, insistence and persistence for His glory above all things. God’s will infers a living demonstration of His attributes and assumes a relationship between Him and all things below Him. E.Y Mullins cannot help but touch on God’s Will throughout his entire work, The Christian Religion In Its Doctrinal Expression.[i] Wayne Grudem includes some good discussion on the revealed and “secret” will of God in his comparable tome on Systematic Theology.[ii] A.W. Tozer wrote, “The highest expression of the will of God in this age is the church which He purchased with his own blood.”[iii] An African friend of mine says succinctly, “The only thing above God is that which He wills as He is bound to it! God’s Will is truth!” One may sum the entire concept as “guidance.”
How does one go about seeking guidance, or discerning God’s Will? Many try to make some existential connection through blind leaps of faith. Some try to tap some “divine spark,” looking deep within themselves and arouse that warm, fuzzy feeling that seems to say, “this is it!” Oswald Chambers cautions:
“In the beginning you may see clearly what God's will is - the severance of a friendship, the breaking off of a business relationship, something you feel distinctly before God is His will for you to do, never do it on the impulse of that feeling. If you do, you will end in making difficulties that will take years of time to put right. Wait for God's time to bring it round and He will do it without any heartbreak or disappointment. When it is a question of the providential will of God, wait for God to move.”[iv]
Our purposes for seeking the will of God are many; however, most-often our purposes are not good and most fail to realize this. Today’s mindset includes searching the will of God towards personal prosperity and many are not aware of the self-serving propensity of this seeking. To begin with, most people seeking have no clue what they are looking for, so God’s will is nebulous and they really wouldn’t know when they have found it. Others are looking for alleviation of pain, pressure or some rendering of a difficulty. Few will ever seek God’s guidance toward loss and suffering; rather, always toward gain and safety.
Every now and then I will meet someone struggling with an issue, where he or she is “seeking God’s will.” I meet students and prospective students who are trying to juggle ministry, school and family and are “seeking God’s will” for the next step; in other words, how to get through life unscathed or untouched by difficulty. I would encourage them from Hebrews:
“But remember the former days, when, after being enlightened, you endured a great conflict of sufferings, partly, by being made a public spectacle through reproaches and tribulations, and partly by becoming sharers with those who were so treated. For you showed sympathy to the prisoners, and accepted joyfully the seizure of your property, knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and an abiding one. Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised.” (Heb. 10-32-36)
In his Journal, John Wesley relates this incident: “Today I visited one who was ill in bed. She had buried seven of her family in six months, and had just heard that her beloved husband was cast away at sea. I asked, “Don’t you fret at any of these things?” She answered with a loving smile on her pale cheeks, “Oh, no! How can I fret at anything which is in the will of God? Let Him take all besides; He has given me Himself. I have learned to love and praise Him every moment.””[v]
Others I meet struggle with sin-pattern behavior or immorality. Why go seeking God’s will on how to handle it when He speaks so clearly, “For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality.”[vi]
Scripture is so clear, God’s will is not lost but must be understood, learned and accomplished!
“For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.” [vii]
“Epaphras, who is one of your number, a bondslave of Jesus Christ, sends you his greetings, always laboring earnestly for you in his prayers, that you may stand perfect and fully assured in all the will of God.”[viii]
“I delight to do Your will, O my God; Your Law is within my heart.”[ix]
“So it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones perish.”[x]
Why do you want to do God’s will? Why do you want to do what you want to do? God wills that we be[xi]:
Saved—“This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:3–4; compare 2 Peter 3:9).
Spirit-filled—“Do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit” (Eph. 5:17–18).
Sanctified—“This is the will of God, your sanctification” (1 Thess. 4:3).
Submissive—“Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right. For such is the will of God” (1 Peter 2:13–15).
Suffering for His sake—“It is better, if God should will it so, that you suffer for doing what is right rather than for doing what is wrong” (1 Peter 3:17).
Saying thanks—“In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thess. 5:18).
So why are there so many horror stories of people who thought they were doing the will of God and later, discovered they were not in fact doing God’s will? Regardless, God still gets His own way . . . as Livingstone said, “I had rather be in the heart of Africa in the will of God than on the throne of England out of the will of God.”[xii]
St. Gregory of Nyssa (331? – 396?) wrote, “Just as at sea those who are carried away from the direction of the harbor bring themselves back on course by a clear sign, so Scripture may guide those adrift on the sea of life back into the harbor of the divine will.”
God’s will is to be learned in the spirit of the Old Testament Urim and Thummin, by “usin’ and thumbin’”
In James 4:13-17, “doing the will of God identifies another test of genuine saving faith. True Christians are characterized as “doing the will of God from the heart” (Ephesians 6:6). They joyfully, willingly pray, “Your kingdom come, Your will be done” (Matthew 6:10). The apostle Paul’s delight in God’s law (Romans 7:22) is another way of expressing the same attitude. On the other hand, a constant disregard for or lack of interest in God’s will is a certain mark of the presence of pride—the ugly sin also underlying conflict, worldliness, and slander (4:1–12). To disregard God’s will is tantamount to saying, “I am the sovereign ruler of my own life.” Such a prideful attitude is antithetical to saving faith. As James has already pointed out, “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (4:6). Those who refuse to submit to God’s will give evidence that their lives have not been transformed by His saving grace.” [xiii]
Here are some facts we need to grasp. Our lives are short and have little room for error. Why we “little vapors” think we can direct our own lives is still a mystery (of sorts) to me. Since the Christian has thrown in the towel to the Lordship of Christ, why go through life apart from His will or spending so much time seeking what He has already given us (see above lists)?
James insists that we preface our plans by saying, “If the Lord wills … ”. Acknowledging the Lord’s will is more than our submission to it—He is LORD, right? If He is directing and guiding, should we be following? Our tendency will be to say, “well, I’ll just do it in my brain.” This is no better than not saying it at all. James says we MUST NOT say, “we will” but “if the LORD wills.” As it is written, “Many plans are in a man’s heart, but the counsel of the Lord will stand.”[xiv] Acknowledging the will of God is biblical! Paul understood this well:
“But taking leave of them and saying, ‘I will return to you again if God wills,’ he set sail from Ephesus.”[xv]
“For God, whom I serve in my spirit in the preaching of the gospel of His Son, is my witness as to how unceasingly I make mention of you, always in my prayers making request, if perhaps now at last by the will of God I may succeed in coming to you.”[xvi]
“But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I shall find out, not the words of those who are arrogant but their power.”[xvii]
Acknowledging God demonstrates our belief and trust in Him. Not acknowledging God is practical atheism. If we can’t say it, I venture there is too much pride in the way. I can’t help but think of the star of the morning in Isaiah 14 making five “I will” statements, and how God declares him as fallen! I also can’t help but think of the covenants God made where He Himself says, “I will.” Consider also: Deuteronomy 32:39; Job 12:9–10; Psalm 104:29; Hebrews 9:27.
Failure to acknowledge God is equated with boasting in arrogance, evil and sin (James 4:16-17).
We used to sing a song “back in the day” that (I believe) is now recirculating in the Country Music scene:
I don't know about tomorrow,
I just live from day to day;
I don't borrow from it's sunshine,
For it's skies may turn to gray.
I don't worry o'er the future,
For I know what Jesus said;
And today I'll walk beside Him,
For He knows what lies ahead
Many things about tomorrow
I don't seem to understand;
But I know who holds tomorrow,
and I know who holds my hand.
Some things are clearly the will of God, so searching for God’s will is not a mystical experience and a grand vaguery we only hope to get right. See Ephesians 5:17–21; 1 Thessalonians 4:3–8; 1 Peter 2:13–15; 1 Peter 3:17. The problem is that God is excluded in our practical atheism. What should be at the forefront of our thoughts is His kingdom and righteousness, and everything else will follow suit (Mt 6:33).
Someone once said that there are more “do’s” in the Bible than there are “don’ts” and if we do all the “do’s” we don’t have time to do the “don’ts.” That’s how close the will of God is. If you don’t READ it, you can’t DO it.
************
[i] Mullins, E.Y. The Christian Religion In Its Doctrinal Expression. Philadelphia: Roger Williams Press, 1917.
[ii] Grudem, Wayne. Systematic Theology. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994.
[iii] Tozer, A.W. The Best of A.W. Tozer. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1978.
[iv] Chambers, Oswald. My Utmost for His Highest. Uhrichsville: Barbour and Co., 1963.
[v]Tan, Paul Lee. Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations : [A Treasury of Illustrations, Anecdotes, Facts and Quotations for Pastors, Teachers and Christian Workers]. Garland TX: Bible Communications, 1996, c1979.
[vi]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update, 1 Th 4:3. LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[vii] NASB Col 1:9.
[viii] NASB Col 4:12.
[ix] NASB Ps 40:8.
[x] NASB Mt 18:14.
[xi]MacArthur, John. Strength for Today. Includes indexes. electronic ed., November 30. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1998, c1997.
[xii] Tan, Ibid.
[xiii]MacArthur, John. James : Guildelines for a Happy Christian Life. MacArthur Bible studies, Page 89. Nashville, TN: W Publishing Group, 2001.
[xiv] NASB Pr 19:21.
[xv] NASB Ac 18:21.
[xvi] NASB Ro 1:9.
[xvii] NASB 1 Co 4:19.
How does one go about seeking guidance, or discerning God’s Will? Many try to make some existential connection through blind leaps of faith. Some try to tap some “divine spark,” looking deep within themselves and arouse that warm, fuzzy feeling that seems to say, “this is it!” Oswald Chambers cautions:
“In the beginning you may see clearly what God's will is - the severance of a friendship, the breaking off of a business relationship, something you feel distinctly before God is His will for you to do, never do it on the impulse of that feeling. If you do, you will end in making difficulties that will take years of time to put right. Wait for God's time to bring it round and He will do it without any heartbreak or disappointment. When it is a question of the providential will of God, wait for God to move.”[iv]
Our purposes for seeking the will of God are many; however, most-often our purposes are not good and most fail to realize this. Today’s mindset includes searching the will of God towards personal prosperity and many are not aware of the self-serving propensity of this seeking. To begin with, most people seeking have no clue what they are looking for, so God’s will is nebulous and they really wouldn’t know when they have found it. Others are looking for alleviation of pain, pressure or some rendering of a difficulty. Few will ever seek God’s guidance toward loss and suffering; rather, always toward gain and safety.
Every now and then I will meet someone struggling with an issue, where he or she is “seeking God’s will.” I meet students and prospective students who are trying to juggle ministry, school and family and are “seeking God’s will” for the next step; in other words, how to get through life unscathed or untouched by difficulty. I would encourage them from Hebrews:
“But remember the former days, when, after being enlightened, you endured a great conflict of sufferings, partly, by being made a public spectacle through reproaches and tribulations, and partly by becoming sharers with those who were so treated. For you showed sympathy to the prisoners, and accepted joyfully the seizure of your property, knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and an abiding one. Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised.” (Heb. 10-32-36)
In his Journal, John Wesley relates this incident: “Today I visited one who was ill in bed. She had buried seven of her family in six months, and had just heard that her beloved husband was cast away at sea. I asked, “Don’t you fret at any of these things?” She answered with a loving smile on her pale cheeks, “Oh, no! How can I fret at anything which is in the will of God? Let Him take all besides; He has given me Himself. I have learned to love and praise Him every moment.””[v]
Others I meet struggle with sin-pattern behavior or immorality. Why go seeking God’s will on how to handle it when He speaks so clearly, “For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality.”[vi]
Scripture is so clear, God’s will is not lost but must be understood, learned and accomplished!
“For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.” [vii]
“Epaphras, who is one of your number, a bondslave of Jesus Christ, sends you his greetings, always laboring earnestly for you in his prayers, that you may stand perfect and fully assured in all the will of God.”[viii]
“I delight to do Your will, O my God; Your Law is within my heart.”[ix]
“So it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones perish.”[x]
Why do you want to do God’s will? Why do you want to do what you want to do? God wills that we be[xi]:
Saved—“This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:3–4; compare 2 Peter 3:9).
Spirit-filled—“Do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit” (Eph. 5:17–18).
Sanctified—“This is the will of God, your sanctification” (1 Thess. 4:3).
Submissive—“Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right. For such is the will of God” (1 Peter 2:13–15).
Suffering for His sake—“It is better, if God should will it so, that you suffer for doing what is right rather than for doing what is wrong” (1 Peter 3:17).
Saying thanks—“In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thess. 5:18).
So why are there so many horror stories of people who thought they were doing the will of God and later, discovered they were not in fact doing God’s will? Regardless, God still gets His own way . . . as Livingstone said, “I had rather be in the heart of Africa in the will of God than on the throne of England out of the will of God.”[xii]
St. Gregory of Nyssa (331? – 396?) wrote, “Just as at sea those who are carried away from the direction of the harbor bring themselves back on course by a clear sign, so Scripture may guide those adrift on the sea of life back into the harbor of the divine will.”
God’s will is to be learned in the spirit of the Old Testament Urim and Thummin, by “usin’ and thumbin’”
In James 4:13-17, “doing the will of God identifies another test of genuine saving faith. True Christians are characterized as “doing the will of God from the heart” (Ephesians 6:6). They joyfully, willingly pray, “Your kingdom come, Your will be done” (Matthew 6:10). The apostle Paul’s delight in God’s law (Romans 7:22) is another way of expressing the same attitude. On the other hand, a constant disregard for or lack of interest in God’s will is a certain mark of the presence of pride—the ugly sin also underlying conflict, worldliness, and slander (4:1–12). To disregard God’s will is tantamount to saying, “I am the sovereign ruler of my own life.” Such a prideful attitude is antithetical to saving faith. As James has already pointed out, “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (4:6). Those who refuse to submit to God’s will give evidence that their lives have not been transformed by His saving grace.” [xiii]
Here are some facts we need to grasp. Our lives are short and have little room for error. Why we “little vapors” think we can direct our own lives is still a mystery (of sorts) to me. Since the Christian has thrown in the towel to the Lordship of Christ, why go through life apart from His will or spending so much time seeking what He has already given us (see above lists)?
James insists that we preface our plans by saying, “If the Lord wills … ”. Acknowledging the Lord’s will is more than our submission to it—He is LORD, right? If He is directing and guiding, should we be following? Our tendency will be to say, “well, I’ll just do it in my brain.” This is no better than not saying it at all. James says we MUST NOT say, “we will” but “if the LORD wills.” As it is written, “Many plans are in a man’s heart, but the counsel of the Lord will stand.”[xiv] Acknowledging the will of God is biblical! Paul understood this well:
“But taking leave of them and saying, ‘I will return to you again if God wills,’ he set sail from Ephesus.”[xv]
“For God, whom I serve in my spirit in the preaching of the gospel of His Son, is my witness as to how unceasingly I make mention of you, always in my prayers making request, if perhaps now at last by the will of God I may succeed in coming to you.”[xvi]
“But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I shall find out, not the words of those who are arrogant but their power.”[xvii]
Acknowledging God demonstrates our belief and trust in Him. Not acknowledging God is practical atheism. If we can’t say it, I venture there is too much pride in the way. I can’t help but think of the star of the morning in Isaiah 14 making five “I will” statements, and how God declares him as fallen! I also can’t help but think of the covenants God made where He Himself says, “I will.” Consider also: Deuteronomy 32:39; Job 12:9–10; Psalm 104:29; Hebrews 9:27.
Failure to acknowledge God is equated with boasting in arrogance, evil and sin (James 4:16-17).
We used to sing a song “back in the day” that (I believe) is now recirculating in the Country Music scene:
I don't know about tomorrow,
I just live from day to day;
I don't borrow from it's sunshine,
For it's skies may turn to gray.
I don't worry o'er the future,
For I know what Jesus said;
And today I'll walk beside Him,
For He knows what lies ahead
Many things about tomorrow
I don't seem to understand;
But I know who holds tomorrow,
and I know who holds my hand.
Some things are clearly the will of God, so searching for God’s will is not a mystical experience and a grand vaguery we only hope to get right. See Ephesians 5:17–21; 1 Thessalonians 4:3–8; 1 Peter 2:13–15; 1 Peter 3:17. The problem is that God is excluded in our practical atheism. What should be at the forefront of our thoughts is His kingdom and righteousness, and everything else will follow suit (Mt 6:33).
Someone once said that there are more “do’s” in the Bible than there are “don’ts” and if we do all the “do’s” we don’t have time to do the “don’ts.” That’s how close the will of God is. If you don’t READ it, you can’t DO it.
************
[i] Mullins, E.Y. The Christian Religion In Its Doctrinal Expression. Philadelphia: Roger Williams Press, 1917.
[ii] Grudem, Wayne. Systematic Theology. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994.
[iii] Tozer, A.W. The Best of A.W. Tozer. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1978.
[iv] Chambers, Oswald. My Utmost for His Highest. Uhrichsville: Barbour and Co., 1963.
[v]Tan, Paul Lee. Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations : [A Treasury of Illustrations, Anecdotes, Facts and Quotations for Pastors, Teachers and Christian Workers]. Garland TX: Bible Communications, 1996, c1979.
[vi]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update, 1 Th 4:3. LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[vii] NASB Col 1:9.
[viii] NASB Col 4:12.
[ix] NASB Ps 40:8.
[x] NASB Mt 18:14.
[xi]MacArthur, John. Strength for Today. Includes indexes. electronic ed., November 30. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1998, c1997.
[xii] Tan, Ibid.
[xiii]MacArthur, John. James : Guildelines for a Happy Christian Life. MacArthur Bible studies, Page 89. Nashville, TN: W Publishing Group, 2001.
[xiv] NASB Pr 19:21.
[xv] NASB Ac 18:21.
[xvi] NASB Ro 1:9.
[xvii] NASB 1 Co 4:19.
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