the will of God as a way of life

God works in mysterious ways. i've been trying to get hold of jerry sittser's discovering God's will ever since rev timothy phua referred to it in his visiting sermon (on what else but discovering God's will) sometime last year. i thought it was all over when sks told me it was out of print, but as it turns out, God has led me to the updated edition of the work here in york - for only 99p!

reading the will of God as a way of life has been the right thing at the right time, and doing the will of God as a way of life is also always the right thing at the right time.

A Startling Conclusion

As I struggled with the issue of discovering God's will, I came to a startling conclusion. The will of God concerns the present more than the future; it deals with our motives as well as our actions; it focuses on the little decisions we make every day even more than the big decisions we make about the future. The only time we really have both to know and to do God's will is the present moment. We are to love God with heart, soul, mind, and strength, and we are to love our neighbours as we love ourselves. These are the basic responsibilities Jesus challenges us to pay attention to, just as a basketball coach emphasises the fundamentals of dribbling, passing, and shooting.

Jesus' teaching about the simple will of God is therefore always relevant in every situation imaginable, whether we are doctors or ministers, single or married, young or old, healthy or sick. It is the daily choices we make to honour and serve God that determine whether we are doing the will of God. We already know the will of God for our daily lives, however cloudy the future appears to be. That we do not know what God wants for tomorrow does not excuse us from doing His will today.

This perspective on the will of God gives us astonishing freedom. If we seek first God's kingdom and righteousness, which is the will of God for our lives, then whatever choices we make concerning the future become the will of God for our lives. There are many pathways we could follow, many options we could pursue. As long as we are seeking God, all of them can be God's will for our lives, although only one - the path we choose - actually becomes His will.

God does have one will for our lives - that we seek first His kingdom. But God allows us to follow many possible pathways to live that one will out. For example, God does not have one person selected for us to marry whom we must "find". Instead, there are many people we could marry, if we choose to marry at all. Nor does God have one career mapped out for us, which we must then figure out. Instead, there are many careers we could do and perhaps will do. The "one" will God has for us consists of a commitment to put Him first in everything. Then, when we make specific decisions concerning the future, we can be confident that what we choose becomes God's will for our lives.

God is thus surprisingly flexible about the future because He is supremely inflexible in the present. You are free to marry any number of people, just as you are free to pursue any number of careers (subject, of course, to certain limitations, as we shall see). But we are not free to put anything before or above God. God must be first and foremost in everything. Once we seek first God's kingdom and entrust our lives wholly to Him, the world suddenly becomes full of possibilities. As Paul claims with utter boldness, "For all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future - all belong to you, and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God." All things are ours in Christ. God works all things to our ultimate and eternal advantage, including the future. The only significant condition is that we surrender our lives to Jesus Christ and follow Him as Lord.

Why the Ambiguity?

Do I like the ambiguity of this theology? Not at all! Nevertheless, there may actually be good reasons for the ambiguity. For one, it keeps us from dividing life into sacred and secular. As C.S. Lewis has argued, God does not want just a few religious things from us - say, a tithe or a few hours of voluntary service or weekly attendance at a Bible study. As our Creator and Redeemer, He lays claim on every moment of our lives and has rightful jurisdiction over us. In the Christian faith, all of life is religious and falls under God's authority. He gives all things to us; He demands all things from us. God doesn't want something from us; He simply wants us...

There is a second reason for the ambiguity of Jesus' words in seeking God's will. They prevent us from putting off obedience to God until some later time. When Jesus taught "Seek first God's kingdom" and "Let the day's own trouble be sufficient for the day," He was insisting that we treat the present moment as the proper time - the only time, really - to follow and serve God. It is not enough to refrain from worrying about a future beyond our control; rather, we should be fully present to what is immediately at hand, like a child playing her favourite game on a beautiful summer day. If we associate God's will with some great work we hope to do in the future, it is so easy to overlook the little works we can and should be doing every day. It is far too convenient to use our future aspirations (eg. "What a wonderful contribution I will make as a surgeon") as an excuse for neglecting to serve God in the present...

Finally, the ambiguity of seeking God's kingdom first gives us freedom, confidence, and security to make decisions. If we truly seek God above all, then we will always be doing the will of God, no matter where our particular choices lead us, because seeking God's kingdom first is God's will. When we come to a crossroads with no signposts to guide our way, we then have the freedom to choose what we want, the confidence of knowing God will go with us, and the security of trusting our decisions become His will. In other words, we simply cannot lose. We cannot make a decision that is "outside" the will of God because we are already "inside" that will. As it turns out, the weightiest choice we make is never between two future options - say, taking a job in California or staying in Iowa - but between two ways of life, one for God, the other against God.

- Jerry Sittser, The Will of God as a Way of Life

God will provide the right thing at the right time. the lack of faith has nothing to do with how it is given, but with how it is received.

Teach Me How To Trust You

Doubts come easily when discouragement comes my way
When people let me down and all I've counted on seems to fail
Help me find a way and the strength today
Just to see me through
And give me the courage to take Your hand
And simply follow You

Teach me how to trust You, Lord
Growing daily in Your word
Just believing what I've learned
Placing all my faith in You

Show me how to love You more
Certain of the things in store
Teach me how to trust You, Lord
And to walk by faith in all I say and do

When the struggles and pain of making decisions come
Feeling so all alone, wondering if I'm the only one
Help my unbelief become perfect peace
Knowing that I'm Yours
Committing all that I am to You
Within Your will secure

Teach me how to trust You, Lord
Growing daily in Your word
Just believing what I've learned
Placing all my faith in You

Show me how to love You more
Certain of the things in store
Teach me how to trust You, Lord
And to walk by faith in all I say and do

Teach me how to trust You, Lord
Teach me how to trust You, Lord

link: three kinds of will (28 jul 09)