I have never been more at peace or felt more delight than when I know beyond doubt that I am in the center of God's perfect will for me. That certainty sometimes eludes me, most other times not.
No one understands God's perfect ways or even why God acts in such a
way for some and in another way for others. How do we even know for
sure we are walking in His will?
We can't see the future. Our
feelings are fickle. We can't control other people's decisions. So how
do we walk down that specific path God has lighted for us?
We
live in a very imperfect world and since we don't control other people,
we can't be responsible for their choices [tweet this]. The only alternative we
have, then, is to walk the closest we can to the Lord God Almighty and
expect Him to turn us from the wrong direction.
We have His
guidebook, His Word. We have the Holy Spirit. Combine this with our
love for our Daddy and a deep desire to do His will, and it is a fairly
reliable recipe for following His will.
It is only when we let our own desires get in the way that we veer off the path and stretch our leading strings. I believe that God allows us an exploratory romp or two down side paths because this is how we learn God's guiding hand on our reins. We learn how to respond. If we don't
acknowledge the gentle tug to the left or right or signal to stop, then
God will get more urgent and sometimes the bit will dig in and hurt.
It isn't God that is causing the hurt, it is the stubborn ignoring of
His guiding signals.
We can't walk in His ways unless we know
Him. We can't know Him unless we study His Word. We can't study His
word unless we take the time. We can't take the time unless we make it a
priority. Therefore, priorities are crucial to knowing God's will.
Never
allow consideration of doing something that is contradictory to His
commands. That part is simple enough. But what do we do with that
fleeting thought that flickers through the brain matter, toying with us
to consider something that the Holy Spirit immediately flags as sin?
When it does register that we've thought something like that, we need
to fling it at God's feet. Frankly, that is not easier said than
done. If we truly mean to bring God glory that decision must be made
before that flickering thought appears. Otherwise we sit toying with an
idea which is then a simple matter to follow through with a deed
displeasing to God.
Once we've decided, it is easier to do. Once we’ve decided, we are more aware
of temptation, (and that, my siblings, is what Satan deplores). He
wants us to waver on the cusp of the pit. But, who is stronger? When God
is for us, who can stand against Him?
Psalm 37:4 says that when we delight in the Lord, He will grant us the desires of our hearts.
How precious that God gives us our desires when we delight in Him. That
means those desires are not harmful. [Tweet This].They are good for us and others.
That means that our hearts are pure. What a joy to have a pure heart.
That also means that our prayers are righteous and the prayers of the
righteous avails much. We have a responsibility to dive into the middle
of God's will and to delight in Him.
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