God’s Will, Without A Machete

August 29, 2007, 3:45 pm; posted by
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“When [the people of Ephesus] asked [Paul] to spend more time with them, he declined. But as he left, he promised, ‘I will come back if it is God’s will'” (Acts 18:20-21).

I used to look at God’s will as a path, and it was my duty to hack my way through the jungle of choices with a machete to find it. It was terrifying because I thought there was one right way, yet I had so many choices in front of me, particularly for college. I worried that I was serving myself, missing the signs, and ruining God’s plan for my life by going to this school instead of that, or majoring in writing rather than, say, religion. But when I read Paul’s declaration in Acts, I was struck with how calm and assured he sounded. From that simple sentence, one could sense Paul’s certainty that God would reveal the proper path in due time, without a machete.

How did Paul achieve such a profound trust in God, though? Well, as a Pharisee, he studied the Torah and respected writings on it for years and years. The Word of God was part of his very being, even more so because of his revelation of Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus. He had seen the Truth, he had suffered for it, and so he rarely doubted it.

When I was deciding what to do with my life, I doubted, and often. I wanted to write, but I was sure God wanted me in missions, and I just knew God couldn’t use my writing in missions. After all, why would He let me do what I found enjoyable? (It sounds ludicrous, I know, but this is really what I believed.) I finally came to the conclusion that I had to major in theology and go on to seminary. To some, this may sound fantastic. To me, it was a death sentence.

My pastor watched me go through the agony of making this decision and others, then sat me down and gave me some guidance that I will forever be thankful for. Among the verses he showed me were Psalm 37:4 and Isaiah 30:21 — “Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart,” and “Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it.'”

He explained that God’s will isn’t a question where we figure out the one right choice. God doesn’t turn our lives into a daily search for a needle in the haystack. What He wants is devotion. If I delight in the Lord, if I devote myself to Him, I will want His will. There’s a big difference between committing to go somewhere for God and committing to be God’s person, no matter where you go.

Paul was God’s person no matter where he went. When he was in prison with Silas, they sang praises and prayed to God. When he was being arrested, he told the mob shouting for his death about the glory of Jesus’ sacrifice and how they too could be saved. Paul realized that when he traveled from city to city, he had to keep moving as God led him.

Even though the people of Ephesus begged him to stay (and I think he probably wanted to stay a little, too, given the poor reception he’d been receiving in other cities), he said, “Only if God wants me to.” Paul laid down his desires at God’s feet and made God’s desires his own. Paul leaned on God’s understanding and allowed God to direct his paths. And as a result, more people joined the church every single day.

Depending on God is not easy. Wanting His will is not always a party. For some, that has meant forfeit of their very lives, or the lives of loved ones. But just as in Paul’s case, what will come of it is a fantastic harvest of souls, the price of which we cannot comprehend.


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