God's Will

If you're like me you often struggle with the question of "What does God want me to do with my life?" We agonize over the seeming abstract and mysterious nature of God's will and beg Him to make the way clear before us. We long for a sign, an audible voice, a bolt of lightning to tell us exactly what God has planned for our life and what to do so we won't mess anything up. We worry that we're missing His will and look at others who seem to know where He wants them and we wonder, "What's wrong with me that I can't hear from God?" But if we go to the Bible, we find that God has already plainly stated His will for you and me! 1 Thess. 5:18 "In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." We can also find many other statements concerning the will of God. But I am finding this one to be the most important in my life right now. Having just passed the Thanksgiving holy day, some of our family has been talking about God's emphasis on giving thanks and why we seem to bypass this day, when perhaps we ought to focus more on Thanksgiving than Christmas. After all, what is the greatest gift ever given to us for which we ought to give thanks every day of our lives? It is the gift of God's Son, Jesus, sacrificed for our sins that we might receive forgiveness, joy, peace, eternal life, and a whole host of other blessings! Yes, we celebrate Christ's coming as a baby at Christmas, but you know, it is the risen Christ to whom we owe our thanks and our worship every single day. And my mom made an interesting observation. Nowhere in the Bible are we commanded to celebrate the birth of Christ. We are commanded to remember the Lord's death until He comes, which we celebrate at Easter and also every Sunday as we meet in honor of our Lord who rose on the first day of the week. And, as we see in the verse above and many others throughout the Scriptures, we are commanded to give thanks! So when President Lincoln proclaimed a national day of thanksgiving all those years ago, it was God-inspired! Mom says we ought to make Thanksgiving a bigger deal, and I think she's right. Thanksgiving Day is a reminder that we are to give thanks always for all things. But we need a lot of reminding! Don't you think we should make a bigger deal of our reminder?
Anyway, since my return from five weeks in Rwanda, I have struggled to get back in the groove at home. During my visit I became more aware of many things I take for granted and that I really don't have an excuse for all the little things I complain about at home. So I determined to focus more on the positives, which is no easy task when you are a "glass half empty" person. So easily I let my focus slip to all the things in my family and in myself that really need to change and to my eyes haven't changed at all. I have been tugged back into introspection and self-pity as I look at everything that is wrong with me and how I just can't seem to grow and flourish in this environment. It was so nice to get away from it all for awhile and have time to reflect and process and seek God at my own pace. But returning home, I quickly found the busyness and the chaos and the familiar frustrations caving in on me again. I also sensed greater spiritual attack and I was fighting a losing battle. A long overdue talk with Mom yesterday brought things back into focus. She pointed out that I was believing a lie: nothing has changed. There are a lot of things happening in our family right now, God things. When I get focused on what hasn't changed, the enemy starts nagging at me to quit fooling myself, that the areas where I have found freedom and victory are not meant to last and what's the point in living differently if everything around me stays the same? It is a despairing thought and yet, in a way, miserably comforting, to think I may as well go back to the same as I was before. But the real problem is my vision. I have wandering eyes. I have simply become distracted by lies, feelings, and ingratitude, and I have taken my eyes off the goal, which is Christ! I become swamped by the waves of doubt, fear, and impossibility, just as Peter was overwhelmed by the waves and began to sink when he took his eyes off Jesus. We all know that when you're driving, you tend to follow the direction of your gaze. If you take your eyes off the road for too long, it can get you in big trouble. But as long as we're looking at Jesus, focusing on who He is rather than what we think we are or are not, He keeps us on track and gives us the strength to keep running the race. I've heard this saying several times... The Christian life is a marathon, not a sprint. We want instant change, magical transformation. But that's not the way God works. Even in the greatest defining moments of our lives, I'm starting to see that God changes our direction in subtle ways. It's like climbing a mountain, one foothold, one handhold, than the next foothold, then the next handhold.... God is not going to ski-lift us to the top. Where would be the glory, the victory, the achievement in that? If He wanted to work that way He may as well beam us up to Heaven the second we surrender Him our lives! The really amazing thing is that despite all of our striving and despairing over the failure of our own efforts, it is God who continues to work in us to will and to do His good pleasure, and He is just waiting for us to let go!
What I'm beginning to realize is that giving thanks is actually lifegiving for us, because it keeps us focused on the incredible riches we've been given in Christ! Just think: it would have been enough for Jesus to give us redemption and eternal life. He doesn't have to give us anything else. So all we have besides life is extra; it's the icing on the cake! We can live without that stuff and God is under no obligation to give us certain things nor are we entitled to always have them. The only thing we truly deserve is Hell. Not only has God not given us what we deserve; He's given us forgiveness, love, and eternal life that we don't deserve! As someone once said, "All this and Heaven, too?" All of life is a gift; every little thing. So what are you thankful for? Our family borrowed someone else's idea for a Thanksgiving activity. Take a sheet of paper with all the letters of the alphabet and write one thing starting with each letter for which you are truly grateful. It would be easy to do this without thinking and write pat answers just to get it done. But I tried to really think about the things that most elicit gratitude in my heart; things that are really important to me. It was really cool to see what I came up with. You should try it! Don't just think material things. It can be something having to do with your relationship with God, good changes you've seen in another person, experiences, special moments with a loved one. Be creative!
"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning." James 1:17

Happy Thanksgiving!