Monday, January 23, 2012

Resolution 3

I had an interesting conversation with a man the other day in which he said he didn't know why Christians asked to know God's will. From his perspective, if a Christian was really a follower of Christ, then shouldn't they have the Holy Spirit inside them already telling them what God's will is?

It was an interesting conversation and one in which I did not agree with everything the man said, but it did start me thinking on a lot of things. Things like, how often do I ask for God to show me his will but I don't really wait or listen for the answer? Or how often when I hear God's answer do I actually follow His will over my own?

I feel that I have been pretty blessed in that I have usually been able to tell the way God wants me to go. My trouble seems to lie not in hearing or understanding His Will but in following it.

I don't think it is true that just because I am a Christian and have God's Spirit within me, I automatically do the right thing. If that was the litmus test for a 'real' Christian then none of us would pass - including the original 12 disciples. We often hear God's still, small voice inside us, guiding us, but we choose to not follow because of our sin nature. We might not like the direction God is pointing us in or we don't like his answer which tells us to wait and be still. We are people who like action. Sitting and doing nothing makes us anxious.

The conversation however, has echoed over and over again inside my head the past week. It has made me think long and hard about the Christian I am and the Christian I want to be. It has made me ask myself how often I have ignored God's will in order to do my own will.
I was wondering the other day what our world would be like if we talked less and listened more. What would our world, in general, and my world, in particular, be like if I could put aside my own desires and egoism and do what God wanted me to do?

This week, I have 'resolved' to make a conscious choice to sit and listen to God's voice over my own.

CS

"...We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.” - 2 Chronicles 20:12

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