MEANDERINGS ON GOD’S WILL

Case Number One: Some saints see God’s will as all inclusive, where every life choice... every decision great and small, is fore-ordered by God who moves us by His Spirit in everything we do. Some see the command to “walk in the Spirit” as a mandate supporting God’s all inclusive will... but the context in these passages is clearly the enmity and warfare between one’s old carnal fleshly nature and the new indwelling “Spirit” nature of our Lord. This case presumes we are hearing the voice of the Lord 24/7, and differentiating distinctly His voice from the din that surrounds us. Case Number Two: Others see God’s will as a series of parking lots where every major life choice has spiritual parameters defining God’s will... the parking lot boundaries, and once entered God’s will is satisfied and the choice of parking spots is left to us. Case Number Three: And still others see God’s will more in a spiritual sense, involving one’s calling, ministry, and spiritual gifts.

For example, does God want to choose our city, house, occupation, job, church, car we drive, where we have lunch, etc., or does He want to choose the city we live in, the parking lot, and allow us to choose the house... the parking spot, or does He want to choose our occupation, the parking lot, and allow us to choose our job... the parking spot, and so on. Or, does He only concern Himself with our ministry, leaving all other choices up to us?

Every saint has righteous works foreordained by God: In the first case these works would accompany the choices God makes for us, so anytime we missed God’s choice we would miss the kingdom works He had planned around that choice. In the second case God, in His infiniteness, would assign righteous works to our parking choices within the parking lot boundaries He establishes for each of our major life choices, to fulfill His purposes. Of course, this is not a challenge to our multitasking Father, who knew the choices we would make before the foundations of the world were laid.  In the third case, if we miss God‘s will concerning calling, ministry, or gifting, we would be up the proverbial creek without a paddle. But Case Number Three is really a subset of Case Number Two, another major life choice... another parking lot. If we use God’s word as a roadmap for our life we will fine all His parking lots and be at peace with the parking spots we choose... even if we have to walk a little further then needed at times... that’s OK...

FIND GOD’S PARKING LOTS