God's will

When I first became a Christian and people talked about following God's will, I didn't really know what to think.  I mean...how did they really know that it was God's will and not simply their own desires convincing them that it was God's will for them to do something.  At the time I compared to reading a horoscope, going to a fortune teller, or getting a fortune cookie.  You find out that something in your life is going to happen in a certain way and then when something that comes close to what you think will happen you say that the prediction was right.  Or in some cases, in particular with fortune telling, you are presented with making a decision and because of what was told to you by the fortune teller you might choose one path over another because it aligns with the prosperity foretold to you if you make a certain type of decision.

But as I grew in my faith walk I came to realize that for me, following God's will meant learning how God desires for me to live my life.  Thinking about how his commandments for me aligned with decisions I was trying to make.  That the path I would choose would be in alignment with God's purpose for my life.  For some of the easier things in life this was simple.  Figuring out what to do on a day to day basis simply meant examining how my choices would reflect myself as a Christian to those around me.  Should I sacrifice a beautiful sunny Saturday going on a hike to help friends in need move?  Should I take some of my free time to help watch a friend in need with taking care of their children?  Should I stay home and watch TV in my pajamas or go to discipleship group?

Starting with our senior year in high school and for the next few decades after that we face some pretty major life decisions.  Which college, what major, where to go after graduation, job choices, car purchase, relationships, family, pets, lifestyle, the list goes on.  Each decision for each question shapes what the next question will be.  And when we make a decision and things don't quite turn out how we expect, we are faced with unexpected questions.  Some us will face the loss of a spouse, loss of a child, or loss of a parent.  Others might phase the loss of a job, their house, or all of their belongings.  The world tells us to examine a rational decision and move forward.

But Christianity tends to be a little different from the norm.  Sometimes we choose the job that pays less, sometimes we quit a powerful job to stay home with family, sometimes we give large sums of money to mission fund or we choose to live life not for ourselves but for others.  We sometimes choose the irrational path because it is "God's will."  The longer you are in the Christian world, the more often you can actually see God's will in the decisions people make or the decisions you make for yourself.  But how do you explain God's will to non-Christians?  Sometimes we are even asked to defend our choices to our Christian brothers and sisters.

I'm sure we've all experienced having to make some pretty major life decisions.  I've often shared with fellow Christians the events of my life and it never fails that someone will ask, "Have you sought God's will in this?"  I appreciate my friends asking this because it shows me that they care and want to make sure that I have examined the choices with the greatest of care by seeking my heavenly father's guidance and direction.  And if I haven't had a chance to seek God's will or I am still waiting for direction it gives me a chance to ask for prayer as I pursue God's will related to the matter at hand.

So how do we know that the path we choose is God's will?  Look for more on this topic next week and it anyone has any comments on this topic I would love to hear them.

Adoption

When I first moved to New Haven this spring, my husband and I tried a few churches together and because our time in New Haven would be for just about one year, we wanted to settle on a church and feel like part of a community.  We were fortunate to find a great church community a short walk from where we lived and met quite a few wonderful Christian people who opened their arms wide to accept us in.  We learned about their lives and even had dinner with one of the pastor's and his wife.  Out of the couple of churches we visited we selected our church mainly because of the people, but also because the worship music was more aligned with what I had experienced at my home church in Colorado.  The sermons were biblical based and did an excellent job of focusing on interpreting passages of scripture.

Having spent a few months attending we felt content with calling this church our community and home during our time in New Haven.  Not because it was the perfect church, but because it was good enough and we wanted a place to call home while we were living in the area.  The only problem was that neither of us felt like we DESIRED to be there each Sunday.  We left feeling like it was a good sermon and we would often have decent discussions about what had been shared, but something was missing.

When we came back from Christmas break, neither of us was very excited to go to Sunday service.  We realized that maybe it would be good to find a different church.

So a few weeks ago we tried a new church.  The first week we were there, the pastor spoke about living an "authentic" Christian life.  He defined this as "living, practicing, and spreading authentic Christian relationship in the community of other believers."

You might remember the REM song, "Loosing My Religion" which contains the lyrics:

That's me in the corner
That's me in the spotlight
Losing my religion
Trying to keep a view
And I don't know if I can do it
Oh no, I've said too much
I haven't said enough

I thought that I heard you laughing
I thought that I heard you sing
I think I thought I saw you try

Every whisper
Of every waking hour
I'm choosing my confessions
Trying to keep an eye on you
Like a hurt, lost and blinded fool, fool
Oh no, I've said too much
I set it up

Consider this
Consider this, the hint of the century
Consider this, the slip
That brought me to my knees, failed
What if all these fantasies come
Flailing aground
Now I've said too much

I thought that I heard you laughing
I thought that I heard you sing
I think I thought I saw you try

But that was just a dream
That was just a dream

All too many of us can relate to these lyrics.  We're confused about faith.  Did we do too much or too little?  What are the requirements God has for us in order to be rewarded?  We are bound in our confusion.  So many of us want a checklist to live our faith by that will guarantee happiness and satisfaction.  We are bound up by the idea that if we obey God enough He will love us.  And we distance ourselves from God when we don't obey.  Yet we are told that:  

  

"God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we 

might become the righteousness of God." 2 Corinthians 5:21

It is guaranteed that we will sin, but God won't refrain from being in relationship with us because we sin, He is right there with us.  Ready for us to seek Him.  God himself built the bridge back to him by giving us Christ.  The thing to take away from this is that God loves me regardless of whether I obey his commandments or not.  When we grasp this concept, then obedience will spring out of a transformed life.  

 

     "For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received 

     does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought

     about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children." Romans 8: 14-16

I can definitely understand the concept of adoption.  When I was 2 days old, my parents adopted me.  They took me in to their home and claimed me as theirs.  They choose me.  I became their child and they became my mother and my father.  Even though I am not biologically theirs, they are my "real" parents because they adopted me.  But the thing that is so amazing is that my parents loved me before I could offer them anything thing more than a dirty diaper.  I couldn't tell them that I loved them, I couldn't show them that I loved them.  And they loved me anyways.  And later on when I would do something or say something that was hurtful, they still loved me in spite of that.  It is much like this that God loves us.