Thursday, May 17, 2007

Whose Will?


I do not seek or consult My own will [I have no desire to do what is pleasing to Myself, My own aim, My own purpose] but the will and pleasure of the Father Who sent Me. John 30:6b Amplified Bible

Jesus set the standard high when He spoke these to the very people who were seeking to kill Him. They were the truth by which He lived His life. From the moment of His conception to His ascension, He had but one mindset….to do the will of His Father. With Jesus, there was no other longing, desire, or purpose in life. His actions stemmed from it. His words were birthed from it. His attitude was a result of it. He did not make a plan, perform a miracle, have a conversation, or draw a conclusion that did not coincide with His Father’s will and pleasure.

As I go through my day can His words be my own? Will I allow Him to do such a work in me that everything comes down to God’s will over my own will? Knowing that His ways are higher than my ways and His thoughts are higher than my thoughts should be grounds enough for preferring His will over mine. With that said, what makes it so difficult?

I live in a fallen world…so did Jesus. I taste rejection and hurts from people….so did Jesus. I come up against trials, temptation, and troubles…so did Jesus. I have faced misjudgment, mistreatment, and misunderstanding….so did Jesus. I know hunger, tears, and heartache…so did Jesus. I have an enemy who seeks to destroy me…so did Jesus. The list could go on and on but my point is this, Jesus faced most of what I face in this world. He knows what I face each day because He faced it as well. And yet there are differences that reveal the nature of my difficulties to voice His words for myself.

I have a sin nature. My view of life is limited and my view of the future is blocked. I can only be in one place at a time. While I house divinity within myself in the form of the Holy Spirit, I am not divinity itself. My flesh is at war with my spirit. These are just a few of reasons it is imperative that I pattern my life after Jesus. He spent time in prayer, saturated Himself with Scripture, spoke the truth to Himself and others, and lived with the sole purpose of doing His Father’s will. In order to do that I must come to the place of seeing my need for His help. May I learn to whisper “Not my will by Thine be done” to every circumstance, situation, difficulty, loss, and tear as I go through my day. Trust Him, follow Him, listen to Him, and obey Him with abandon! May His words be my heartbeat today!

Father, may Christ’s words live in me! Amen.