These are all great questions. I ask them myself and often hear them asked in bible study, Sunday School, or small group discussions. I begin with Philippians 3:15, which assures me that God will reveal unto us the guidance we need for every aspect of our lives. God's like the radar guidance system to a pilot trying to navigate his plane through a thick fog, with no visibility. The pilot can't see far in front of him, but he can stay on course if he relies on his radar, which will warn him if he deviates to the left or the right. So, God has a plan for our lives and He promises to guide us and reveal the steps of that plan to us.
My basis for this assurance lies in the nature of God. It is God's nature to reveal himself and His purposes to man. When God made the world, it was to reveal Himself to those who would eventually live in it. Creation reveals God. Hence, Paul tells us that "the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are mde, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse." (Romans 1:20). When God caused the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be written, this too was to reveal Himself to man. Finally, just as God revealed His power in nature and His purpose in Scripture, so did He reveal His personality in His Son, Jesus Christ. That is why Jeus could properly say, "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father." (John 14:9).
God's revelation always involves a disclosure of His will for the individual person. The Bible teaches that if we really want to know God's will, we must be willing to do it even before we know what it is. This is clearly taught in John 7:17: "If any man wants to do His will, he shall know of the doctrine whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself." In this verse, although Jesus was speaking literally of the rejection of His doctrine by the Jewish leaders, He was actually teaching the principle that knowing the will of God consists largely in being willing to do it.
None of us naturally want to do God's will. We want our will. For "the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither, indeed, can be" (Romans 8:7). There is a great deal of the carnal mind in all of us. We want our way, not God's way. But we must go through it. We must learn to say, "Father, even though I don not naturally want Your will, nevertheless, I know that it is the best thing for me; and it is necessary for my spiritual training. Lead me in the way I should go." And God will do that. For me to know God's will I must come to the point where I first want to do it.
The second great principle for knowing the will of God is that nothing can be the will of God that is contrary to the Word of God. The God who is leading us now is the God who inspirred the Bible then, and He is not contradictory in His commandments. Consequently, nothing can be the will of God for you or I that is not in accordance with what is taught in His Word.
A third principle to knowing God's will and one that I find helps direct my path in the small, everyday decisions ("should I do this? ... should I do that?") is to follow Philippians 4:8: "whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." Psalm 32:8 states it like this: "I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which though shall go; I will guide thee with mine eye." If God is to guide me with His eye, then my eyes must be looking to Him regularly throughout the day. I must be prepared for Him to guide me into new ways, too. If there is one thing I have most learned about God's guidance it is that He does not often lead me in old ways. God is creative. He is infinite. He is infinite in His plans for His children. I must place my trust in Him.
I have these words of fellow pilgrim Thomas Merton tucked in my journal and sometimes I pray them:
O Lord, I have no idea where I am going, I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that, if I do this, you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore, I will trust in you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death I will not fear, for you are ever with me and you will never leave me to face my perils along.
Thomas
Merton,
Thoughts in Solitude
Farrar, Straus, and Cudahay, 1958, New York
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I have been thinking a lot and reading a lot about this topic of forgiveness. If ever there was a quality that this world cannot understand or make it's forgiveness. Someone once said it is the very breath of Heaven. Kingdom style life cannot be lived without an operation of it. I'm reading a book right now that states the secret behind forgiveness is that it confronts and has the ability to set you free from .... your pride. If there is one thing that runs polar opposite of all things God its pride. The elevation of yourself.
Some have proposed that there are two types of personalities that come into play when we talk about forgiveness. When it comes to forgiveness, people usually respond to others with either comfort or truth. Comfort people( or mercy driven people) find it easy to forgive others but not themselves. Truth people (or justice driven people) accept forgiveness easily but don't find it as easy to forgive others. Those who are mercy-driven say, "I should be better than this,." Justice-driven people say, "I am better than this." The problem is that both of these are driven by pride (not the "I"-word), and pride in any form shuts out God.
Jesus Christ taught frequently about the need for us to forgive, even those who turn against us. His response to the people who betrayed and killed him modeled forgiveness for us. Psalm 85:10 melds both of these mercy-driven and justice-driven forgiveness processes together:
"Mercy and truth have met together;
righteousness and peace have
kissed."
Several questions keep rattling around in my head:
- Am I mercy-driven? Or am I truth-driven?
- Where is my pride in this?
- Who do I need to forgive today?
- Where do I need to accept forgiveness?
- How can I make forgiveness a way of life instead of an instance-by-instance act?
My father used to remind me that being with people - not accomplishing great things - was the most important thing in life. He used to say, "remember Ben, God created mankind as human beings, not human doers." I knew he was making a play on words (something he loved to do for fun), but that line always brought a smile to my face.
He died suddenly in August and like Linda's uncle, his wife was named Bernice too. I thank God that last December, I took some time to sit down with Dad and write down as much as he could remember about being a missionary among the Navajo in the 50's and 60's and a medic in the France and Germany during World War II. His strong faith and deep convictions prompted him to declare CO status before the draft board. They promptly rejected it and sent him to the front line instead. He witnessed horrible things and did some pretty heroic and brave things to save other people's lives.
My dad definitely gave the greater gift. I'm going to take Linda's advice this holiday season. I don't want to feel the tyranny of the things that need done.
Their plan was for Tango to dress as a police officer and walk up and down the street, easy and slow, like a real cop on his beat. Then if anyone heard the other two, no one would be suspicious. That's all Tango had to do.
Tango put on the police uniform. He felt uncomfortable, after all he was usually running from the police. But when he looked in the mirror, he was impressed. He looked good.
At the scene of the robbery, Tango was a little nervous walking to the street, but nothing happened. So he began walking up and down the street as he was told. As he turned the corner to walk around the block, he saw a police lieutenant coming toward him. He was filled with panic and wanted to run. With tremendous effort he restrained himself and continued walking toward the lieutenant. When Tango was just a few feet from the lieutenant, Tango saluted him. The lieutenant casually saluted him back.
That gave Tango confidence as he continued his job of walking up and down the street. After a few more trips, he found an elderly lady hesitating at the corner. She made two or three false starts to get across the street and each time turned back.
Tango walked up to her and offered her his arm. With dignity he walked her across to the other side. She said
"Thank you so much, officer."
Tango replied
"That's what we're here for."
Tango went back down the block. Emotions were stirring in him. In all of Paris there was not a more perfect example of a calm, strong guardian of the law.
Next he came across a drunk and Tango tried to hurry him along. The drunk became belligerent and Tango grabbed him as if to arrest him. As he was doing that his two partners in crime came out of the house. They were shocked to see what Tango was doing and yelled at him to quit.
Tango then remembered the lieutenant returning his salute, the elderly lady's gratitude, and his splendid image in the mirror. He stood tall as he stuffed the shiny whistle in his mouth and blew and blew and blew long enough to bring all the police in Paris. He called out
"Crooks, robbers! I arrest you. I arrest you in the name of the law."
Tango became the police officer he was dressed as. He became who he acted to be. We can become who we act to be.
On our own, we are like Tango. We're not professional crooks, but we're sinners. In God's eyes, there are no degrees of sin. A sin is a sin is a sin.
However, we can do what Tango did. St. Paul wrote.
"Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly
loved,
clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness,
humility, gentleness and patience."
(Colossians
3:12 NIV)
Even
though those attributes are not natural for us, we
can put them on.
We can clothe ourselves with Christ-like actions and
attitudes.
We can act in Christ-like ways even if we do not feel
it. Attitude
often follows action. In the mean time, fake it `til
you make it.
As we grow and mature in the faith, we can become
compassionate, kind, humble, gentle and patient. We
have to work at until they become natural.
In the movie
Dave,
the Secret Service need a double for the
president. Dave looks just like him. So Dave plays
the role of president. He wasn't the president.
But Dave faked it. He played the role of president
until he felt presidential, until it became
natural for him.
- It
does not matter if we feel compassionate. We can
act with compassion.
- It
does not matter if we feel kind. We can be kind to
others.
- It
does not matter if we feel humble. We can be
humble.
- It
does not matter if we feel gentle. We can be
gentle.
- It does not matter if we feel patient. We can be patient.
As we keep acting in those ways, the Spirit of God transforms us. St. Paul wrote
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new
creation;
the old has gone, the new has come!"
2
Corinthians 5:17 NIV
Clothing
ourselves with attributes of Christ means that we act
like Christ even before we feel Christ-like.
Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) advises their members
to
"fake it `til you make it'."
Counselors often advise couples who have fallen out
of love, to act as if they were in love until they
are in love once again.
Often
action precedes attitude. So,
- When
feeling no passion, be passionate.
- When
feeling no love, be
loving.
- When
feeling superior, be
humble.
- When
feeling detached, be
compassionate.
- When
feeling unkind, be
kind.
- When
feeling annoyed, be
patient.
- When
feeling harsh, be
gentle.
- When
feeling bitter,
forgive.
- When feeling upset, be calm.
