Oh! So That’s How You Walk In God’s Will?

If I’m ministering to a live audience and ask,”How many of you want to walk in God’s perfect will?”, I would venture to say that at least 95% of the hands go up. Now, if I were to follow that question up with, “How many of you believe you are walking in God’s perfect will for your life right now?”, I would likely see about 5% of those same hands go back up. And some of those would be hoping, not really believing. I was one of the 5% until December 2010. I was one of those who hoped he was on the right track, but wondered why nothing seemed to go the way my passion thought it should. Then the Lord opened my spiritual eyes when He cornered me with this;

“Until I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine [literally=teaching]. Do not neglect [disregard] the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of hands of the eldership. Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all. Take heed to yourself and to doctrine [teaching]. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you.” 1 Timothy 4:13-16

These verses of scripture follow me wherever I go. They are continually ministering to me regardless of what I’m doing.

I doubt there are many Christians who don’t want to live and walk in God’s will. And a common thought in the church is, “How do I do it? How does it happen?” Well, I’ll tell you what doesn’t work, waiting around for it to drop into your lap. God’s will for you isn’t just going to happen. No, there are things we must do to bring His will from the spirit realm into our lives here on earth. Many think that if they are good, go to church every Sunday, give their offerings and serve dutifully that God’s perfect will eventually hunts them down and plugs them in. I know the answer to that one! No, it doesn’t! While those are all things we should be doing, those things in themselves are not going to plop you into the midst of God’s will. Just ask the millions of Christians who have been doing those things for years and are still seeking the perfect will of God for their lives. After decades of following the Lord they still don’t know what God wants them to do, or if they do they don’t know how to get there. I have no problem thinking that the vast majority of Christians live their entire lives outside of the perfect will of God. And up until December 2010, I was part of the faithful mass. But I’ve had enough. I know what it takes and I would be a fool not to press on to the high call. It has gone beyond knowledge to revelation .

God’s will for Joshua was to become the leader of Israel. Moses had died, now it was up to Joshua to lead God’s people into the Promised Land, into God’s perfect will.  Gulp, how does one pull that off? Here’s how;

Twice, in Joshua 1:6 &7, God told him to be strong and courageous. If you make a decision to walk in God’s will you have to prepare yourself for the opposition that is undoubtedly coming your way. Not only from hell, but from Christians and family as well. The people knew Joshua and loved him, but “He ain’t no Moses. What does he think he’s doing? He’s gonna kill us all!” And I think we can all understand how concerned they must have been. But God had spoken. And for Joshua to obey it would take much strength and courage. He couldn’t afford to fear and he couldn’t afford to listen to the voices of opposition. Too much was at stake.

But here is the only way Joshua was going to succeed in following God’s will; [and this applies to all believers]

“This [Bible} shall not depart [cease to be] from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe [give attention] to do according to all that is written in it. For then [as a consequence, at that time, for that reason, soon] you will make your way prosperous, and then [as a consequence, at that time, for that reason, soon] you will have good success.” Joshua 1:8 [emphasis mine]

Now read both 1 Timothy 4:13-16 and Joshua 1:8 again. See the connection? Can you also not see the problem? This is likely why only about 5% of Christians are actually fulfilling God’s will for their lives; we are in the world more than in the Word. I’m not condemning anyone, but I do intend to exhort you to become the person God created you to be! I have been in the ministry for just under 30 years and I have witnessed the Lord doing some awesome things. But this isn’t God’s best for me and I know it. I have a passion and calling  that I have flirted with but never fulfilled. I was continually caught up in the cares of this world and the fear of what others might think.  I know it is God who has not only placed this passionate calling in my spirit, but He has kept it burning brightly even though defeat looked eminent time and time and time again.

Who’s responsibility was it to succeed? Was it God’s or Joshua’s? God had done His part. Now it was Joshua’s responsibility to obey. Look again at Joshua 1:8. God said, “For then Y-O-U will make your way prosperous. Then Y-O-U will have good success.” God gave each and every one of us instructions on how to live in His will. It’s the same instruction He gave to Joshua. Don’t look at this verse as something God said to Joshua alone, look at it as instruction God is giving directly to you. Fulfilling God’s will is not His responsibility, it’s ours. It’s not going to drop out of the sky like an apple. You have to climb the tree and go get it! The Promised Land wasn’t coming to Joshua, he had to go get it!

This only scratches the surface of what I’d like to teach here, but if I continue you’ll stop reading. It’s a modern day, I’m too busy, my favorite show is coming on, attention span curse. That’s a whole other issue, us being too busy, involved with the cares of this world, too heavy a schedule, etc. We let ourselves get too burdened down to hear His voice. But I’ll let that go.

I’ll reluctantly close with this;

“Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended [laid hold of or completely fulfilled God's perfect will for my life], but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind [in my life up until now] and reaching forward to those things which are ahead [God's perfect will for me], I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:13-14 [brackets mine]

The Apostle Paul wrote much of the New Testament. What if he had decided it was too much of a sacrifice to obey God? Too hard. People would doubt him. People would ridicule him. People would de-friend him. But look at how many lives has his obedience and sacrifice affected? There is a price to be paid to walk and live in Gods will. Romans 12:1-2 calls it a “living sacrifice”. No time to teach on that right now but I’m sure you have some understanding of what that involves. For years I was convinced that if I loved God, served His church physically and financially, that His will for my life would simply unfold. But after 30 years of going that route my eyes were supernaturally opened to verses of scripture I had known and preached on for years. Jesus made them personal words to me. He “lit ‘em up”, so to speak. No longer were they commands specifically directed to Joshua or Timothy. No, they are personal now. I have my marching orders. Thanks, Lord. Thanks for hanging in there with me!

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