My Will
Baby Girl,
What did You wake me up to talk about?
You went to bed asking Me to tell you how to address the subject I gave you for tomorrow, “How to know My will for your life.” What did your mom suggest about Bible study?
She suggested that I start the night out by clearly stating my purpose or what I’m planning to discuss for the night so that people aren’t left to guess or be confused about my main point because I tend to cover a lot without a clear point. I wasn’t aware the point wasn’t clear but I can see where I share a lot of thoughts and a lot of information.
Is it okay with you if I have different things to speak to different people and, collectively, they are UNABLE to tell you what your main point is each week? Take a few minutes at the beginning of Bible study tonight and ask the women what is the biggest takeaway they have from each of the first two nights. Don’t ask them what the main point of each evening was. Ask them what is their top takeaway thought from each week.
(PAUSE HERE IN SHARING THIS LETTER TO ASK)
Well, Little One, did everyone have the same takeaway?
I’m going to go out on a limb here and guess that you got some very different answers from different women. From some, it’s possible their biggest takeaway had ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with anything that came out of your mouth. What did your mom tell you about The Bubble tonight?
She said that a pastor she was listening to said, “How long are you going to stay in that self-centered bubble?” His whole message was about the dangers of being in the bubble of self. She said that people could take the message from the first week about the bubble and, if they hear this concept about the self-centered bubble, then confuse the point of my message.
What just came to mind?
How in one story in the Bible, Jesus cursed the fig tree because it bore no fruit, even though it was not in season, but he cursed it so it withered up and died. Then in another story, Jesus talks about the fig tree that was bearing no fruit so the workers wanted to cut the tree down. The master said to tend to that tree for one more season, taking good care of it to see if it might bear fruit again. In one, there was a perfectly good tree that He cursed and, in the other, there’s a useless tree he’s giving another chance.
Little One, even object lessons can be interpreted in unique ways that are meaningful to an individual’s life. If I give you a dream and you interpret it to mean one significant thing for your life, it is possible that, in retelling the story, I will impress the opposite lesson in the heart and mind of someone else.
What is your subject for tonight and why did you choose it?
I’ve had many people tell me, “I just wish I knew God’s will for my life.” I usually say, “I don’t think He cares if you become a doctor or a teacher, a plumber, or a waitress.”
Stop right there. You don’t think I care what you do for a living?
Ask the women what they think. Do they think I care what they do for a living?
(PAUSE TO ASK IF GOD CARES WHAT WE DO FOR A LIVING)
I do care. I do have a will for what they do for a living. If I created them with a gifting for science and math and a mind that is bent toward being curious about how the human body works… but they spend their life as a waitress… they are not using the gifting and natural interests I gave them to it’s fullest potential.
What is the number one advice you give people whose children struggle with ADHD?
I tell them to pay attention to what their child is interested in or tends to naturally hyperfocus on and help foster that curiosity. If that child tries to do what their brain does not find interest in, they will become bored and struggle to stay engaged and interested at home and in school; but if you can find that thing that sparks their interest and curiosity, they can do incredible things with that subject.
Baby, the same is true for all My children. You were musing the other day about how incredible it is that society just works. There are THOUSANDS of cars and hundreds of thousands of people in each community waking up and moving about the earth, all doing different things, and yet, SOMEHOW, the world is not filled with chaos.
There are people who wake up in the morning and know that when they get ready for their day, they will go to the hospital and register patients for surgery. There are people who wake up knowing that they will be making ice cream cones for people at Dairy Queen. There are people knowing they will be going to the grocery store to bag groceries or to school to teach 3rd grade math. People know where they fit into the larger picture of society.
If everyone woke up in the morning deciding on a day-to-day basis how they would plug themselves into society for the day, your community would be in utter unpredictable chaos. The same is true in the body of Christ. I gifted each of you UNIQUELY to accomplish certain things. If, in your body, you had four kidneys for instance…
You’re thinking of that woman you interviewed a few years ago. Tell Me about her.
She had a rare genetic condition that caused her to be born with four kidneys instead of two. I just looked it up because, even though I couldn’t remember what the issue was, I knew she said they didn’t expect her to live past a very young age and that she had to drink huge amounts of water.
Apparently, it can cause fever, vomiting, abdominal/back pain, difficulty or pain when urinating or frequent urination, bloody or cloudy urine, UTI’s, kidney damage or failure, blockages.
If everyone in a community wanted to be a teacher, where would the lawyers be? If everyone wanted to work at the grocery store, who would maintain the cemeteries? If everyone wanted to be an electrician, who would take care of the animals?
Communities NEED people who are interested in or willing to do ALL the things a community needs to function. If no one was willing to drive the trash trucks, work at the water plant, or serve food at the restaurants, your society would quickly have issues. If no one was willing to invest the massive amounts of time and money to become a doctor, many people would needlessly die.
In addition to spiritual gifts, I have gifted people with a natural bent or curiosity because, in addition to the spiritual gifts operating in the church, your society needs people to use their natural gifts, abilities, and interests to keep society moving.
While Scripture does not explicitly say that I care what people do for a living, I have intentions in how I created people, and if they would look to Me and ask Me what they should do with their lives, I will lead and guide them into places where they can serve the greater good of your community by filling in a gap that they are uniquely qualified to fill.
Do you think I care what you eat or if you exercise? Does the Bible suggest I have a will regarding what you eat or if you exercise?
Don’t answer that because we’ve already talked about it… Ask them.
(PAUSE TO ASK IF GOD CARES ABOUT WHAT WE EAT OR IF WE EXERCISE. DOES HIS WILL INCLUDE THESE THINGS?)
What if you are ALL correct? What if I do care THAT you exercise but I don’t care HOW you do? What if I don’t care at all that you exercise, but I care that you are strong and healthy?
What if the food charts your government has come up with is the reason so many people are obese and ill? What if I created each of your bodies uniquely so that what works for one person doesn’t work for another because I intended to speak to each of your hearts about how to best care for your unique body?
In your Bible study, the main takeaway is that I DO have a collective will for ALL people that is clearly and explicitly stated within the Bible. My will, as you have discovered in your studies, is that none would perish but all would come to a saving knowledge of My Son, Jesus Christ. My will is that you would live in gratitude. My will is that you would seek ME first so that I could provide you with everything else. My will is that you would be holy as I am Holy. My will is that you would have life and have it abundantly. My will is that you would have peace, hope, and LOVE. The Bible gives you a VERY CLEAR indication of what My will is for every human being.
I have a will for the day-to-day specifics of your life as well, but you will NOT know what that will is without FIRST knowing the general will expressed in the pages of Scripture. If you know that My general will is that you would live in gratitude then, no matter WHERE I lead you to work at any particular season of your life, My will is that you go to work with gratitude for that job. If My will is that you are diligent and work with your hands then, whatever the work is that you choose, you know that My will is for you to do that work with all of your ability as though you are working for Me but being paid by them.
Encourage them to diligently study Scripture to understand that it is My will for them to be forgiven, redeemed, and free from the grip of sin and shame, but to also intentionally turn to the Holy Spirit in them to inquire on a day-to-day, circumstance-to-circumstance decisions of what they will wear, what they will eat, where they will work, who they will marry, and who they are to talk to.
My will encompasses EVERY area of your lives. I have a purpose and a plan for every life, but very few are diligent enough to seek My will or obedient enough to radically choose it. It’s a yearning and a turning - yearning to KNOW and fulfill My will, and a turning away from the wisdom of this world and to the One who keeps it all in motion.
Spend the remainder of the evening opening the Word together, discovering My general will for your lives, but DON’T forget that I care about EVERY aspect of your lives. I will NOT work or advise specifically where I am not invited. You each have free will and LAYING down your will and taking on Mine is not an automated part of the Christian experience. I don’t FORCE My children to do anything. I am WILLING to lead, but you have to be WILLING to follow.
I KNOW the plans I have for you, Little One; plans to prosper you and not to harm you; plans to give you a hope and a future. When I said that to the Israelites in Jeremiah 29:11-13, what was in My plan for them?
The Israelites were in Babylonian exile. You told them to settle down, get married, have children, and build a life for themselves in that foreign land rather than trying to escape or relying on false prophecies of a quick return. They were told to pray for or seek the welfare of the city of Babylon, praying for its prosperity, even though they were in captivity to it because their own well-being was tied to the cities.
This was a difficult command because they had reason to hate their captors, but it was part of God’s long-term plan for peace and wholeness and for their ultimate return after 70 years in captivity.
Yes. Often, My will for My people doesn’t include immediately being set free from difficulties, but that RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE of those difficulties, you would be able to settle down, get married, have children, and build lives for yourselves. If the Israelites would have ceased to build lives during those challenging years of SEVEN FULL DECADES of captivity to the Babylonians, the entire Israelite nation would have ceased to exist.
My will for My people is that, WHATEVER the NATURAL circumstances they find themselves in, they would settle down, get married, have children, and build lives for themselves. My plan IS ULTIMATELY for your good and the good of future generations and for MY Glory.
Back to bed.
LOVE you,
Daddy
Colossians 1:9