There's been much discussion at my house about God's will. As for me and my house, we will follow the Lord. Problem is, we don't get a "Tyra-mail" every time we have inquiry about which way we should go. You know?
For awhile now, we've been raising two boys. For awhile now they've been showing increasingly significant signs of depravity. For awhile now we've been asking ourselves what God wants from *us* (me and the Suga' Momma) when they start acting up.
For awhile now, we've been trying to sell our house. We've had lots of open houses, lots of visitors, and lots of compliments on our beautiful home. Not one dollar's worth of buyer. For awhile now. We could use that Tyra-mail now. The house that we want to buy (we'd actually had an agreement with the owners last year, but our contingencies expired, and rather than renew them we just sort of slipped out it) is *still* open after all this time, and they just lowered the price on it, and listed it with an online FSBO service. It sort of makes me nervous. But I've been nervous for...quite awhile now...
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We keep asking ourselves, "What is God's will for us?" We keep saying to ourselves, "We only want this if it's what GOD wants for us." As though God will give us something he doesn't want to give us, because WE wanted it badly enough.
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Pastor Jay's teaching time this week concluded with an interesting idea. He said that we should fill all of our space. Think about that. Do you "fill" your space? He says that we should be the very presence of Jesus on the earth. To "fill" the full area of our ontological, existential place in the cosmos, our sphere of influence, with the Spirit of Jesus. Intensity.
I started thinking about something. I thought of Jesus answering the Pharisees about the "most important commandment." About Jesus yelling down the scribes for burdening people with more and more laws. About that elementery little chorus, written from Micah 6.
"He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."
Isn't it just like God? The law came to point out our unrighteousness. It came to show us that our inclination was evil. The law graciously provides the restraints our hearts so grievously need to prevent us from utterly destroying each other, doesn't it?
The law was a necessary fleshing out of God's will for all of life: To act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with the God of the universe. THIS is God's will. In any place. In any circumstance, and at all times. Whether I live in this beautiful craftsman style home, or whether I live on an eyesore of a small farm (which I very dearly want), God's "Will" for me is to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with Him.
It's not a crossword puzzle. It's not Sudoku. It's not a maze, labrynth, multiple choice or essay test, or even necessarily a fork in the road. It isn't so much that this path is right and that path is wrong. I mean, it might easy be. But it isn't necessarily so. I just tend to make it that way. So did Pharisees. And I think that's sort of what Jesus is saying.
He says, "my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." Maybe God's will isn't some solitary absolute destiny worked out, with breadcrumb clues along the way that we have to find, decipher and follow. Maybe I can DO God's will on any path, in many places, in ANY circumstance. Praying that God's will be done? It isn't that somebody is healed-God's way is health! It is not that such and such or so and so "sees the light"-God's way is illumination and communion. I hate to state it this way, because it's sort of backwards referencing, but God's way is everything opposite sin's way. Isn't it? God's will can be sought after on every path. It is only to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God.
As I write this, I am tempted to emphasize the "act," the "love" and the "walk." But that's not the true emphasis, is it? It's the act-ing justly, the lov-ing mercy, and walk-ing with God. Because we are always acting, loving and walking. Right? But are we acting justly, or injustly? Loving mercy? or loving malvolence? Walking with God, or walking...with anything else? THAT's where the will of GOD parts. It's either God's way, or [insert here something else, ultimately demonic] way.
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"And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."
This is what is good. Seems simple enough to me.
