When faced with indecision, have you ever found yourself wishing that God's will for our lives came in fortune cookies that fell from the sky? Say yes. Turn it down. Find a new job. Marry him. Handy, clear little directions so we don't have to think so much, don't have to grow spiritually, don't have to get distracted from the great engrossment of living our lives. Well, God's will assuredly doesn't come packaged in fun-size servings for your convenience, at least, it very seldom does; hopefully it shouldn't be so hard to understand why. Fortune cookies being out of the question, most Christians can probably give a good description of how to actually 'seek God's will.' Pray earnestly and persistently about it...seek the advice of others...examine what principles should be guiding us by reading and thinking over the revealed will of God, as it's called, in the Bible. These things take time, and effort, and often don't reward us with an instant answer of trumpet-call clarity. True, all those books and movies utilizing variations of the Grail/quest motif should have taught us, by now, that seeking anything important or meaningful is a complicated process; sometimes painful, sometimes long, but always an effort, a labour. But what do we do when we've prayed--we've thought over--we've asked--prayed and prayed again, without sensing any answer, and finally in frustration demanded of God, What on earth do I do? What I would like to do is not to reaffirm the usefulness and importance of these means, or how to go about them more effectively; others who are wiser and more experienced than me have probably done plenty of writing and thinking on these specifics already. What I would like to suggest, instead, is to look at them with a different perspective. When we see them as the accepted formula to get the guidance we need, perhaps we're being just a little short-sighted. Perhaps we're only seeing the crossroad immediately before us. And that's why, when they don't seem to 'work', we get frustrated and impatient, because we see all our efforts as the coin we've stuck into the drink machine. We need our can drink, it's owing to us, in fact. Come on. Hurry up, come out. I've given my coin, I'd better get something back for it. Seeking God's will is actually a long-term thing which shrunk to a short-term thing in our minds because we don't seek it all the time. We've reduced it without thinking to a compartmentalized one-off answer--do I take this job? do I date this person? do I try again? do I go, or stay?-- --when really, God's will should be a concern in our lives not only when we're standing at a crossroads and have to make a decision. It should be our concern even when we're absolutely sure of what we need to, should do; absolutely sure of what we must not, cannot do. It is a way of life, and not merely a yes-no to whatever decision that is uppermost in our life right now. If we know Him, understanding His will comes naturally; just as we don't need to do much secret research on a birthday present if it's for someone we love dearly and know inside-out. As such, it's a relationship. We need to seek a living, personal relationship with God, based on a good conscience and a true understanding of His person. Grace as our basis for even starting this journey. The goodness of God as the starting knowledge we build on. Instead of 'seeking God's will' we should be seeking Him. There can be no loss in knowing Someone so good, better.
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