Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” – James 4:13-15
This is a convicting verse. So often Donnie and I have talked of our future, what we want, where we see ourselves, and what we want to be doing. Many of those times we have forgotten to invite God into those conversations. We serve an all knowing and all powerful God who loves us and has created us for a purpose. Why would we not stop to ask Him if our plans are in His will? Jesus, the Son of God is our example, He taught us by his actions that we should be seeking God’s will for our lives. In the garden of Gethsemane Jesus prayed “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will”. (Matthew 26:39) Jesus had wants , desires, and fears just as we do. He did not want to be crucified, yet, He laid down His will at the Father’s feet and was willing to accept the Father’s will over His own.
Jesus understood that there is no better place to be than in the will of God. I have found this true in my life as well. The times that I have felt the most joy, excitement, and purpose is when I had complete confidence that I was right where God wanted me to be. To know we are in His will, we need to be seeking it and asking for it. I have tried doing ministry in my own strength with what I thought would be good. And I have also done ministry when God showed me what to do and how to do it. When I go where He leads, and do it His way, it is so much more fulfilling. No matter what we are doing, we should be seeking the will of God in it.
Recently I saw there was a Christian Conference that I wanted to attend. As an introvert, my first thought was that it would be good for me to get away alone. As I prayed about it and asked God about going, He put it on my heart to buy two tickets. I thought, “Ok, not my will, but yours be done”. Then immediately without praying I asked a person if they would like to go, and they could not. It hit me that I need to pray about who to ask. Oh, the silly things we do! I took His instruction and thought I knew how to fulfill the task without asking Him. He certainly knew who He wanted me to go with when He told me to buy two tickets. Why it did not hit me to ask Him who from the start, I do not know. But I am so glad I quickly learned my lesson. I prayed and asked “Who should I invite?” I did not get an answer right away and decided to be patient and just wait until He showed me. When riding in the car with my daughter Naomi the other day, God prompted me to ask her, so I did and she said yes. I was beyond excited! God used my obedience to buy two tickets when I wanted to go alone to answer a previous prayer about getting my daughter into some fellowship. God is a good God and He alone can see the big picture. We need to stop making our own plans without first asking if the plan is in His will. We will be better off and walk in so much more peace and joy if we would simply say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” When we do this, no matter the outcome, we can have peace and joy because we are trusting God with the entirety of our lives.
Written by Rebecca Murzin
