Going God's Way

It’s curious to me that there are many sermons, articles and discussions in Christian circles regarding how to discern the will of God. Yet are we actually willing to surrender to that perfect will when it is right before us? How many of us yell, kick, cry and fight for our own way? Like willful creatures we crawl off of the altar time and time again.

So how can we, as Christian men and women empowered by the Holy Spirit, pray with humble heart, “Thy will be done”?

And Mary asked the Angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”
And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you...” And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord, let it be done to me according to your word”.
Luke 1:35-38

As a human, Mary most likely had two immediate responses; firstly, that she didn’t like the idea, secondly, that she didn’t get it. As a betrothed virgin, her being “with child” could, and nearly did, cost her her marriage. Mary’s question to the angel reflects her complete lack of intellectual understanding as to how God could make her conceive. Yet she trusted.

How often do we hear God’s call and reply with, “How? Why?”. Perhaps like Jonah we are resistant to go to Ninevah. Or maybe, like Moses, we are slow to trust that God can bring forth the water he promised to provide.

Beneath the doubts and the protests lies a deeper issue: who is God?

The moment we begin to doubt that God is God, we search for a god whom we think is. The Israelites, in their distrust of God, demanded a king because, “They rejected [God] from being king over them” (1 Samuel 8:7).

Our unwillingness to submit is a manifestation of our own rejection of God as King. If God were truly supreme in our hearts and lives, we could trust his promises and eagerly follow by faith.

For the Lord God is a sun and a shield;
The Lord bestows favour and honour.
No good thing does he withhold
From those who walk uprightly.
O Lord of hosts blessed is the one who trusts in you!
Psalm 84:11-12

Is this the God I believe in? Is this the God from whom I withhold my future, my relationships, my hurts? This God is in control. This is the God who laid the foundation of the earth and poured out the sea (Job 38:4-11). This God is worthy of all trust, all devotion, all submission. This is the God who can take the how and the why and the “I don’t like or understand this” and transform lives. It is not just a simple matter of going on that missions trip or quitting that job…It’s a question of sovereignty and lordship.

Is God the king of my heart? Do I trust the sovereignty and goodness of His word, when, like Mary, I understand so little? Am I willing to lay myself on His altar and say, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord, let it be done to me according to your word”?