Live Life Green


Over the years, I've spent a lot of time being concerned about whether I was "in the will of God" or not. Decisions would come up and I would mull over the options, and wonder which option was God's will.  I would pray and ask God for 'a word' and I would fret about getting it wrong. 

 My heart was sincere, but I was wrong to think like that! 

 I was reading in the Word in Acts 16.  Paul was going around and preaching, but in verse 7 it says

"After they had come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit did not permit them."

 Paul had PLANNED to go somewhere and THEN the Spirit stopped him.  HE PLANNED IT...  I suddenly realized that he hadn't fasted and prayed and sought the will of God to make that plan. He just made it, and went to execute the plan, and then Spirit stopped him.  Paul then readjusted his plan.

 I saw that most of the time we live our lives as we're sitting at a traffic light that is red.  We stop and we wait, and we look and we wait to see if everything is lining up, and we wait for 'word' and we wait and we wait.   

 Don Fransisco (a wonderful singer) wrote a line in one of his songs which says "Indecision paralyses; it's the fear of doing wrong". We can spend so long sitting in that place that we miss opportunities and begin to second guess ourselves.

Proverbs 16:9 says "A man's heart devises his way: but the Lord directs his steps."We make plans, but God will order our steps. Now I don't mean we just do what we want and expect God to bless it, but I think we need to live life as if we have a green light to move and expect that the Holy Spirit will stop us if we need to change direction, but other than that, to just do it!  

 In my own walk with the Lord. I found that indecision made me doubt, fret and get all stirred up.    Confusion isn't part of God's plan for our lives.  Peace is God's way and I no longer believe that I can fall out of God's will.  If I stay in relationship with Him, THAT IS His Will.  I've found many times when I've said "God what do you want me to do?" His response is "What do you want to do?"  That shocked me the first time I heard him say that.

 He showed me that His greatest 'will' for my life is to be in relationship with him. I believe that God sees our BEING as more important than our DOING. We find our identity in Him and from that position, we can be involved in the 'doing', and it's not complicated. Being a Christian isn't about a list of task to achieve, boxes to tick of cross off, it's about relationship with Jesus.

 There are times when He will ask me to do something more specific of course, but He's not playing a guessing game with me - the Holy Spirit will make it clear.

 In Ecclesiastes 9:10 we read "Whatsoever your hand find to do, do it with your might;"  This is exactly what I am talking about.   We are presented with opportunities to do things and there are things in our hearts.  We don't need to fret or worry about whether or not we would be in the will of God.   We make our plans with what is in our heart, and let the Holy Spirit make the course corrections if and when we need them. 

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