God's will
He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.- Jim Eliot
And so we stand at the crossroads of life sometimes, clutching a thorn that pierces deep into the flesh of our palm, not realizing that releasing it would relieve our pain, and that our stubborn human will is inifinitely lower in value and perfection compared to God's own divine will.
What is "God's will"? Ah, mysteries. A phrase that we like to throw around halfheartedly when we need to accept some harsh reality in our lives or make sense of the confounding circumstances that we face.
"I have set the Lord always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory(soul) rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope."- Psalm 16:8-9
The blessedness of knowing that the Lord is at your right hand- meaning that he counsels, instructs, helps, protects, [Gill's commentary] and is very near- this is God's will for all time. He wants to be included in our decisions, thoughts, actions, and has compassion on us when we go through heart-wrenching moments of despair and suffering. So this is His will, no cookie-cutter steps to learn how to do the right thing, but this---did He feature strongly in what we are doing, and plan to do?
Knowing His presence goes before us, we thrust forward into a land fraught with drought, and we go forth without fully understanding why we are taking this journey. We have that little remnant of faith causing us to plod, yes, plod, along. But this is God's will- rejoicing in faith and trust along this daunting road of which we see no end.
"By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God."- Hebrews 11:8-10
So we'll look for that city, that city whose builder and maker is God. New Jerusalem? The place which God prepared for us, where His glory will be seen, where our inheritance does not fade away. We run the earthly race with eternity's values in view, for an imperishable crown. So in the midst of uncertainty, we obey and rejoice in faith and trust.
Why rejoice?
Because, in His presence is fulness of joy- Psalm 16:11. We rejoice, against human logic, sentiment and sensability, as when He turned the waters from bitter to sweet at Marah, for with Him in control, all our fears are negated and unfounded.
So, God's will is abiding peacefully in the cabin whilst the Captain of the ship steers strategically through a raging storm outside. God's will is a child nestling in the arms of a Father, happy to rest secure, and not demanding his own immature, brutish ways. God's will is joy, and absolutely perfect- imagine a refining fire. Burning away the dross in the metal that it may be as gold, pure gold. During the process there are some doubts about the end-product and the effectiveness of the fire. When will this end, and how will we come to be? But yet, in the scorching heat- there is the strain of a delightful song of praise, Your will be done, not mine, Lord, Your perfect will. It will surely come to pass, and when Your glory is seen, I will rejoice. But let me rejoice also now, that at this present moment, You love me enough to give me Your very best.
"Not your will, but Thine Lord
Lead me to Calvary
Make my life a living sacrifice
Crucified for Thee."
"The problem with a living sacrifice is that it can crawl off the altar." (: