In the past month, how many times have you thought to yourself, prayed to God and asked for a “sign” as a confirmation for you to do something, or even a sign to tell you what to do? I certainly have but honestly, I have always been skeptical of these “signs” we pray for. How do we know whats a sign? Some could say I don’t have enough faith or I don’t listen well enough but I beg to differ.
One of the biggest things we, as Christians, tend to struggle with is the will of direction. We are always told God has a plan and we need to seek and follow it. That’s definitely true, but I feel like there are a few problems with thinking we should have a calling for everything we do.
1. It misunderstands God and the spirit-lead life. If we use a dance floor as an example of God’s world, many people think its all about God’s direction and that he would lead us every second of the way when it’s all about God’s desire to mold our characters. It’s His desire for us that will inform our direction.
2. It makes God to be someone that’s hard to hear even though he’s already made that decision. I definitely agree with this one because I know many people, including myself that always wonders why we rarely hear God speaking to us or giving us an answer. Many times its because we sit back and wait for him to talk to us instead of seeking his will for us.
3. It shifts personal responsibility off of yourself. Great example being “Say no to dating because God says I shouldn’t” as oppose to “I don’t like you.” Enough said.
Personal: When I have decided to take a year off in Cambodia, I use to tell everyone that God has lead me to Cambodia. (Instead of God has given me this desire…) Thinking back, that is one of the most vague and confusing answers I could give to Non-Christians.
4. Similar to 3, it’s quite subjective. It’s then hard to distinguish between our thoughts and feelings versus God’s thoughts and feelings.
5. Finally, it is not and should not be a norm to seek for him and just wait for the direction. In the book of acts, we can see that Jesus makes predictions in many different scenarios but in none of those examples did they seek after God.
God has always shown and told us his will – Be aware of our world, see the needs and GO be fishers of man. As we go along, He will direct us. As we continue to know Him and be more like Him, desires will fill our hearts and we are free to make choices whether to follow them or not. Make choices based on whether those desires fulfill God’s desires or not, these include the ten commandments)
Once you begin to understand that, the idea of God’s free will becomes much more apparent.
“If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers-most of which are never even seen- don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.” Matthew 6:30-33 (The Message)
Joanne Lam 