Understanding His will

I met a rather engaging young lady recently within the course of a 2-day retreat at which I had been invited to facilitate one of the sessions. We had some pretty engaging discussions within the brief series of interactions we had over that period, and she left an impression on me as quite an agile mind. I had promised her a copy of my about-to-be-published book about couples that work together, but once my first book Uniquely Woman came off the press, I thought it fit to also send her a copy. A couple of weeks later, I received a brief mail from her thanking me once again for her copy of Uniquely Woman. She affirmed that she was already reading my book and it had given her quite a bit of food for thought so far. Then she asked if I could shed some light on a few questions that had been playing on her heart and mind as she'd been reading the book Uniquely Woman.

She asked: ‘What is the difference between your will and God's will? How can you trust God when it seems you're the one making plans for yourself? How do you know God's plans for you?’ 

I smiled and thought ‘Wow, powerful questions indeed!’ I had said to her then that I did not think those were questions I would like to respond to via email, and either way, I would not be able to do so at that time as I was preparing to leave one country for another the very next day and was thus milking the very last few hours of my family vacation. I did however promise that once I got back home we could meet to talk through these questions. That said, the Lord has not allowed me to rest those questions and even as I thought through what I would like to share with you in this post, He again brought these questions to my remembrance. Being that one of my key objectives through this forum is to get you and I to see, hear from, and walk with God on a deeper level - within and out of our everyday experiences and interactions, it impressed on my heart to share these questions with you today. Indeed, it strikes me that through this young lady, it is the Lord that is asking these questions of me, as He is also asking of you.

My friend, each of us is on a chronological countdown and as we mature in age, we must more importantly mature in the things of God. As the days go by, it becomes more and more critical that we understand and align ourselves with the will of the Father for our very lives. These questions therefore hit exactly at the crux of the matter in our walk as Christians don’t they? In our constant quest to live lives that glorify God, to walk according to His purpose for our lives, you and I ask these questions of ourselves, of others, and of God - perhaps more often that we would readily admit, don’t we? I know I do, and I certainly am not shy to admit this. To be in the will of my Father for my life; to know that He is pleased with me; to know that the life I live, the things I do and say bring glory to Him… these are my deepest desires. I know that I can only achieve this state if I am mindful to be in His will in every single area of my life. So… back again therefore to the same issue right? How do I know God’s will for my life and how do I distinguish between my will and that of the Lord …so that I do not walk and live contrary to His purpose? Hmmm!

Sis, I could very easily begin to share with you what my beliefs are in response to these questions, but I have a deep desire in my spirit to hear from you first. So today, if you will allow me, Uniquely Woman would like to deviate a bit from the norm and ask, from the bottom of my heart, that you please spare some time to send me your thoughts in response to the questions this young lady has posed. Please respond by way of the comments feature on this site, or send me a mail at uniquelywoman@gmail.com. It impresses on me strongly that I need to hear from you, compile your responses, wrap up with my own thoughts and share these in a further post that I do not doubt will be a major blessing to you and I, as well as to some other precious person out there who the Lord wants to speak to out of this exercise. My commitment to you is to share what I will speak to this young lady as I meet with her in a few days, as well as share with you what I know the Lord will speak to me through her in the course of that interaction when it takes place. I’m counting on your feedback, my friend. I really am! This is a walk you and I are taking together in order that we grow together in Christ… for surely we must grow! 

I have been travelling quite a bit in the past few weeks, through the UAE and currently in China. I wish I could share with you so many of the experiences that I have been through in these few weeks, but suffice it to say that you and I are truly blessed and privileged to know and to serve our Lord, the one true living God. Everywhere you turn, it appears that society is bent on peddling godlessness and an incredible myriad of fleshly dogma, lewdness, immorality, sexual perversions and the like. Everywhere you turn there are millions who are walking in darkness and in utter confusion. Many do not know what to believe, and many who do believe are daily questioning what it is that they do believe.  Sis, you and I do not believe because we are any better than these millions of people out there. No, you and I believe because of the love and mercy of God, and the special grace by which He chose us and saved us, by which He called us into His marvelous light, and by which He has allowed us the honor, privilege and joy of being able to know and relate with Him as our Father and Lord.

As you think through what your responses are to these questions, celebrate your membership in the fold of the beloved, within the royal priesthood. You are only able to be conscious of the will of the Lord because of the gift of knowing Him and His Word. We could as easily have been one of those whom the gods of this world have blinded such that we do not believe. But, we are among the called… the chosen generation! That’s more than half the journey, sis. How incredibly awesome is that? Father, we give You all the glory and we say ‘Thank You Lord!’.

Sis, ‘What is the difference between your will and God's will? How can you trust God when it seems you're the one making plans for yourself? How do you know God's plans for you?’

I pray that as you think this through, the Lord will lead you to a fresh revelation of His will and that as you share your thoughts, you will fulfill even further His mandate to be a blessing in the lives of His people. As you share your thoughts sis, you will be giving expression to another avenue to let your light shine on the world. You never know… perhaps it is through the thoughts you share on this forum that the Lord will speak light into someone else’s darkness and we can all rejoice with heaven as one more soul comes into the Kingdom. 

Be blessed sis… for you surely are!

Ps: I have been unable to post this for the past week of my being in China because Western social media (Blogger, Facebook, Twitter, etc) is very seriously restricted there. One more thing to bless the Lord for... the freedom to speak and share Hid Word!