Worship at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday

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Obstacles to Acting on the Will of God

Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I give thanks to our gracious God for putting you all in our lives. Your faithfulness and your enthusiasm fill my heart with joy and helps complete my hope in Christ. Every day I look forward to serving our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ alongside each of you and growing in our discipleship journey together.

Last week, I wrote and taught in my Coffee Break the importance of God’s will and how it was broken down into three categories per Dr. Leslie D. Weatherhead’s book “The Will of God.” This week I want to continue and share what he had to say about two key obstacles of acting on God’s Will for our lives, and the life of a congregation. These two obstacles come as questions for us to ponder, and there is no better time to ponder such questions then our time in the Wilderness of Lent.

The first question is this: “Do I really want to discern God’s will, or do I want to get His sanction (approval) for my own?" Too often we want God to approve what we want. This is the same thing when we ask God to join us in ministry. Instead of us seeking where God is working in our community and joining Him, we ask God to bless our efforts, in the areas we think are important. The truth is God will bless us when we seek obedience in joining Him where he is working. How do we know where God is working? We discover this through intimate prayer, and through seeing with the divine vision God gives us as we move throughout our community. Just because we like an organization, or a certain part of the neighborhood, doesn’t mean that is where God is wanting us to be.

The same is with God’s will. Do we want to truly discern God’s direction for our lives, for our congregation, or do we simply want God to say, “hey, that’s not what I want, but yes, I like it keep going.” Do we want that affirmation and approval for the things we want to do? Discerning God’s will doesn’t mean we do nothing. We still have a choice but remember God will never lead us in a direction where He sets us up to fail, nor cause it to be unpleasant. Failure and unpleasantry comes from the Devil.

The second question is this, “Have I got the courage to act upon God’s will once I have discerned and revealed?” Carrie and I prayed that God would reveal His will to us when the opportunity came to move to Texas. God opened so many doors that He made it clear this was the path. We then needed to decide if we had the courage to take the next step. We did and have been extremely blessed. Friends, once God reveals His path, we then have to decide if we trust Him enough to guide us through. We cannot allow fear to paralyze us from moving forward. A large amount of the Israelites were afraid to enter into the Promised Land because of the giants and obstacles. They didn’t trust God enough to move forward. What happened? The older generation died as they wandered in the wilderness.

God doesn’t say that His direction will be easy. But He never led the Israelites out of Egypt to die in the wilderness. He never set them up to fail. God never sets us up to fail. God wants us to flourish, and be abundant in love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. It takes work, it takes faith and it takes courage to follow God in this world.

Imagine the impact we will have on God’s Kingdom and our community as we seek God’s Will, and have the courage to step through the open doors, trusting only in Him.

Have a blessed week!

Pastor Frank