God’s Will

“Are we doing God’s will? We do not mean, Are we doing God’s work?—preaching or teaching, or collecting money—but God’s will. A man may think he is doing God’s work, when he is not even doing God’s will. … Are we working out our common every-day life on the great lines of God’s will?”
– Excerpt from < The Greatest Thing in the World> by Henry Drummond

My goal in life has shifted from being a background character (I liked to be unnoticeable in the shadow of my charismatic family) to do great educational reforms (I love Finnish education) to doing awesome Kingdom of God work (I wanted to be super duper useful like Paul was) to simply doing God’s will.

For the longest time, I prayed, “Your will be done” with fear and hesitation because I wasn’t sure I actually wanted His will to be done. What if God would force me to marry someone I didn’t want? What if I would be forced to do great works that I didn’t want to do? What if… All based on my distorted views on God.

And from about 2018, I felt as though God was prodding me to stop asking about His “will” and learn to take pleasure in Him. In retrospect, it was an invitation to get to know Him and His real character. As I’ve been getting to know and enjoy the mundane, daily blessings He gives, I’ve slowly been learning to trust Him.

Now, I’m getting excited to ask God, “What’s Your will today? I want to walk with You today, now, this day that you’ve chosen to give me new grace by allowing me to breathe, move, think.” Each day is a new chance to do God’s will.

The KJV version of John 4:34 apparently says, “My meat is to do the will of Him that sent me.” And this hit home as I’ve been learning to enjoy asking about His will. It will take trial and error to discern what is truly His will or not, but knowing His patient, loving, and merciful character, I cannot help but boldly desire to know more of Him and His good and pleasing will.