I've recently returned from a motor coach tour to Niagara Falls, Ontario. The tour was hosted by John and Diane Windle and Dick and Vivyen Angelo. It was all I expected and then some.
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| Viewing the Falls from Skylon Tower |
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| Standing beside the Falls almost close enough to touch the water. Certainly close enough to get soaking wet! |
Naturally, being a Christian group tour, we had a daily devotional time and that's where the 'mystery' of finding God's will became clear to me. I'm not sure that everyone would agree, but what I learned from the talks Dick shared seemed like a revelation. I was honored to share with a group of ladies from our church about a week after our trip, and I presented the following information to them which is pretty much a very quick summary of what I learned in Niagara Falls.
Why is an island like the letter T?
I think starting off with a riddle is appropriate. I was
raised in a Christian home, attended a solid Biblical church, was active in all
the youth group activities, participated in worship services, family devotions,
went to church camp. Yet, I was never confident about what was God’s will for
my life. I was encouraged to seek God’s will in every major decision, and even
in the small things, yet finding God’s will seemed to be like a riddle,
shrouded in mystery. I never really felt sure about “being in the center of
God’s will”.
I’ve since come to believe that God’s WILL was not for me to
be married to Dennis.
Now that I have your full attention, I assure you that this is
not an announcement of marriage dissolution.
While I don’t think that God’s WILL was for me to marry Dennis, I
believe it was in His PLAN.
You might think that God’s WILL is the same as God’s PLAN. And
you may be right. Understand that I am simply presenting an idea or thought
that has been recently revealed to me.
God tells us in His Word what He DESIRES.
He also tells us His WILL.
And He tells us that He has a PLAN individually written in a
book for me. And you. All of you.
Let’s race through this idea.
God’s
DESIRE: That NONE should PERISH
2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as
some understand slowness. Instead He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to
perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
1 Timothy 2:3-4 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight
of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the
knowledge of the truth.
God’s DESIRE is that none perish, yet He has allowed us to
choose for ourselves. Because of His desire that none should perish, He has
graciously provided a solution for our sin which separates us from Him.
Jesus, the very One who created us, came to live among us and
die in our place in order that we might be reconciled children of God. Amazing grace, amazing love, offered to every
single person here.
God’s
WILL: That we offer our bodies in worship to Jesus, our Creator and Maker
Romans 12:1-2 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in
view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true and
proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed
by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what
God’s WILL is – His good, pleasing and perfect will.
A LIVING sacrifice indicates that it’s not a once and done
deal. It’s a daily offering of myself, a daily decision to yield myself to God,
to live daily in submission to His authority. To sacrifice my selfishness every
day. To lay down my ‘rights’. To walk in a manner worthy of Him. In other
words, to commit to Him my time, my resources, my life, my all. To tell Him
every day, “Lord, I’m Yours. Whatever
You drop on me today, I’ll gladly accept and praise You for it. You are the
Master, I Your slave. You’re the Potter, I’m Your clay.”
Lots of Scripture supports that our lives are to be lived to
please God. Paul repeated it several
times in his letters. Ephesians 4:1 …
walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called… 5:15…look
carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise… Colossians 1:10…so as
to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him… 2:6…as you have
received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him… 1 Thessalonians 2:12…we
exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner
worthy of God…
The work ‘walk’ is peripateo. It’s equivalent to conduct or
behavior. In each of the verses we just read… ‘walk’ could be replaced with the
word ‘behave’ and the meaning would be clear. Therefore, I believe God’s WILL
is for His children to behave in a manner that honors and pleases Him.
Simply put, that’s what true worship looks like. And God’s
WILL is that all creation worships Him.
But, do you realize that God
also has a PLAN?
In fact, He has a plan already in place for each of us. I’m
not claiming to understand it or know how it all works, but I believe God does
have a PLAN for my life.
Psalm
139:13-18 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s
womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are
wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was
made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written
in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your
thoughts, God! How vast the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would
outnumber the grains of sand – when I awake, I am still with you.
I am (and you are) wonderfully made.
My days (and yours) are ordained and written in a book.
God spoke to Jeremiah, who may have been a teenager at the
time, and said to Jeremiah, “Before I
formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I
appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” (Jeremiah 1:5) God also
confirms in His Word that he had plans for Saul/Paul (Acts 9:15) and perhaps
many others. While Jeremiah 29:11 was specifically directed to Israel, it
solidly confirms that He does have plans, and that His plans are for our good,
not to harm…plans to give you hope and a future.
I don’t know how our choices and rebellious hearts affect
God’s plan for us. I believe God knows beforehand exactly what our response
will be in every situation and circumstance, and while we may take the wrong
road I know God is never surprised. Does the plan he has for my ordained days
change when I go my own way? I don’t know. I do know that the closer I am to
living within His WILL, the more confident and secure I will be in trusting
that His plan for me is being accomplished. I can rest assured that He is with
me, as He told Jeremiah, and David.
I also want to add here that if like me, you’ve ever strayed
away from God’s WILL and PLAN, there is mercy, grace, forgiveness,
reconciliation and restoration. Even David, a ‘man after God’s own heart’ committed
adultery and murder, yet was fully restored and mightily used of God.
As I said at the beginning, I don’t think God’s WILL was that
I marry Dennis, but I do believe it was a part of His PLAN for my life. We’ve
been blessed abundantly beyond what we ever dreamed, and I really believe that
if I will simply focus on doing God’s WILL (yielding myself to Him every day,
worshiping Him in obedient living) that whatever comes into my life is what He
has PLANNED and while it may not be always fun, or easy, it will always be for
my good, not to harm me. Whatever
comes, may I accept and embrace it the way Joseph did when he said, “you meant
it for evil, but God meant it for good…” Whether my circumstances are pleasant,
easy, fun, comfortable or not…I can trust God. It’s going to be good.
RECAP
I think God’s DESIRE is that ALL would come to know Him and
repent, turn to Him. That NONE perish, but ALL would have eternal life. Yet, He
leaves the choice to you. He doesn’t force His desire on us.
I think God’s WILL is that we worship Him with our lifestyle,
behavior, actions, and lips, that we behave in a way that would please Him,
conduct ourselves according to His standards, yield to His authority, obey His
commands, seek Him, learn of Him and from Him, communicate with Him. Worship
lifestyle.
I think God’s PLAN works out as we follow His WILL…and that
PLAN would involve things like which college, who to marry, or should I marry
at all, what car to drive, where to live, career choices, financial matters,
where or whether to invest, buy a house or rent, which house if you buy one,
etc.
Disclaimer. The
material presented makes sense to me. It may be right, or partly right, or not.
I only know that it has clarified for me about knowing or finding God’s will
for my life. It has also encouraged me in that, the things that come into my
life are in His plan for me and I can trust Him in and through whatever may
come. The nearer to His Will I live, the more I can trust that His Plan for me
is being accomplished and it’s a good plan. I feel like the riddle of finding
God’s will for my life has been solved. That’s not saying that I’ve arrived,
but I’m seeking and striving to be willing, available and obedient…daily…. day
to day, minute by minute.
As I think more and more about God's WILL and God's PLAN, new thoughts come to mind. Things like, when I live according to God's WILL, my focus on worship and obedient living, it eliminates a lot of the 'worries and anxieties' of life. Additionally, the fact is that all creation (including all humanity) will worship Him....eventually.... Every knee will bow, every tongue confess …. But I have chosen to worship NOW. Today. Every day. That sounds almost boastful, and I don't intend it to be. I'm not claiming that I am successful in totally surrendered and obedient living. Rather I am a work in progress, thankful that Jesus Christ had redeemed me, clothed me in His righteousness, and placed His Spirit within me to guide, teach, and encourage me to "Run the race, finish the course."
While in Niagara Falls, we also rode over the 'Whirlpool' in a Spanish gondola, which was literally a hanging basket rolling across some cables. And we visited a butterfly conservatory, which was interesting and fun.
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| Butterflies seemed to prefer white clothing. |
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| A butterfly on the hand of one of our travel companions. |
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If you look really close, Bobbie is about in the center of the left
side of the basket,
just in front of John, the guy with
the snow white hair. |
We also walked the boardwalk along the Whirlpool Rapids, which are class 6 rapids. We had dinner at the Elements restaurant, right beside the Falls and saw the falls at night with the lights on. We spent some time in the little town of Niagara on the Lake, did the Journey Behind the Falls, took the Hornblower boat ride into the middle of the Horseshoe Falls, enjoyed a dinner theater, "Oh, Canada, eh?" and we met some new friends as well. It was a great trip.
And while it truly was a great time, it is always good to get home.
