Thursday 18 October 2012

Your desires versus God's will!

Hearing God’s voice is great, but understanding what He’s saying is critical! As a new excited, hot and not lukewarm Christian, I’m ready and eager to run and do what God commands me to do! And because of this excitement, I may think I’m following what God is saying just to find out my own selfish motives or desires drove me far away from God’s initial plan for my life!  The other day I felt troubled in my spirit! Being God’s ambassador is one of the most difficult choices I’ve ever made! Am I preaching the bible truth? Am I doing what God really wants me to do? Or am I just trying to glorify myself! These are the kind of questions that ran through my mind! I know that I’ve come too far to quit so I spent all day crying out to God: Lead me God, guide! Write through me, speak through me! It’s not about me! This fright to face the nations drew me closer to God, to depend upon Him like never before. The more I spend time in His presence, the bigger my vision gets and it’s quite frightening! But when I spend time with God, reading the scriptures and listen to what He has to say I come to an understanding that God did not give me a spirit of fear, but of love, power and a sound mind! I noticed that as I go around trying so hard to please God and walk in His plan, I got frustrated and confused! I’m not saying striving to please God is wrong, but do we really know what it means to please God? Is it about making the loudest noise in the church? Is it about trying so hard to please your leaders so that you can get approval from them? Is this about embarking on a journey to find a God-fearing man to prove that God has favored you? I’m not saying all this is wrong but really, what does pleasing God really mean?

As Christ followers we always have to decipher the difference between Gods voice and the voice of deceit! My primary goal is to get married, travel the world and many other things which I won’t mention! This is a good goal but it seemed as if I focused more on the goal and less on Gods will!! When things were not going according to my plan it left me feeling disappointed and discouraged, like God was just not being nice to me! We want things to happen now, perhaps to prove a point that truly we serve a mighty God? God doesn’t need anyone to prove Him to anybody, He is still God! He wants people who make delighting in Him their primary goal! The voice of deceit will confuse you with so many things! Quit school, no go back, study engineering, no, change to public relations! The voice of deceit will make you say yes to every relationship that comes your way just because the guys go to church! God is not a God of confusion; He makes things clear for you! And what He says is simple: “Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”(Psalm 37:4)

There was a bursary opportunity I wanted to apply for; the closing date was on the 15th of October! I knew about it for so long but when I wanted to apply my identity document was nowhere to be found! Trust me I searched for it until my room was so messed up! Last night as I was going through my stuff, my ID then decides to appear! This is after the closing date!!! I was so frustrated because my goal was to get that bursary, have my fees paid and get a laptop! I was so convinced that it was God’s voice telling me to get that bursary! Sometimes we get so blinded by our own selfish motives and desires! When we go down on our knees and strive to see things the way God wants us to see them, we become better people in this journey! If it is not Gods timing, don’t force it! Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart! 

I’m probably just beating around the bush about what Gods voice is really saying? Well, it simple! Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind and strength and love your neighbor as you love yourself! Do not run after things that God has not given to you yet and allow Him to build you as you strive to love Him more each day! God doesn’t operate with magic! I mean it would be great to get all that I want now but what good would it do me! Will I be able to stand in front of nations one day and say, yes, I fought the good fight of faith, I ran the race, and I kept the faith? See, that’s the thing with being a follower of Christ, you have to go through life’s stages just as He planned it out for you! I would like to get married in a few years’ time, but is it God’s plan for my life? Let alone even getting married! I’ve learned to shift away from my desires and wants but into God’s will! The will of God is not to run around, being so busy that you miss His voice and instruction at the end of each day! It’s not about focusing all your energies on traveling the world or finding a husband or building a church soon! It’s about loving Him in this moment! Do something with what He has given you and utilize all the opportunities that come your way to please Him, at this moment! Why focus so much in the years to come but not doing anything about today about what you got right now! I’m not trying to discourage you from setting goals and achieving them, because in fact I also have my goals, vision boards and a prayer list that I take to God every evening! But I’ve learned that in the process, I have to focus all my energies on loving God and delighting myself in Him and He will give me all my hearts desires! He knows that I want to get married; He knows that I want to travel the world! He knows that I want a bursary, He knows all this, but it will all come at His right time! 

Last night I went through my bible and wrote down all the scripture I knew about prayer, in His promises you can be secure that your future will turn out perfectly well! You might have to deal with some consequences of your mistakes and some tribulations along the way, but with God your future is secure! Delight yourself in Him!!

Here are some verses you'd like to checkout!

Psalm 37
John 14:14
John 15:16
John 16:23
John 16:24
Proverbs 3
1John 5:14










1 comment:

  1. Very important post, broken down in a very transparent way..thank you for the scriptures as well :)

    ReplyDelete