Following God's will

Don’t you just wish that God still spoke to us through dreams today? I know I would personally, really love to see a big, lit up Marquee in the sky with my life’s instructions written on it. Or maybe, just some stone tablets. I mean, nowadays it’d actually be really easy to get written instructions from God. He could just email us, sending a message to each of our tablets or devices! Obviously I joke, but I know we all wish that knowing God’s will for our lives was all spelled out very simply. But, believe it or not, it kind of is.

God does not intend for His will to become so complicated and frustrating. We as humans with our finite minds & lack of faith create these obstacles & seemingly impossible hurdles on the path of God’s will.

From the time I was very young, I always knew that God wanted me to serve Him in the ministry at some capacity. I just was never sure on the specifics. But, that’s ok. God doesn’t always give us the specifics right away. Which, if you are a planner like me, that kind of drives you nuts!! But, faith and trust have to step in and replace the need and desire to always be in control.

I remember as a little girl trying to think of what God would want of my life. Would He call me to be a teacher or a nurse? Does He want me to be a Pastor's wife or a missionary's wife? Fast-forward a few years to a God Save America Conference. I remember Bro. Bob Smith preaching on “surrendering to God’s will for your life” and several of my friends surrendering to the mission field that night. But I did not feel a draw in that direction, so instead I surrendered to do whatever God would have me do. – Side note #1. For anyone that believes that a young person cannot know God’s will for their life, one of those friends that surrendered to be a missionary that night is NOW currently a missionary!-- So, the rest of my growing up years, I tried to focus on just doing right and training as best I could to help in any avenue of the ministry.

I was a staff kid, so helping in ministry was second nature. I was thrown into anything & everything. From nurseries to nursing homes, from bus route to marching band, from cleaning toilets to singing on the platform, etc, etc, etc. It was always A LOT of work, and many times we’d be some of the last few people still at the church very late into the night. But can I tell you, I LOVED it! I may have not realized it at the time, but looking back those were some of my favorite years in growing up. –Side note #2. Parents, please do not be afraid to let your children be involved in church ministries! They can learn SO MUCH, all while being a blessing to someone else. It is so rewarding for a young person to be able to get outside of their “bubble” and outside of themselves to help others. They might complain the whole time, but really they most likely had fun & will definitely thank you down the road--

As I got older, I always felt a draw to be a Pastor’s wife but not wanting to limit God, I just kept telling Him that I was willing to do anything that He wanted. In 2010, I was preparing to marry my husband, Marty (who had been called to preach at 15), and to also graduate from college. One day, Marty told me that he had gotten a call from a pastor, asking him to come & be his assistant. My heart leapt in my throat! But, it was not from joy. I was scared to death. We weren’t even married yet and they were asking him to move there right away! We quickly counseled with Marty’s pastor and my pastor, and we got seemingly negative feedback from both of them regarding this situation. So, after some prayer, Marty called the pastor back & told him that we did NOT feel that this position was for us. As soon as the call was made, we began to get feedback from our pastors, asking us why we had said no? We didn’t understand. We thought they had told us it was a bad idea! Long story, short, before the situation was over, there were pastors arguing and fighting about the situation and we could not help but think that God was not in this situation at all! A few weeks went by and things were back to normal, with everyone on the same page again. But, we just kept thinking, “Were we wrong? Did we do the wrong thing?” Where was the sign in the sky to tell us what we are supposed to do?!

During this time, Marty had also been helping knock doors with a new church plant in a town only 30 minutes away from us. And as he helped and got to spend time with the pastor, he realized that God might be turning our hearts to go and help their ministry. Again, we prayed and sought counsel, but this time it seemed a lot clearer what we were supposed to do. So, in September 2010 we joined to help the new church plant.

Now, you may wonder why did one situation feel right & the other didn’t. Throughout the first situation all that kept running through my mind was the verse 1 Corinthians 14:33, “For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace,…” I could not help but think that there was SO much confusion in that situation that it just could not have been of God. I’m not saying that sometimes what God asks us to do isn’t confusing, but there is a difference. I have been in situations that I do not understand what God is trying to do but there is still a peace. We had such a peace about helping this new church plant. And little did we know, that God was training us up to be able one day to start our own church, almost exactly 5 years later.

Surprisingly, coming to Springfield… was one of the easiest things I’ve ever had to do. Now, I don’t mean the year of deputation was easy, or my husband keeping his night shift job while we were on deputation, or me doing deputation while being 9 months pregnant chasing a 20 month old. I don’t mean it was easy to know we had to move, having to pack being pregnant with a toddler, or that we didn’t know where we were going to hold this new church, or who would even show up for this new church! NONE of that was easy! But, there was a peace. A peace that we knew, without a doubt that we were doing what God had told us to do and because of that He would take care of us.

This is MY story. It doesn’t mean that everyone’s will be the same as mine. God leads us all down different paths, but you can always be sure that they are all heading in the same direction.

An adviser once told us that, “the older I get, the more God’s will seems to be what makes the most sense.” This has proven true for us. If you are following God’s Word, praying and asking for His guidance daily, guess what?? You are IN God’s will! In Romans 12:2 it says, “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

Don’t be afraid of God’s will. "The will of God will never take you where the grace of God cannot keep you." Don’t try to compare your plan to someone else’s plan. Too many times we try to pound that square peg into the round hole and try to make.this.plan.work. Leave it to God. Trust Him. Give Him your life. 1John 2:17, “ And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.”