Blog
Your will and God’s will
Written by: Andrew Friesen on August 4, 2009
Dear friend, my heart is burning with a message from God that I know will greatly bless your life. Have you ever asked yourself, "Will God ask me to do something I don't really want to do?" It's a provocative question. The majority of people think "yes". They look at all the commands of God and feel like they've fallen short. And rightly so. The Bible says in Romans 3:23 "for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." But they then conclude that If God's will is different from my will, I must have to deny my will and desires in order to line up with God's will and desires. And then, maybe along the way, God will help me (because He is supposed to be loving and a little angry) as long as I put in a good effort on my part. Is this how God works?
I've got good news for you. God will never ask you to do something you don't want to do.
"I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them." (Ezekiel 36:26-27)
Did you see that? God's way is that He will "cause you" to walk in His ways. How? Not by force. But by the Holy Spirit. You see, when a person hears the wonderful, outrageous, beautiful good news of God's love expressed on the cross where Jesus died and took all the punishment of our sins, God's Spirit comes and gently draws them to trust Jesus. It’s actually His goodness revealed in the gospel that causes people to change. Romans 2:4 says, “the goodness of God leads you to repentance”. Everyone has a freewill to choose, however, it's The Holy Spirit "causing them" by giving them the desire and willingness to obey God. That way God gets all the Glory.
But don't we have to do anything? Absolutely Yes!
"continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. (Phillipians 2:12-13)
The Apostle Paul is saying that we need to tremble and be fearful that we would do anything in our own strength. Or in other words. We work out our salvation by making sure we're not the ones doing it. Praise God! It's all about Jesus! He is our all in all.
I once heard a pastor say, "We are saved by grace by after that we have to put in some effort." Well, that's not what the Apostle Paul thought.
“But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. (1 Corinthians 15:10)
Paul was saying, "I preached more sermons, I planted more churches, I helped more poor people, I won more souls, and I wrote more books than anyone else. But I had absolutely nothing to do with it. It was by the grace of God! Dear friend, God will never ask you to do something you don't want to do. Rather, He will show you how beautiful Jesus is. For we are transformed by looking at His GLORY not our GORY (2 Corinthians 3:18)! Your thoughts? -Andrew
Comments
I don’t entirely agree, but I do in the outcome. God will ask me to do a thing that the old me does not want to do, but if I am willing and obedient He will transform my will to line up with His. But to be in submission to an authority that you are in complete agreement with, has no proof of that submission. And God will ask us to do things that we don’t understand and that don’t make sense, because He is also proving that we will obey, even when we don’t agree. . . In the end we will see that we did want what He wanted, but in the moment we may not.
By Mark Brown on August 4, 2009
I’ve been blessed
By Jacob Thiessen on August 4, 2009 (canada)
I have learn alot from that.
By Esther Njoroge on August 5, 2009 (Nairobi Kenya)
i agree with you there for i had a personal experience that was like that. i was instructed by the lord to minister to a complete stranger and it scared me to do it. i took a deep breath and did it anyway and the outcome was amazing. i was so glad i took that step because that might have been her last chance. but it definitely took me out of my comfort zone.
By jeremy penner on August 5, 2009
thanks God for Andrew and Rocio, because they love you and preach in every place that they go. good job my friends, you are going to recive you prize.
By paola lopez on August 5, 2009
Yes Brother..God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son..God told the prophet Elijah to ask for the widow to make a cake for him first…God told Moses to lead the Israelites to the promised land..God told Jeremiah…...Above All..God told Hosea to marry Gomer…the harlot…God has a different way of doing things…but effective for sure…when god asks us to do something…which we dont like in our natural ...God will help us by the Helper and comforter…the Precious Holy Spirit..God may tell us to do things which we dont like in the natural but if he tells us anyway..he will give us his power/ability to perform the task.God will never ask us to do things which we are not capable of..God plants his desires in our heart before he executes it through us..god bless you
By Arunkumar Wesley Doddi on August 5, 2009
I agree on this very much..when we allow him to lead us, its all about him and we can rest in his presence without fear or worry..God is in control.
By Sandra Hipley on August 8, 2009
oh come jesus we need
By okoro mike blessing on August 11, 2009
Stimulating Andrew.
I want to spend my life on behalf of the poor and needy because God has first placed this desire in my heart. His Grace, oh the joy. Each day He seems to increase my fervour to see His will done. Not to say that sometimes it’s a tough road! We have created a not-for-profit travel agency - 100% of its profits go to fund God’s work in developing nations. That’s borne out of a God-given love for the poor and, a deep desire to see the Lord at work throughout the world. Grace Grace Grace.
By Paul Evans on October 8, 2009 (Hobart Tas)