Do you feel like you’ve been waiting for God’s will for some time now?
Like maybe forever?
Well stop!
Stop waiting for God’s will and simply walk in it.
Simple enough? Right?
Well, it is when you understand this simple truth:
God’s will for our lives is never found in the future. It can only be found in the present.
Now as you are seeking God’s will, you may be concerned about a future event, like where you are supposed to go to school this fall, or who you should marry. Or if anyone will go to school this fall, or if you’ll ever get married.
Maybe you believe God has given you promises about your future. If so, you would be in good company along with Noah, Abraham, and Joseph the dreamer.
So how can I tell you to stop waiting for God’s will and simply walk in it?
Time was Created for Us
What if I’m not the one asking you to stop waiting for God’s will and simply walk in it? What if God is asking you to do this?
So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. – Matthew 6:34 (NASB)
From this word, and throughout His word, we see the sovereign God of the universe is the only one who can handle the future. Because He’s the only one who can be there. The only one who is there. Right now. Without a time machine. Because God exists throughout (and even outside of) time.
In other words, time isn’t a prerequisite reality imposed on God. To the contrary, time is a created thing. Indeed, it was the first of God’s creation, when He called forth light and separated it from darkness to form the first day. The first day of all time.
God chose time as the canvas on which He would design all the rest of the created universe. And within time He ordains the present moment, in which He chooses to reveal Himself to us.
That said, God will never reveal Himself to You in the future. He will only reveal Himself to You in the present.
Yes. When the future, becomes the present, God will reveal Himself to You then. However, right now God is not asking You to wait for that revelation. He’s asking You to walk in His will right now.
At what cost do we sit around and wait for God’s will in the future?
At the cost of knowing and walking in His will in the present.
So we see time is a special gift, but we only get to enjoy it one moment at a time.
Who’s Time is it Anyway?
Take this moment, for instance, when I am literally typing these words to you.
Or take the moment when you are literally reading these words.
And right there is a picture of why I’m asking you to stop waiting for God’s will and simply walk in it. Because I am walking in God’s will for my life right now as I am writing to you. And you, dear one, are walking in God’s will for your life right now as you’re reading what I have written.
But my “right now” and your “right now” are not the same point in time are they?
So we see that as I walk in God’s will right now in my present, simply by pressing the keys on my computer, God is already preordained that my words would reach you in your present.
And hours, days, months, or years later, so they have
as
you
scroll
down
your
screen.
This is precisely how God wants us to live, when it comes to His will: living in the moment, but for eternity.
Could you imagine if I waited for you to show up online at my website, ready to read this post, before I started writing it? Or could you imagine me asking God, “Tell me who will be reading my next post and then I will write to them.”
That’s not the way it works. Instead, I submit my will to the God of all time and write. And I do this in the hopes of making an impact on a future I do not know. Hopefully, for the blessing, encouragement, and instruction of you in your present moment as you read.
What’s the Takeaway
So now to you, who’ve been waiting for God’s will, perhaps about your career, a relationship, or the coronavirus, am I asking you to run ahead of God’s will instead?
NEVER! If Joseph, son of Israel, had “followed his dreams,” and left home as a teen to make it big in Egypt, he never would have become the kind of person who could handle the bigness of God’s assignment for him.
My point is that waiting is never a passive activity.
Again, consider Joseph who instead of going viral on YouTube, had to “serve his way to the top,” first serving at home, and then in Potiphar’s house, and then in prison. It’s not the route most of us would choose, but it sure did grow His faith in God!
I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living! Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord! – Psalm 27:13-14 (ESV)
So, sure, wait on God’s will, but don’t miss the work God has for you right now!
Just imagine if Noah waited to see all the animals gather before he began building the ark. Are you waiting for God to work some kind of miracle before You’ll do the work You know full well He’s called you to do?
What if Abram (before he became Abraham) waited for a map and his first son before setting out for the land God promised to show him? Are you waiting for a complete set of instructions? God’s already given us instructions in His word and sent His only son to show us how to walk in them.
So what is God asking you to do right now? What tasks must you accomplish, today? Do you need to…
- Answer email?
- Go for a run?
- Pay bills?
- Pray for the money to pay bills?
- Clean the toilet? (God actually gave me important instructions for my life one time while I was cleaning the toilet. True story.)
More importantly, what people are you called to love, serve, and witness to today?
- A family member you’ve grown distant from?
- A home-bound neighbor?
- A friend you need to forgive?
- Your community who needs you to maintain a safe distance?
- A stranger on the internet who may read what you write?
What if your obedience today will pay off in the future, like mine has in writing this for you?
So stop waiting for God’s will.
Rest assured! His will for the future will take place, just as He wished. You just want to know (as do I) that when that future becomes our present, we can both look back and know we were walking in God’s will every step of the way. Including today!
Date Night Advice (DNA) series: How to Know God’s Will
Part 6: Stop Waiting for God’s Will
Click here for the next post in the series
DNA: It’s What’s For Dating
Dug this weekend’s DNA? Be a good friend and share with your friends on the social media platform of choice: Instagram, Youtube, Facebook, or Twitter.
The LoveEd discipleship series, Beyond Sex & Salvation, will empower you to prepare for relational success when it counts: BEFORE you fall in love!
It’s NOT for couples, but for any wise individual who thinks they might want to get married sometime before they die. And would like to learn how to better build healthy relationships in the meantime.
Check out all three study guides in our store. You can walk through them on your own, but it’s more fun with friends (that and it kinda makes sense to grow in relational success in actual relationships with others), so consider putting together an FMU LoveEd small group study.
Even better? And ask a rock star married couple you respect to lead it!
