Learning to Love God's Will

[Meshavrischika]

So... I'm sure you all know from all my posts I am currently struggling with surrender. Now my question is... How do you learn to love God's will? I realize in my mind that the decisions I make out of myself (without God's leadership) have caused me nothing but pain and heartache and have all been mistakes... I can process this in my mind. My heart, however, still wants what it wants. I can mentally say "I want your will, not mine God" but how do you learn to mean it with your heart? How do you change the little voices inside you that say "I want..." into "I want what YOU want"?

 

[ephraimanesti]

So... I'm sure you all know from all my posts I am currently struggling with surrender. Now my question is... How do you learn to love God's will? I realize in my mind that the decisions I make out of myself (without God's leadership) have caused me nothing but pain and heartache and have all been mistakes... I can process this in my mind. My heart, however, still wants what it wants. I can mentally say "I want your will, not mine God" but how do you learn to mean it with your heart? How do you change the little voices inside you that say "I want..." into "I want what YOU want"?

MY DEAR SISTER,

Your situation, as described, is something every Christian has to work through. Some get through it quickly, some--like myself--take longer.

As you say, our rational minds evaluate our past--without God--and see that doing our own will inevitibly leads to disaster and heartache. So our rational mind thinks that perhaps to "Let Go and Let God" would be a good idea.

However, i think you are perhaps mistaken about your heart being the source of opposition to this surrender to God's will. i believe that, as Paul teaches, it is the lust of our flesh which is in rebellion. At the time of our baptism into Christ, satan is thrown out of our hearts and our hearts become the abode of the Holy Spirit. So i think that perhaps your heart (assuming you have been baptised) and your mind are in agreement, with your flesh being the source of the rebellion you are experiencing--as it always will be until brought into total subjection to the Spirit.

Again, i would highly recommend the two books by Andrew Murray which have blessed me in dealing with this issue--ABSOLUTE SURRENDER and A LIFE OF OBEDIENCE which are available at any Christian book store. ABSOLUTE SURRENDER is available free online along with another of his books on this subject called THE SCHOOL OF OBEDIENCE at: www.ccel.org/m/murray

MAY YOU BE BLESSED!

A BOND-SLAVE OF CHIRST,
ephraim

 

[madison1101]

For me, it is a matter of immersing myself in His Word and praying to understand His love for me. I spent a lot of time meditating on Psalm 139 when I was going through a particularly difficult trial. That helped me to develop trust that His will is good for me. I also learned that as I yield myself to Him, I actually desire His will.

Keep reading the Word and keep praying for His love to surround you.

Hugs,
Trish

 

[ondaball]

This story/exercise seems ideal to see God's best:-

Better Than Good

By Micca Campbell ​

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows." James 1:17(NIV)
​

​

Devotion:

Is your definition of good different from God's? I've found during the course of my life that I tend to think I know what's best for me. And since I like to be in charge, I often find myself telling God what I think He should do, or how He should change my circumstances so that all works out for my good. I like it when things go my way. Besides, who knows what's best for me better than me--right?


Wrong.


God always has our best interest at heart whether we believe it or not. Unlike us, He can see far into the future, and by this, determine what's best. Unfortunately, you and I often settle for less than good by not trusting God to give us His best. I can only imagine the day we stand before God and see Him as He really is.


Silent before Him in wonder and awe, we'll say to ourselves, "Why didn't I hush and do it His way. Oh, what blessings I missed." It reminds me of an ancient legend I heard about a swan and a crane.

A beautiful swan came to rest by the banks of a pond where a crane was wading, seeking snails. After a few moments, the crane looked at the swan and asked, "Where did you come from?


The swan replied, "I come from Heaven!"


"Heaven?" asked the crane.


"Heaven," replied the swan. "Haven't you ever heard of heaven?" And the swan went on to describe the splendor and grandeur of the eternal city. She told the crane about the streets of gold and about the gates and walls made of precious stones. She told about the crystal sea and on the banks stood a tree that healed the nations of the world. In great and eloquent language, the swan described the hosts of saints and angels who lived in the world beyond.


Somewhat surprisingly, the crane didn't appear to be the least bit interested in the place the swan described. Eventually the crane asked the swan, "Are there any snails there?"


"Snails!" declared the swan, obviously revolted at the thought. "Of course, there are no snails in heaven."


"Then you can have your heaven," said the crane continuing its search along the slimy, muddy banks of the pond. "What I want are snails!"


While this story is but an old fable, it reveals a profound truth. Often, you and I turn away from God's best in order to search for snails.

I wonder if we took a hard long look at God today, would we chose the good things He has to offer us or would we cling to the slimy banks we are so use to...settling only for snails?


Let's no longer bury our heads in the mud. Look up. God wants to give us His best.


Dear Lord, will you give me a desire for all that you consider good? Help me not to settle for what I consider to be good, but to truly see what's best for me and embrace it, in Jesus Name' a-men.


Related Resources:

Do You Know Him?

The P31 Woman Magazine

Micca's blog


Application Steps:

Think back to a time when you chose your good plans over God's best. Write down the result. Then, think of a time where you chose God's best over your good. What was the result? How can looking back help you in the future to desire God's best over what appears to be good in this world?


Reflections:

What are the snails in your life that keep you from God's best?


Power Verses:

Psalm 34:8, "Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him." (NIV)

Lamentations 3:25 "The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him" (NIV)

Psalm 25:8, "Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in his ways." (NIV)

Proverbs 31 Ministries

616-G, Matthews-Mint Hill Road
Matthews, NC 28105
www.Proverbs31.org​

 

[underthesouthercross]

i am currently struggling with the same thing...
i thought that i would get everything i plan it to be...next thing happens it does a U-turn on ya...
and trusting God is a hard thing because we can be soo impatient and everything like that...and we have no clue how we are going to do something...
but man i truely believe that God has a plan for us...to give us a hope and a future and i trust in him...every step of the way...

 

[tturt]

This is an excerpt from some articles by Nancy Missler. "So, "knowing God" intimately, ... and "walking in the Fear of Him" go hand in hand. Fear of God does not mean fearfulness of God or being afraid of Him, but walking, speaking and acting in such an intimate relationship with Him that we are in continual awe of what He is doing in our lives. And because of that, we are constantly watching for and fleeing anything that would hinder or quench that intimacy."


"In other words, Fear of God is caring more about what God thinks than about what man thinks."

I Cor 7:37 - we do have control over our own will.

 

[live4grace]

So... I'm sure you all know from all my posts I am currently struggling with surrender. Now my question is... How do you learn to love God's will? I realize in my mind that the decisions I make out of myself (without God's leadership) have caused me nothing but pain and heartache and have all been mistakes... I can process this in my mind. My heart, however, still wants what it wants. I can mentally say "I want your will, not mine God" but how do you learn to mean it with your heart? How do you change the little voices inside you that say "I want..." into "I want what YOU want"?

Well, you're not alone in this struggle, but the *key* is trusting that God is good and has the best in mind both for you and everyone you know. This can be a hard point of faith to grasp at least for these reasons:

a. We grow up wanting what *we* want, like you say. And .. yeah we are to learn that when we go after those things we end up less than satisfied and the Kingdom of God is not necessarily working in and through us (well, God has a way to work anyway of course).
b. We see so many things "half done". That is, doing His will means walking through tough times sometimes.
c. We have a whole world around us telling us our faith is in vain, that God is like a childhood "imaginary friend" and that we're defective to need a "crutch" of religion (myself, I need a stretcher - I'm a dead man without Jesus).
d. We have memories of trusting God's will in our life or the lives of others where we have concluded that it was *not* a good thing. We have to know here that even if we're called to a place where we end up getting emulsified by a terrorist bomb or skewered by the spears of native tribes to preach the gospel, heaven is our reward and God will even use our death to advance His Kingdom. *That* takes prayer and ever-deeper faith.

I hope this helps a little. I'll pray for you.

 

[jive4005]

Learning your place in God's will comes after a few other things. Before you can know God's will for you, you'll need to learn a few things, a few truths, about yourself and about God.
When you find out where everybody really stands and fits, then you can start with some study into what God in store for you.

trust me on this, it won't be what you expect, or maybe even want, BUT... it will be perfect for you and for God's will. You see the thing is, it's God's will that has priority... so the best thing we SHOULD hope for is to be a significant postive force in that Master Plan. To me, there could be no greater honor or blessing... to know that God counted on me and I came thru!

Get to know God really well, invite Him into every aspect of your life. before you know it, you and God will be sharing everything! Like the bible says... seek His face first!

His,
rev