“Becoming the will of God is better than always asking what it is.”
I read that today on the blog of a girl who is doing the World Race right now with Adventures in Missions. It really stuck with me and I’ve been thinking about it for most of the day. It’s not about refusing to wait until God tells you what His will is. It’s not that at all. The point to the contrary, was that she had said something quite profound in such a short statement. The question that popped into my head upon reading that statement was, “Am I willing?”
You see, God won’t force us to do anything. We all know that. We have free will. The problem sometimes is that we choose to use that as excuse to be “spiritually lazy.” Is it not all too often that we sit back and say, “Ok God, show me Your will.” (a statement not bad in-and-of-itself) But what we really mean is, “Ok God, I don’t really want to actually DO anything per se. If You could just take care of this without me having to DO anything, that’d be great.” Does He need us to DO anything? Of course not. Can He get things done without us? Definitely. Is it possible that sometimes with that knowledge though, we sit back and choose not to be active in our faith? Faith requires action. If we want to know what the will of God is, should we not then be actively pursuing that answer?
While I’d been going over and over this thought in my head, God gave me a new perspective on a song I’ve heard countless times before. The song is “Stand Up” by Everyday Sunday.
(Chorus)
“I will stand up now, I will not step down.
I will do my best to wear this crown,
but I need You as You guide me through today.
You wake up out of bed, walk out of your castle,
and then you lift up your head.
When will you wake up
and see it takes more than just you to get through this life.
Going around the town, maybe someone had brought him down.
Different maybe, not the same, everyone thinks.
(Chorus)
He’s going out there now, and all the things he has found,
everything around is new.
No more holding back as the crowd looks from afar
Everything he has is You”
I fell in love with this song the very first time I heard it several years ago. But what I always saw it as was a beautiful calling to be bold and stand up for Christ, no matter the cost. Today however, driving home, thinking about the statement I had read and hearing this song once more…I took it in another way as well. This song is not only a calling to stand, as a boldness of faith..but also, to stand which requires action. That was the different perspective.
So, are we willing? Are we willing to stand today? Are we willing to seek God’s will by actively taking steps towards Him? Are we willing to stand today knowing that our actions for Him, He will use, for His will?.. .. Are we willing to do all that instead of settling for idle faith? And is it possible that He’s waiting for us to do just that?
