Cosmic Hide and Seek, Installment 14, Magpies
September 15, 2009
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you,” declares the LORD,
Jeremiah 29:11
But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? 25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. 26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will. Romans 8:24b-28
In each passage of scripture where God promises us a direction in accordance with His will. He also promises us personal change and growth as His disciple. There are so many of these references that it would be overkill to list them all. In most of these verses, a challenge to immerse, seek and wait for God as He takes us where and when He wills is implicit. Scripture is not just making a positional statement. You know, “If you stand close to God, then you will see where He is heading.” It is a matter of psyche. Whenever a believer finds themself in the will of God they are defined by that will.
Too often I have regarded God’s will as that cosmic game of Hide and Seek. The one where God has hidden His will and I have to search in places like foreign countries and career days. What I have discovered is, first, God desires I find His will, and, second, sees this issue differently than I do. His will is the pursuit of Him above all else. It is not a job, class, vision, diversion, distraction, decision or even a ministry. What I end up doing for God will come out of the vision He has for me.
Gideon conquered the Midianites, not because He was in the right wine press at the time that God was looking for a general. Gideon was a general through God’s will. What he was responsible for was to listen and do the things that God clearly asked him to do. In the most memorable case, he got to blow a horn and watch the enemy kill themselves. God’s will for Gideon did not stop with that event. That event was an evidence of God’s will for Gideon. The rest of Gideon’s life was spent fulfilling that calling according to what scripture tells us.
The Bible does not offer us a metaphysical free ride either. There is real personal and physical work to be done. There are disciplines and decisions. There are places to go and people to meet. My own love affair with my wife is much more involved than an intimate, heart to heart stare down. It involves conversation, using real words and love, using real actions. Honestly! It’s pretty hard work at times to love well! So it is, with God and His divine appointment for each of us. This is simple. I am to be like Him.
Each morning, Dawn and I have committed to our time with a cup of coffee, God’s Word and a book. Dawn has been a catalyst in my life for needed change. Our time together, contained within the confines of pursuing an excellent relationship has had an interesting side effect. I have become a better husband and father. Dawn has become a better wife and mother. We did not hope for a great love by rubbing a four-leaf clover or by kissing the Blarney Stone. That seems like a waste of a kiss. No. We set time on our calendars as sacred, read through a hundred books together, got down on our knees over the couch and talked about everything. It was hope based in effort.
In 1999 my wife and I made a commitment to chase hard after our Lord. In the process we found people to share in and participate in that vision. Our story was only beginning to unfold. We were no more out of God’s will before we left all and ran after a vision to equip and train rural ministry workers than we are now. Grace in the searching.
28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
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Doug,
You have taken my favorite verses in the Bible and made them so much more powerful than I have ever seen them. THANK YOU!
Thanks Katina. It’s so cool when we discover the workable truths in God’s Word. See you Sunday night. A little Laser Tag anyone?
Doug,
What I find fascinating about God’s will is the fact that in His sovereignty, God allows us to make mistakes that lead us “out” of His will and yet uses those mistakes to make us better disciples is the end. I think a lot of times people get very frustrated (myself included) when they feel that God is playing that cosmic hide-and-seek game with them when in fact they are right where He wants them to be. We seem to have a natural tendency to think we are out of God’s will, and even question it, when things are either stagnate or just plain horrible. I think we talked about this the other day, but looking at the story of Jeremiah and Isaiah, we can see that obedience is key in these kinds of circumstance. Even if there is not visible “fruit” from our labors, God’s plan far outweighs what man considers “successful” ministry, and we may have no idea what kind of fruit is harvested down the road due to our faithful obedience.
I also think we tend to look at something like God’s will on a very micro level. We for some reason feel like God’s will is something that simply unfolds in our day, week, year, or even lifetime. We have a very narrow impression of God when we think this way. God’s will is both micro and macro. It unfolds in our day-to-day, but also throughout and after our lifetimes, and then onto eternity.
Great post! Sounds like a good book in the works.
Love it, Doug. I really like the personal story line. Good work!
David, great insight. Only Christ followers have a grace that not only compensates for sin, but one that uses evil for God’s purpose. Now that is sovereignty. Thanks.