The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, and majestic in his radiant splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Colossians 4:12b,
"He [Epaphras] is always wrestling in prayer for you [the Colossian believers], that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured."
What does it mean to "stand firm in all the will of God"? We know that maturity and full assurance accompany it, as Paul says. I've listened to many prayers over the years that make appeal to knowing and understanding God's will in this or that. How can we find what God's will is?
I suspect the most obvious observation is that the Scriptures contain the will of God. We call the Scriptures revelation. God reveals himself within its pages. Penned by human authors, the source is God himself, "Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit." 2 Peter 1:20-21. God's desires, what God looks for in the choices people make are often clearly defined in the Scriptures. Even when it comes to things of a personal nature, in our relationships, etc.
As an example, consider what Paul had to say in the previous chapter, "Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you." Colossians 3:12-14. This covers probably most of what anyone needs to know regarding God's will in our relationships with others.
We, on the other hand, only want to bear with and forgive those who haven't really wronged us, not in a meaningful way, anyway. Those who have do not really deserve it and so we fashion ourselves some accommodation of one form or another. So, let's just disregard this-- and if we can't, maybe we can bear with and forgive someone who only slightly offended us to help us feel better about disregarding God's will about the bigger and more painful offenses. (If I've offended you here, I apologize, as I offer you an opportunity to put Colossians 3:12-14 into practice.)
How else can we determine God's will in a matter? I am reminded of Romans 12:2, "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will." Here we find there needs to be some transformation within us that requires effort on our part if we seek to "test and approve what God's will is." Retaining the aspects of our old, sinful nature, "the pattern of this world", will obscure our apprehension of God's will. If we participate in the renewing of our minds, clarity of God's will becomes evident.
How do we participate in the renewing of our minds? Paul tells us in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." Again, back to the Scriptures, and, going back to Romans 12:2, doing what they say.
I'm fully convinced the prayerful reading and doing of the Scriptures is what opens our understanding of God's will in many things. Meditation, ruminating in the Scriptures, memorizing them, holding them near and dear to our hearts is key to ascertaining God's will. After all, the Scriptures are what God wants us to know of himself!
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
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