I have been asking this question for my life since my salvation.  We all have this question burning inside of us I think.  Whether you are a believer in Christ or not, at some point in time or perhaps a lot of the time, the question comes:  “What am I here for?”  “What am I supposed to do with my life?”  “Why was I created?”  or if you are a believer the question usually shows up as:  “What is God’s will for my life?”

Since He saved me, I have has a deep desire to do His will and accomplish His purpose for my life.  I just don’t want to get to Heaven and hear God say “Come on in… but, you really dropped the ball back there.”  I think about it a lot.  But one thing that I have just recently noticed, through the aide of some wise council, is that always being focused on God’s future will for my life is causing me to miss out on His will for me NOW.  I seriously get so concerned with what God has for me, or where He wants me and my family to serve, that I totally miss the person He put in my path right now to minister to.  It has also kept me and my family from really putting down roots in a community and building relationships and being part of that community and church because we always felt as if our current place was temporary.

I really believe that part of it is the enemy playing with our minds trying to get our focus off of what we are supposed to do today.  Also when I did a search on the phrase “will of God” or “God’s will” in an online concordance, it really helped re adjust my thinking.  Almost every time I saw those phrases they were referencing things we should be doing or thinking on a regular, daily basis.  1 Thes. 5:12-24, 1 Pet. 2:13-17, 1 John 2:15-17, etc.

Keep in mind, Moses was minding his own business tending sheep when God told him what he was to do.  Paul was content doing what he thought was God’s will when God spoke to him.

I guess my encouragement would be the same thing that  took away from all this.  Don’t get so focused on what will happen and miss the opportunities to minister and do what’s right today.

I absolutely hate cliches, but the whole “bloom where you’re planted” thing has a good concept.

Are they obstacles or opportunities?  It is so easy to see changes in our lives as obstacles because they interrupt the flow in which we live.  I’m not so much talking about the day to day smaller things, though those are important, I’m talking about the biggies.  You know, the ones that could shape your future, like having to find a new job, deciding whether to go back to school or not, how to get out of debt, etc.  I try to see things like this as opportunities, though much easier said than done.  The enemy may have sent some of these our way to discourage us, distract us, or anger us at God, but I think God sees them as a way for us to glorify Him.

There are a few of ways we can go about finding the solutions to our problems/decisions:
#1.  Don’t even factor God into the equation i.e. no prayer, no Bible reading, and no consultation of godly people.
#2.  Pray, but pray for what works out best for you and is the most comfortable, and prosperous.
#3.  Pray for God’s will to be done whether it’s the most comfortable or not.

The Bible teaches us that we should pray that God’s will be done and that He receive all the glory, which is essentially the same prayer because God’s will is to glorify Himself.  Jesus was acutely aware of this wen He prayed in the garden of Gethsemane, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”  In American Christianity today the mantra is “Pray harder and you will get this or that” “Give this amount and God will bless your life with this or that” “Have faith and this will happen”.  Those are amazing claims to me because they seem to be saying “Have enough faith and you won’t have to be like Jesus”, the homeless peasant that was murdered.

Maybe God is sending these situations/decisions our way to make us uncomfortable because He knows that it will draw us back to Himself.  Maybe, just maybe, they are part of God’s mercy toward us and not just mere obstacles.  So when we are faced with decisions, big or small, It’s OK to tell God what we’re thinking and how we would like for things to turn out.  He’s a loving Dad that cares about us more than we will ever know.  But all of our requests should be tagged with a heart-felt “Your will be done” because He does love us, He does knows what’s best for us, He sees the BIG picture.  If we always got what we wanted, not what we needed, we’d be nothing more than spoiled little brats that everyone hated… And that just might be some of God’s wrath.