Lean Into God’s Will

From the foregoing illustration of the potter and the clay, it should be clear that the key to the success or failure of our fashioning under the Master’s hands lies in how we respond to His touch.

Now if we look at this in a spiritual dimension we discover that the degree to which we respond to or resist God is the degree to which we are willing to obey Him. Unfortunately obedience is a most unpopular theme today. We live in a period of history when it is fashionable and popular to resist all restraints. It matters not whether it be in the home, at school, on campuses, in industry, toward government, or even against God. Rebellion, resistance, confrontation are the catchwords of our time. So it is not the least surprising to find many who are simply unwilling to submit to the will of God. It is considered stupid and demeaning to do what our Father in heaven wishes us to do.

To obey and to cooperate means to subject or submit myself to someone else. It means to give in to another. It means to put another’s will first. It means, in essence, to just do what another wishes me to do.

Because of our personal, perverse, powerful pride this is extremely hard for us to accept. To be asked to obey raises our resistance. We feel sure we are debasing ourselves. This goes against our ego, our selfish self-centeredness.

Yet in spite of all this resistance, the Word of God comes through clearly and with enormous emphasis. “Obey and live! Disobey and die!” “Obey and be blessed; disobey and meet disaster!” “Comply with My commands and find life abundant; ignore them and be cut off!”

To love the will of God, to love the intentions and purposes of God our Father is to comply with Him and His wishes.

Strange as it may seem, many Christians associate the thought of obedience and obeying with rigid legalism. It need not be so. In fact in God’s Word and in God’s view, obedience and love are so intimately intertwined that we cannot separate them. For the proof, the ultimate demonstration that I love another is to put that one’s wishes first, before my own. It follows, therefore, that if I love my mate, my parents, my school, my country, my heavenly Father, their wishes and their desires will be first, and it will be my joy and delight to do what they ask.

I say it will be a joy because the act of my cooperation and obedience is evidence of my love, affection, and respect for them. For my part the pleasure given to them by my obedience will be a rich compensation for any inconvenience it may have cost me.

The net result is that instead of having a confrontation, I find myself receiving generous cooperation. Instead of being cursed with ill will, hostility, and bitterness, I find my life blessed with peace and goodwill and beautiful comradeship. Instead of frustration, tensions, and turmoil filling my days,  I find myself moving in a new dimension of freedom and joy.

It is no wonder the psalmist sang, “I delight to do thy will, O my God; yea, thy law is within my heart” (Ps. 40:8).

To love the will of God, to love the intentions and purposes of God our Father is to comply with Him and His wishes.

Jesus Himself emphasized and reemphasized this point over and over. For example, “If ye keep [obey] my commandments, ye shall abide in my love” (John 15:10). “Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you” (John 15:14). “If a man love me, he will keep my words” (John 14:23).

To love Him is to obey Him. To obey Him is to do His will. To do His will is to have a bit of heaven on earth!