I came across a beautiful quote about a year ago in my news feed. I instantly liked and it saved the image with the quote on it. I remember thinking to myself that that's exactly what I wanted to be true in my life, I wanted God to have His way. I also remember thinking along the lines of Jeremiah 29:11, because God has good plans for me, then why wouldn't I want what He wanted for me more than what I wanted for myself? After all, His plans for my life are waaaay better!
However, a couple weeks ago when I was studying Discerning the Voice of God by Priscilla Shirer, I came to understand the quote in a whole new way. The thing is, my desires (like many other people's desires) are not always in line with God's. There are times, everyday, when what I want to do or say will not please Him and is contrary to His will and plans for my life. There is this gap between God's desires and mine. Although I do not have the power to always be in line with God's desires, God has done something in me that enables me to want and do what He wants. God has placed His Holy Spirit within me to will and do what pleases Him.
"The Holy Spirit will never [ever] tell us to do anything that isn't in God's will. He speaks exactly what He hears from the Father. He begins to influence our minds, will, emotions and bodies to desire what is pleasing to God and will bring Him glory. " - Priscilla Shirer
So the first part is that it is God's work.
- God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him (Phil 2:13)
- Don’t
copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you
into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to
know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. (Romans 12:2)
"Our responsibility is to cooperate by obeying His promptings and bathing ourselves in the Word and in prayer. - Priscilla Shirer
But just because it is God's work, doesn't mean that we don't have a part to play. The second part is our response in obedience and in yielding.
- Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. (Phil2:12, NLT)
- I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you (Romans 12:1)
Thus, to want what God wants is not just to want His good plans for us; but it is also do desire what He desires. This means that we must be intentionally aware of the Holy Spirit and what He is speaking to us more than our own minds, bodies, emotions etc. And that we should response by yielding and obeying.
I'll end with an example. This week, I had made a mistake with the experiment I was performing which made the data I had already collected useless. I knew I needed to inform my supervisor and instructor about the mistake I had made but I was scared and I was contemplating whether or to tell the truth. I had to remind myself that as God's child I was not a liar and that no matter how hard it would be to admit my mistake, I was to please God and not myself. I eventually braced myself and informed them. Of course both were disappointed but they also understood that such mistakes can indeed happen. In this case, the Holy Spirit reminded me of my identity and I responded by obeying. Although it was not easy, it was worth it because I knew that I did something that made God proud.
Blessings💜
If you evaluate your own life, are you more prone to want what is contrary to God's wants?
In which areas of your life to you struggle with this the most?
What steps can you take to change that?
Check out Discerning the Voice of God from Priscilla Shirer! It's absolutely amazing! :)
