Four Misconceptions About The Will Of God – Concerning Us!
- You can not assume that every open door represents God’s will. Some open doors may actually be snares of Satan to keep you out of God’s will. Even when Satan opens a door that’s meant to bring you harm, God can bring good from it, if you will be sensitive to the leading of the Spirit. “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that [spirit] of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now it’s in the world.”(1 John 4:1-3)
2. Is it OK to put out a fleece like Gideon did (Judges 6) to help you determine God’s will for your life? Simply stated, you must realize that faith doesn’t permit you to test God because He can not be tempted and He’s true to His Word. YOU must believe God without insisting on a sign. The Word declares, “Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth He any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.” (James 1:13, 14); “Seek ye the LORD while He may be found, call ye upon Him while He is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon. For My thoughts [are] not your thoughts, neither [are] your ways My ways, saith the LORD. For [as] the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: So shall My Word be that goeth forth out of My mouth: it shall not return unto Me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper [in the thing] whereto I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:6-11);
And “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where [is] the wise? where[is] the scribe? where [is] the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a sumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.” (1 Corinthians 18-25).
- Not EVERY “godly” desire is directly from the Spirit of God concerning His will for your life. You must spend time in His presence, through His Word, fasting and prayer, quiet time with Him in meditation, and with godly men and women that have the wisdom of God whereby you can gleam from them, based on their experiences. IflWhen you’re willing to be obedient and do these things, then you leave room for God to change your desires to match His desires for your life.
A passage of scripture that shares light on the statement that I just made is Psalm 37 :4,5, “Delight thyself also in the LORD; and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in Him; and He shall bring [it] to pass.”Notice two things from these verses, God is the one birthing “His desires” into YOUR heart and these verses are conditional; Delight in the Lord and then, He shall give YOU the desires of your heart. You can also reverse this passage; If you don’t trust in the Lord, He won’t give you the desires of your heart. “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matthew 6:33)
4. In Dr. Margaret Paul’s book “Love and Power: Earthy vs. Spiritual”, she makes an interesting observation in terms of how some people perceive God – that He uses me to help others, but I shouldn’t expect Him to come to assist me when I have a need. She said, “When we do believe in God but feel ourselves unlovable and unworthy, we may believe that we can be instruments of God’s love for others but not for ourselves. Sometimes children are taught that they are nothing, that their only worth is in helping others. Their goal becomes – to give God’s love to others so others will give love to them. This belief system fosters the giving-to-get behavior of co-dependent relationships. This is rampant in the helping professions.” “Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.” (Luke 6:38)
Misconceptions about God over the years have blinded saints to the “Sovereignty” of God’s will. When you want to know God’s sovereignty over a situation, you must ask yourself a few basic questions: * Is God all knowing and all powerful? * If He’s all powerful, He can stop troubles from coming to pass? And * If He permits the situation to occur, then, it’s ordained? You’re not going to avoid trouble in this life, but God’s Word points the way to peace and joy in the mist of your storms.
(See Jeremiah 17:7-10, “Blessed [is] the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and [that] spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit. The heart [is] deceitful above all [things], and desperately wicked: who can know it? I the LORD search the heart, [I] try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, [and] according to the fruit of his doings;” and Psalm 147:3-5, “He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds. He telleth the number of the stars; He calleth them all by [their] names. Great [is] our Lord, and of great power: His understanding [is] infinite.”)