The Will of God versus Your Emotions

[tater]

I'm going to put this opinion out there as an opinion. I don't know if this is completely the right way to think about this. I think Christians have been taught to deny themselves in a way that isn't correct. I think we are to enjoy life. I think food, color, music, love, friends, hobbies, possessions and many, many other things are to be enjoyed in this life. I think that when I desire something like a candy bar I don't have to feel guilty about desiring it. I don't have to feel guilty about eating it either. I know we need to think about our health but enjoying life is healthy.
I guess what I'm trying to say is, just like the verse in the N.T. that says if a man desires the office of a bishop he desires a good work, we should often follow our desires. I'm not talking about sinful desires. I'm just talking about desires. People say you should have "the call" before you can be a preacher. I'm not doubting that God can call someone. I'm doubting that a specific "call" is necessary if you desire to preach. We need people who desire to preach and teach and pastor more than we need people who feel like they have to.
I'm thinking that way too much emphasis is put on subjective leadings from God. There is enough that the Bible tells us to do that we aren't doing that we need to start doing. We can spend the rest of our lives doing what it tells us to do and probably not need to hear any voices or feel any leadings or sense guidance or receive prophecies or get a witness or a "word from the Lord", word of knowledge, word of wisdom or all those things I wasted about 15 years of my life trying to experience when I should have just delighted myself in the Lord and He would give me the desires of my heart.

[KeptByTheWord]

Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us Tater! Too many times we seek the elusive "will of God" as if it is the pot o' gold at the end of the rainbow.

You said:

I'm thinking that way too much emphasis is put on subjective leadings from God. There is enough that the Bible tells us to do that we aren't doing that we need to start doing. We can spend the rest of our lives doing what it tells us to do and probably not need to hear any voices or feel any leadings or sense guidance or receive prophecies or get a witness or a "word from the Lord", word of knowledge, word of wisdom or all those things I wasted about 15 years of my life trying to experience when I should have just delighted myself in the Lord and He would give me the desires of my heart.

I do agree with this. The will of God is not elusive, and it is not hard to know. We don't have to wait on a dream, vision, or supernatural vision, or other sign or wonder to know what it is. It is simply obeying the 2 great commandments given, and within obedience of those two things, we are responsible for sharing the gospel with our neighbor (if we love our neighbor as ourselves, than of course we would want him to know Jesus). So, sharing the gospel is part of the 2 great commandments, and if we allow Jesus to teach us how best to obey His words, then our lives become a beautiful outpouring of his love through us, which in and of itself, is a beautiful thing.

[Carl]

Amen! Excellent points. I heard a preacher/missionary say he just decided at a young age he wanted to preach and told God if you don't want me to then stop me. A lot of people go way out on a limb saying God told them to do something and then things change and it makes it look like God didn't tell them or changed his mind.

[KeptByTheWord]

Originally Posted by Carl

Amen! Excellent points. I heard a preacher/missionary say he just decided at a young age he wanted to preach and told God if you don't want me to then stop me. A lot of people go way out on a limb saying God told them to do something and then things change and it makes it look like God didn't tell them or changed his mind.

LOL... ah yes. I see this mentality far too often. People say "the Lord told me to do such and such"... so as to concrete it in the minds of others as being the right thing to do... but then... if it doesn't work out... oh... well, the Lord said we need to do such and such now.

What it really is, they are seeking to justify their own desires by labeling them "the will of God" thereby making the will of God look as changeable as the wind. They have not found the will of God, they have just labeled something as the will of God, to justify their own behaviors.

This is not at all how the "will of God" works.