Trusting God’s Will?

At least once, the mere mention of hoping that God’s will is done has brought a negative response from the Christians I was talking with. This was a surprise, yet I’ve also been afraid of what might happen. Today’s reading says this:

I feel more deeply than I can express the grievous wrong that is done to our heavenly Father by the dread His own children have of His blessed will. If those who profess to know and trust Him dread His will, we cannot wonder that the world looks on the will of God as something to be feared and resisted more than anything else, and we need not question why they are driven away from Him. If God’s own children regard Him as a tyrant, what can His enemies be expected to think?

The difficulty lies in not really trusting that He wants our good. Satan told that lie to Eve in the garden and it worked. Falling for it brought sin into the world and it still is causing sin. Even God’s children, that lie motivates us to take matters into our own hands and not trust the Lord. Doing our own thing is the essence of sin:

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:6)

Again, it began with a lie. God told Eve she could eat anything but not from the tree in the middle of the garden. Here is the subtle suggestion that enticed her to think it would be a good idea:

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:1–5)

He puts ideas like this into my head: “If you do what you determine is right or good or okay, even if God says otherwise, then you will benefit from it. The will of God is not going to do you any good.”

For most of us, failures from making decisions by trusting our own judgment ought to teach us that we don’t know what is best, but after years of being my own boss most of the time, it seems a hard way to learn. Here is a better one:

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:1–2)

Obedience and mind-renewal. Reading the Word of God feeds the new nature, building it up so I can and want to do the will of God, and obedience to what He shows me also reveals that His will is good, totally acceptable and perfect. Instead of being afraid of God and suspicious of His motives, trust is increased and my way becomes not only less important, but I start seeing it as a “grievous wrong” to God. How dare I think I know better than He does! Instead, this becomes a reality:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones. (Proverbs 3:5–8)

PRAY: Jesus, even in ordinary life, You keep surprising me with incredible goodness, especially whenever I stop leaning on my ‘good’ ideas. Daily and unexpected answers to prayer. Unusual energy when I wait on You. Words to say when my mind goes blank. The list is long. Your will is not only good, but that goodness cannot be exhausted, yet it is always unpredictable. For all of this and all that You are, I praise You as my Lord and Savior. Amen.

God’s remedy for deception

While hotly contended these days, God’s plan when He created the first couple included different responsibilities. The women was created as a helper (the same term that describes God helping us) and the man was told to stay away from the fruit of the tree of knowledge. Later, husbands are told to be responsible in Christ for the godliness of their wives, suggesting that Adam was to also protect Eve from disobeying God concerning that tree.

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:1–5)

The New Testament says, “Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor.” (1 Timothy 2:14)

However, it also says, “sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned . . .  death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam . . .  because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man . . .  by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners . . .  .” (Romans 5:12–19)

This tells me that Adam is held responsible for sin, not Eve. While she was deceived and started it, Adam knew what he was doing when he joined her in disobedience. Why is this important?

Adam was deliberate about it, not deceived, but he blamed when God and the woman for his sin saying, “This woman you gave me, she gave me the fruit.” (Genesis 3:12)

As a woman, I’ve noticed how often women are blamed by men for their sin and mistakes. Some say that women are supposedly more prone to it, or we are not as smart as men, or we are just more sinful, and so on. The blame-shifting continues, and this also is deception. The reality is obvious —both men and women are prone to being fooled.

Jesus knew it. He said, “See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray.” He goes on to talk about the time of the end and how a multitude of interpretations will come out of His words. This also shows that humans are still prone to deception. In this case, we focus on the signs of the end and even argue about them rather than pay attention to the manner in which we live. (Matthew 24:4–14)

Deception or deceived is mentioned dozens of times in Scripture, mostly in context of how we can be deceived by sin. For the first sin, Satan used a lie on Eve (‘God didn’t really say that . . .’ ) and he continues to lie about sin: ‘It really isn’t so bad’ or ‘Everyone does it.’

God counters those lies with, “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God” and the liar comes back with ‘everyone does it’ or ‘sin is an obsolete idea.’

If the deceiver cannot get people to continue in sin with those lines that sin does not matter, he will impress upon us the hopelessness of it. ‘You are so bad that you cannot be forgiven.’

Yet God also says there is hope. Right after the warning above, He adds, “And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” (1 Corinthians 6:9–11)

All of the problems, sorrows, evil actions, atrocities, and sinful behaviors in the world have a lie behind them. This is why God says in 1 Corinthians 15:33 and a host of other places, “Do not be deceived,” but He also says there is a remedy — it is found in the One who said, “I am the truth!”