Priori Incantatem

God's will - the great mystery of life, the elusive answer to all of life's struggles. Yeah, no. I don't think so. I used to think this was the key. If I could only discern His will for me then life would be a breeze. Not so much any more. I don't think it's that great of a mystery at all.

Adrian Rogers said:

1. The will of God is for your welfare. It is not something you have to do; it is something you get to do.
2. The will of God will never take you where the power of God and the grace of God cannot enable and keep you.
3. God will not force His will on you. You are free to choose. But you are not free to choose the consequences of your choice.

I tried the whole "convincing everyone I knew God's will for me when really it was just me making my own decisions and disregarding Him completely" thing. Didn't quite work out so well. I think it ticked Him off. He jerked me back from my rebellion and showed me the truth - His truth. I feel like He was saying, "I'm tired of you putting this off on me. I want you to be better and you are nowhere close. Are you going to keep following your road or are you going to choose Mine?" I saw the consequences of my decisions. All the hurt and frustration and disappointment I had caused. My own little priori incantatem - the things I had taken from others because of my own stupid selfishness. Needless to say, I chose to follow His path. And now, I think I'm better, if only better than I was. But it's not about knowing how long the path is or where it ends. It's about following Him today, in this situation, and behaving like He wants me to. It's about seeking His will for what He has brought to me now. If Abraham knew God would spare Isaac, would he have bothered going to the mountain? Seriously, it is a choice. It's called following for a reason. Follow the map - His word - because it's all right there. He has told us how to live and what decisions to make. Make the choices that reflect Him. He made the rules and true joy, true peace, and true contentment are found in following them. He knows what will keep us close to Him and that, in essence, is His will.