“For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good
purpose.” (Phil 2:13 NIV)
“Am I still in God’s will?”
Have you ever asked yourself this question? You know what I’m talking about. You
hear a word from God, you take steps out in faith based upon that Word, and
then—NOTHING! Did you miss hearing God’s next command? Did you hear Him wrong in
the first place? How can you know? You sincerely desire to do His will, but you
don’t know what that is! You begin seeking God. You go to your Bible and you
pray. Nothing. You go for a “power walk” with the Lord. You beg Him for
direction. Nothing. No Word from the Lord.
I am in such a situation right now. God told me to write a book. I obeyed. I
took the step into faith and started working on it. But now, two years and
thousands of hours later, I am plagued with doubt. Being completely unknown, who
will ever publish my work? And if it isn’t to be published, why bother? Have I
been wasting my time? Did I hear right in the first place? Does He want me to
continue? After all, it seems pretty futile putting all this time and money into
something that will never get beyond my computer screen!
Yet as I implore the Lord for guidance, I get nothing.
As I began my walk today, my path led me around the local cemetery. The first
thing I noticed was the cold breeze in my face. I was happy enough to turn the
corner so that the wind was to my back! It was barely noticeable then, and as I
began to warm up, I completely forgot about the wind. Until I turned the corner
again, that is. Then it blew straight into my face! Again!
My philosophy being that if you ignore something long enough, maybe it will go
away, I tried to dismiss the wind. God wouldn’t let it drop, however, and as I
shivered along with the wind to my face, I slowly began to understand. As long
as I remain in God’s will, the “wind” is to my back, and I may not even notice
it. It’s the moment I step outside of His will that I begin to feel the “wind”.
In other words, when I took that initial step out into obedience, I put my back
to the wind and I become so used to it that eventually I stopped noticing it at
all. I was in God’s will, and since I was already obeying, He didn’t need to
tell me to obey.
How do I know if I’m still in God’s will? By keeping the wind to my back! By
continuing on in silent obedience until I hear a new word from the Lord!
Lord, help me to always feel the shift in wind; but if I don’t feel any wind at
all, help me to have the courage to continue doing that last thing you told me
to do!
Lyn Chaffart
The Illustrator: This daily newsletter is dedicated to encouraging
everyone to look towards Jesus as the source of all the solutions to our
problems. It contains a daily inspirational story, a Bible verse and encouraging
messages. HTML and plain text versions available.
The Nugget: Published three times a week, this newsletter features inspirational devotionals and mini-sermons dedicated to drawing mankind closer to each other and to Christ.