What would the painting of my life look like if I only lived by the Will of God? Imagine what my life would look like if every movement emanated only from His authoring and brushstroke? How would our lives change if every moment were IN Christ, FROM Christ, and BY Christ? We’d be in the absolute Will of God!
Absolute Will of God
Our God absolutely gave Himself, not even withholding His own Son. And because of this, we can now live IN Him absolutely. Christ bought my ability to live in the absolute will of God. The absolute will of God, is this even possible? He staked His Life on it, and I choose to live in His purchased absolute.
So how can we live in the absolute Will of God? First, we have to be committed to His Will. I love His Will in theory but what if His Will doesn’t comply with my wishes? Though His Will is my complete satisfaction, the death to my will is the pass-through to His Will. His Will, will always rub slap up against mine. I have to count the cost and actually weigh whether I truly want His Will above my own.
Next, I have to live in the moment. All the provision to live in the absolute Will of God is given today! It’s just like manna; each day has the sufficiency of today’s supply. Personally, I like to plan things out and have my life fully mapped out, though this isn’t how it works in the Will of God. Look at the map showing Jesus’ earthly route. It looks chaotic. The absolute Will of God in me might just look the same.
Third, it takes time. The absolute Will of God is found by listening to the Spirit. It takes time to hear and listen. And God doesn’t often care about my time clock. I think I need it now, and He just might choose to wait. He waits for multiple reasons. Listening is very intimate. Hearing is just perceiving sound, while listening is taking His voice in. You can’t live in the absolute Will of God without listening for what that Will is.
It’s Relational
Lastly, the Will of God is incredibly relational. The union experienced by living in the absolute Will of God is deep. It’s living in a profound relationship with God. And He might just wait to reveal His Will in order to have more time to delight in your gaze and focus. His delays are more about love, time, and surrender than creating frustration.
This is my Achilles heel. I’ve often translated the silence of watching and waiting into His rejection and resistance, but this is not true. In God’s economy, His silence communicates much more than these. God’s stillness creates: a desire in me for Him and His fulfillment, a yielding of my will to His, desperation for His Life, and a communication to my soul of who is God and who is sovereign. The time in waiting is often the very death I need to create “less of me and more of Him.”
Be found in him, not because I have my own righteousness derived from the law, but because I have the righteousness that comes by way of Christ’s faithfulness—a righteousness from God that is in fact based on Christ’s faithfulness.
Philippians 3:9
In my next post I will show what is the absolute Will of God.
There’s a big difference between believing something is true about me, & believing Christ Lives His Will in me as i yield to Him in His Life as my life. In our yes, He speaks it, loves it, lives it into us. The agony of my nothing, the gnawing need, keeps me in the ‘wait’. To Love Him as He deserves…that too, i quit trying & let Him Be Love in me to Love Him. I wait, in wonder, in peace…it settles my heart & i have no explanation for it…only that it’s Him. There is nothing & no one… Read more »
Wow, this is deep and profound! Thank you. I recently read and am meditating on how to get in line with God’s will, namely that one’s will sets a course and emotions follow. I think too often we as believers want and expect an emotion, a feeling, to confirm our walk. When our will is in line with God’s will I believe that only then can we experience a deeper experience with our creator. It’s not our actions but our desire to give up our will for His will. “I will to will God’s will”
Sometimes I think the fear of not accomplishing all that seems to be my responsibility in a day’s work takes a front seat to listening and waiting. For 25+ years now I’ve prayed daily to relinquish my will and live only in His. It is definitely a growing process. Shortly after the devotionals, blogs and podcasts began pointing to this subject of living every moment in God’s will – I decided to purposefully give it my best shot…as I understood it anyway. Oh, I pray most days before my feet hit the floor that my will will be bowed to… Read more »
Love this!!! Thank you for sharing. You remember my post https://getalongwithgod.com/enjoying-him/holy-cow/? Think it relates to your comment well.