No longer all that strong

Yesterday we began to look at embracing change before it becomes a requirement to change. While we all know we resist change in various ways, we ALL resist it sometimes. The more comfortable we become with some choice we are making, the easier it is for us to make that choice time and time again. The more we desire to change that choice, the harder it can become. Hence, we need Jesus and the Holy Spirit to help us embrace change. Good change is encouraged - change that still leaves us somewhere short of the 'bullseye' in a spiritual sense just isn't cutting it. Change to be like Jesus - don't change to be like the world around you!

Don’t change yourselves to be like the people of this world, but let God change you inside with a new way of thinking. Then you will be able to understand and accept what God wants for you. You will be able to know what is good and pleasing to him and what is perfect. (Romans 12:2)

Knowing what is good is probably easier than we might think since we are given lots of examples in scripture, have the Holy Spirit to help guide our conscience, and even have God's Word to help us sort out good from bad. Choosing to do good all of the time isn't easy because we have this little thing called the 'will' that gets in the way at times. We struggle at the level of our 'willpower' so many times. We somehow think our own power will be enough to bring about right choices, but then we find ourselves falling somewhere short of those right choices.

The human will is not sufficient to resist temptation, though. Try as we might, we somehow choose things that make us 'feel good' but may not be the lasting kind of 'good feeling' that comes when we make a choice to live in obedience to the revealed will of God. Like it or not, life on this earth will always involve a struggle between our will (influenced by the things this world says will be 'good' for us) and God's will (bringing us out of this world's pursuits and into the pursuits of his Kingdom life). Willpower seldom produces 'internal' change - it is temporary, usually influenced by our feelings, and is often produces some other form of conflict within us.

God's will isn't just going to one day 'manifest' in our lives. We must make active choices to resist the things that are temporary or fleeting and choose rather to pursue that which remains, is well-founded, and has a transformational aspect - the things God offers through is Son, Jesus Christ. Living in a way that actually 'craves' internal change in the areas of our character that don't actually help us make right choices is not for the 'strong willed'. In fact, those who are willing to admit their will is weak are those God can transform the easiest! Just sayin!

Let God 'interfere' a bit

Yes, it is God who is working in you. He helps you want to do what pleases him, and he gives you the power to do it. (Philippians 2:14)

Like it or not, God is at work. Where? In you and in me. We aren't ever going to escape his work - he began his work in us when we said yes to him, and he will surely continue that work as long as we draw breath. Do we always appreciate or welcome his work within our lives? Not hardly! There are times we are just plain stubborn and don't want to have his 'interference'. We see what he is doing as 'bothersome' - mostly because his work is bringing conviction, and we don't like having our 'wrong choices' pointed out because we are prideful people. The more we resist his 'interference' in our lives, the longer we will deal with issues that only get us into other issues! It is God who actually helps us do what we don't want to do!

Have you ever been in a place where you know the very thing you are about to do isn't going to end well? If you haven't, learn from my mistakes, okay? If you think you can 'will' your way to obedience, you are mistaken. Obedience is tougher than it sounds - all because we have this thing called pride. Pride has this way of overruling what we know to be right in favor of what we know to be wrong. That is when we find ourselves getting way too close to compromise, or worse yet, crossing the line into full-blown sin. Indulge your prideful 'self' long enough and the hold sin has on you will get stronger and stronger. Before long, you will not even consider the choices you are making as 'wrong' - the thing that scripture says actually leads a man or woman to the place of a 'seared conscience'. None of us want to find ourselves there!

Let God help you do what you don't 'want' to do. It might surprise you how much less your 'resistance' to his required actions actually exists when you submit to his movement in your life. God wants to help us live righteous lives. We cannot do it on our own. We'd muddle it up pretty badly. The 'power' we need isn't 'willpower'. The power we need is God's divine intervention. We might not realize just how much God is at work within us until we 'look back' a bit and see the changes he has worked. We know he is always with us, but do we always acknowledge his presence and invite him in to do his work within our mind, will and emotions? If not, it could be time to change that. Just sayin!

Not my will, but yours

Great blessings belong to those who trust in the Lord, for those who do not turn to demons and false gods for help. Lord my God, you have done many amazing things! You have made great plans for us—too many to list. I could talk on and on about them, because there are too many to count. (Psalm 40:4-5)

David, the man who was acclaimed to have a "heart after God's", had a certain determination of will. David faced many "giant-sized obstacles" in his day - spiritually, emotionally, and relationally. He exhibited a determination of will that came through in each account recorded of him in scripture. David could be at the lowest point in his life from a physical perspective, strength waning, body taxed to the max, and he'd still lift his head in praise. He could be deep into the misery of depression, feeling it both physically and in the depth of his disturbed emotions, and he'd turn to God in praise, reach to him in prayer, and celebrate him in worship. He could be overcome by his own weakness and depravity of sinful deeds, but then you'd see him turning to God for help. We might not always reveal this same determination of will, choosing rather to cower in fear, give up on our pursuit, or hunker down in our depression. We should consider the power of the will when it is surrendered to the hand of a mighty and powerful God!

When I think of will-power, I imagine the ability I can muster within myself to avoid something or remain consistent with a commitment I have made. Unfortunately, it is dependent upon me and my ability. David surrendered his will time and time again to the purposes and intent of God - knowing God would take that will and use it to turn David's circumstances around. The difference is where one places their dependence - squarely upon our own shoulders, or in a source of power and might not our own. When the will is submitted to God, there is a determination of heart which brings a yielding of mind, body, and spirit to the purpose of God. Will is a driver for each of us, for what we "will" to do, we often find we at least make strides toward doing. We may not "arrive" all the way at the destination we imagined, but we get moving in that direction. Will moves us - it gives us momentum toward something. If our will is directed toward what we imagine WE can do, we tend to rely upon the source of our own physical and emotional strength. If our will is yielded into the hands of God, we tend to rely upon the strength he provides - even when ours wanes or falters.

What happens when we take our will and submit it into the hands of God? We begin to experience blessings too numerous to count. If you don't believe me, you will have to give it a try! Wherever we submit our will or turn our focus, we find there is an element of trust which enters into the picture. We determine where, what, or in whom it is we will place our trust. Will is an inanimate "thing" which actually reveals where it is we have placed our trust. It could be in our own self ability, another human being, or in the great and mighty ruler of the universe himself. Will is always linked to trust. Trust is one of the hardest things we have to get right in this walk on this earth. We struggle so much with trust because of our own failures - because we have put our faith and belief in what we WILL to do and find ourselves failing miserably time and time again at doing. We eventually get to the place we no longer trust ourselves. We struggle with trust because of the let downs that occur when we place our trust in another individual, because they have all the best of intentions, but when the rubber meets the road, they just cannot "perform" as we imagined they could. The letdown comes, and we determine we cannot trust them, either.

Will is always linked to trust, so having a solid place to put our trust is important. God isn't going to let us down, but we will never really know this until we take our will and squarely commit it to him. We yield our efforts into his hands, we commit our plans into his purposes, and we settle into realizing his best for us. Blessing comes to those who determine to make their focus God himself. Just sayin!