"When we talk of 'finding God's will' we generally want divine guidance on specific choices, but it should be noted that this specific term is never used after the Holy Spirit came upon the church at Pentecost. The apostles, upon whom the church is founded, did not teach that we are to seek God's will in this way. Instead, the New Testament offers us a program of the Father's guidance that is based upon having a close relationship with Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit."*
This quotation is taken from a challenging book which was produced ten years ago but has largely been unnoticed by evangelicalism as a whole. Waltke's premise is obvious from reading his comments, and it points out the tendency of today's Christians who want little more than quick answers to any and all of their problems. His argument is quite good: this type of activity is closer to pagan divination than Spirit-driven lifestyle.
Why this matters is that it explains very much how our spirituality at the turn of the century has become so shallow and self-serving that it cannot see beyond our immediate need/wants (most of which are quite insignificant in view of worldwide need and in light of eternity - i.e., praying for parking spaces). We refer to this as knowing God's will for our lives, but in reality we are just looking for pat answers to common headaches.
What we are called to is a realationship with the Father through the power of the Holy Spirit which guides and directs our lives. It is not for us to appease the Spirit so that we might have a "get out of jail free" card or some cosmic umbrella to keep out the rain, but a relationship that joins the Lord of Creation at his table of fellowship because we have been invited to join him and find our rest and completeness. And yet we take such an invitation for granted and slap another bumper sticker on our cars in order to find that preordained parking place.
So instead of overspiritualizing everyday events and reading into random events of life that happen to just about everyone and 'decide' that it is God's will at work, perhaps we ought to do the unthinkable: wait upon the Lord and renew our strength that we may know his will through the Spirit's constant work within us. Jesus never asked for God's will, for it flowed through him constantly as did the Holy Spirit which facilitated his communion with the Father. And since he is our paradigm for faith, we might find a more constant and deeper understanding of God's will by having his Spirit more constantly and deeper through us.
For this to happen, we will need to want to go deeper. . .
*Bruce K. Waltke, Finding the Will of God: A Pagan Notion? (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1995), 10-11.
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