Revealing God's Will

As you can tell, I enjoy writing. I enjoy putting my thoughts on paper and elaborating on them. The joy of writing carries over into my viewing a film on the screen. I analyze dialogue. I pick apart the directing of the film. I ask questions like: Why did the director have the camera focused there? Why did the actor say that? What is meant by that comment? What is the purpose of this in the overall picture? Where is he going with this?

A few years back in a film, I watched as the writer had the passengers on a bus tell about their lives. They shared their trouble and their insecurities. They told of their backgrounds and other seemingly insignificant things. Most of this information had nothing to do with the overall plot of the film. There was not a lot of detail, but there was some. What the writer was doing was to make you identify with them. These characters were made to “live” in the mind of the audience. The purpose was to make them seem real enough that the audience would feel with them when the trouble hit. It worked.

This character building was not the picture, but it was an indispensable part of it. Without it, you have just another Grade B film or cheap script.

Another item you quickly discover in the films you view. You can be given too much information too quickly. You as the viewer are not ready for it. You are given only what you have been prepared to receive.

Have you ever considered how that compares with the way the Lord reveals His will to us? He never dumps the whole ball of wax into our lap. His will is disclosed in small increments. He slowly removes pieces until the entire picture is exposed.

Aren't you glad that is the case? Suppose for a moment it were different. For the sake of discussion, let's assume the Lord followed a slightly different plan. What if, at the moment of faith, we were handed a list that gives in detail how God's will for your life will be laid out?

What would you do with that information? I do not know about you, but I would look way down the list to see how the key items in my life will play out. Who will I marry? Where will I live? How many children will I have? When and how will I die?

Herein is a tragedy waiting to happen. I am about to read about things the Lord has for me that I am not ready to receive. What about the item that has me experiencing the death of my wife, or one of my children? What about me discovering that I have cancer? What about a job change that would alter my lifestyle dramatically? I am not in a position to deal with those items now. To have that information before the Lord has brought me to the point of dealing with it would be disastrous!

Why does the Lord not reveal His will in large segments? He is in the process of maturing us. He is making us Christlike. Colossians 1:24 reveals that God has chosen to use tribulation to accomplish that goal. His will, if written out could seem mean and uncaring, unless you remember the character of the One orchestrating it. Just like the script writer who only reveals the part you need to keep up with the plot, Jesus gives us just enough light to keep up with His will for our life.

You don't think you have enough information? You have all that the sovereign Lord knows you both need and can handle. And so do I. We must rest in the fact that He loves us more than we could ever imagine. He is about our best, our very best and only our best. Just as Romans 8:28 details, even the bad things are for our good. What is that good? For you and I, it is to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ.