In Tune with God's Will

We all make mistakes. Even after years of practice.

Sometimes when we make the mistakes, we want to laugh.

Or cry.


That’s how I felt one night when I was in Orchestra.


I got a second chance.


And then it sounded better.

Once my conductor told me what he wanted.


Listening to the entire band, his ears were able to discern what he wanted to hear.



What does our “conductor” want?


Does He want us to “go solo?”

Make mistakes, knowing that we get a second chance?

Listen and adjust?

During Community Chapel this week, an inspiring message was spoken. Our guest speaker mentioned tapestry.


We hold out a package of thread and ask God: “Okay, what now?”

He knows the big picture.


He hears the entire Orchestra.


As we strive to obey Him, sometimes we make mistakes. And sometimes He uses those mistakes to build character. It may be painful. We may be challenged when we least expect it. And when we look back, at times we cannot comprehend how that one particular loop of thread even got woven into our picture.

And then something else “throws us for a loop.”


We will continue to fight in spiritual warfare, and sometimes it may be difficult to whisper “Not my Will but Yours be done.”

What is God’s Will for us?

He clearly tells us in our “instruction manual,” the Bible, that we are to firstly love Him, and then we are to love others.


But what does it mean to love our Creator?


I sing praises to Him.
I go to Church.
I heard the Gospel.

I believe that He sent His one and only Son to die for my sins.


And I love my God.


But I can’t just say I love Him.


Submission and obedience is key.




When He tells us what we are to do, do we listen?


Or do we hide?


When He gives us that solo to play, do we “chicken out?”

Or do we play with confidence knowing that in Christ we find rest?


My challenge to you this week is this:

Take time to check your heart before God.
Make sure your motives are pure before the Lord in all that you do.
And praise God that you are able to have this personal relationship with Him. Know you can trust the one who created you.

Through obedience and submission to the one who loves us more than we can imagine, may we continue to play in tune with God’s Will for our lives.

A Cry in the Battlefield

He was a compassionate man. He attended school when his parents could afford it. And although he was so kind to others, there he stood: A man in the middle of the war. Never did he think he would have been drafted. But now was no time to reflect on the past. Now it was time to fight.

But he couldn’t.

He had to rest.

Well, he didn’t have to.

Submitting to the instructions of his Sergeant, he was to wait . . . for now, at least.


Spiritual Warfare: Everyone in their own battle. Yet we are provided with weapons for the fight, as Ephesians 6:10-20 teaches us. “We must be delivered from the power of the evil one by believing, praying, repenting, obeying, seeking, and serving” (Power Encounters: Reclaiming Spiritual Warfare, David Powlison, 22).


“Spiritual Warfare is all-encompassing. It touches every area of our lives – our families, our relationships, our church, our neighborhoods, our communities, our places of employment. There is virtually no part of our existence over which the Evil One does not want to maintain or reassert his unhealthy and perverse influence. Conversely, Jesus longs to reign as Lord over every area of our lives. This is the locus of intense struggle for all believers. And it is a power struggle. To which kingdom – and source of power – do we yield?” (Three Crucial Questions about Spiritual Warfare, Clinton E. Arnold, 27)


There has been a battle inside my heart. There always is. Whether it is making time for God or being sure He truly is the Lord of our lives, often a power struggle is apparent. And we must remember that this power struggle cannot solely be blamed on Satan alone. We also have two other enemies: our own flesh and the world.

And it is “only through union with Jesus and experiencing his empowering presence [in which] people have hope for escaping the compelling power of these influences” (Three Crucial Questions about Spiritual Warfare, Clinton E. Arnold, 35).

Tomorrow is A Day Of Prayer in Briercrest. My prayer is that all who participate would focus on making their hearts right before the Lord before they enter into His presence. And for those of you who do not attend this little school in Caronport, may you continue to grow closer to Him through thanksgiving, prayer, and petition, especially as we continue to fight these battles that confront us every day. Let us go into each and every single battle equipped with the full Armor of God.