'I delight to do Your will, O my God...' Psalm 40:8 NKJV
In discovering and doing God’s will for your life, you must come to terms with what you think you should be. This is the hardest thing to do. Comparison kills spiritual growth. For example, the mother of three young children hears her pastor preach about Christians who rise at dawn every day to spend an hour of quiet time with God. The fact is, she’d love an hour of quiet time—anytime! But her kids won’t cooperate! So what she takes away from the sermon is that she doesn’t measure up as a Christian. In essence, she’s practising ‘spirituality by comparison’ and living under a cloud of guilt. It doesn’t occur to her that the love she expresses to her children counts as a spiritual activity. Or that she may be serving God more faithfully than somebody who gets up at daybreak in order to have that hour of quiet every morning.
Another example: a gregarious, spontaneous husband is married to a woman who enjoys solitude. It comes easily to her. Nevertheless, he feels like he’s a failure when it comes to prayer because he doesn’t enjoy being alone the way his wife does. He doesn’t consider that his joy and willingness in serving others counts, or that the degree to which he loves them is shaping his soul and delighting God. ‘Should’ is an important word, but when it comes to spiritual growth, God doesn’t want you to obey Him just because you ‘should’. He designed you to want His plan for your life—to get to the place where you can say, ‘I delight to do Your will, O my God.’
You are Loved!
In discovering and doing God’s will for your life, you must come to terms with what you think you should be. This is the hardest thing to do. Comparison kills spiritual growth. For example, the mother of three young children hears her pastor preach about Christians who rise at dawn every day to spend an hour of quiet time with God. The fact is, she’d love an hour of quiet time—anytime! But her kids won’t cooperate! So what she takes away from the sermon is that she doesn’t measure up as a Christian. In essence, she’s practising ‘spirituality by comparison’ and living under a cloud of guilt. It doesn’t occur to her that the love she expresses to her children counts as a spiritual activity. Or that she may be serving God more faithfully than somebody who gets up at daybreak in order to have that hour of quiet every morning. Another example: a gregarious, spontaneous husband is married to a woman who enjoys solitude. It comes easily to her. Nevertheless, he feels like he’s a failure when it comes to prayer because he doesn’t enjoy being alone the way his wife does. He doesn’t consider that his joy and willingness in serving others counts, or that the degree to which he loves them is shaping his soul and delighting God. ‘Should’ is an important word, but when it comes to spiritual growth, God doesn’t want you to obey Him just because you ‘should’. He designed you to want His plan for your life—to get to the place where you can say, ‘I delight to do Your will, O my God.’
You are Loved!
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