Tag Archives: God’s will

September 23, 2013 · 7:30 AM

Stuck In The Waiting

I said to my soul, be still, and let the dark come upon you
Which shall be the darkness of God.…
I said to my soul, be still, and wait without hope
For hope would be hope for the wrong thing; wait without love
For love would be love of the wrong thing; there is yet faith
But the faith and the love and the hope are all in the waiting.

-T. S. Eliot, “East Coker”

I read these words in Philip Yancey’s book “Disappointment with God”. I was going through a brutal spell in my life. If you’ve read the book, maybe it helped. But it didn’t help me. In fact it just made me feel worse for all the people referenced in the book as well as for myself.
Why do bad things happen to generally decent people? I’ll be honest, I’m not sure I’ll ever understand this side of heaven. It might be better if I stopped asking. But there are few things that haven’t escaped me. Maybe they were rungs on the ladder that kept me hitting rock bottom. Here they are:

I’m not in control. Even if I was, I don’t know what’s best for me.

It’s true – and actually this struck me when things were going well. What do you do when the things that happened by “chance” turned out better than your carefully laid plans? This had been the case a couple different times and while I was overwhelmed with gratitude, it eerily bothered me. When my tides turned, I realized that it goes both ways. In the end, I’m not God. I don’t know what’s best for me, I can’t see the big picture of God’s plan for me and I can’t control all the outcomes in my life. Living by faith means accepting both the good and the bad and realizing both are temporal. Accepting the fact that life isn’t fair helps too.

Take responsibility. Don’t sabotage myself.

If you’ve ever wondered if your life could get any worse, let me clear that up for you real quick. The answer is always yes. That may sound like a morbid thing to say, but the truth is that we’re always one decision away from making things much worse. And when things aren’t going well, we’re in the DANGER ZONE. Think about it: if you’re stuck in a crummy job, you are only one decision away from not having a job at all. If your marriage is going poorly, you are only one decision or one conversation away from a further setback. If you aren’t married and wish you were, you are one or several decisions away from creating a lot more misery for yourself and others.

It’s tempting to say that “God wills” my circumstances to be what they are and then act like a victim. But actually we’re usually our own worst enemy. Proverbs 19:3 says, “People ruin their lives by their own foolishness and then are angry at the Lord” (NLT). When the chips are down, the temptation is even stronger to make foolish choices that add to our pain. We can’t always control our circumstances, but in every situation, we always have a choice of how to respond. And that means we have the responsibility to make a good choice, no matter how good or bad circumstances are.

Realize my pain will be able to be used in a positive way in the future.

If someone had said this to me when I was down, it would’ve brought me up real fast… swinging. That’s not what I wanted to hear. But unfortunately, not “just anyone” said these words. They came from Viktor Frankl in his book Man’s Search for Meaning, recounting his experiences as a Jewish prisoner in Auschwitz. They were also shared by psychologists to the survivors of the PanAm Flight 73 hijacking in 1986 as they prepared to board their next flight.
Those folks have “cred” in my book. I may not like the message, but I can take it coming from them. When I’m hurting, the last thing I want is “some perspective,” but even so, they’ve had far worse than me.

If you’re in pain, there is a sense in which you’re alone. Proverbs 14:10 says, “Each heart knows its own bitterness, and no one else can fully share its joy” (NLT). No one else can walk your path for you and you may not see the light at the end of the tunnel. I know I couldn’t. When we’re stuck “in the waiting,” as Eliot’s poem says, we likely won’t be able to see the redemption in our circumstances. It’s only by faith that we can believe that this too shall pass.

Nathan Magnuson is a leadership consultant, coach and thought leader. Visit him today at NathanMagnuson.com or follow him on Twitter.

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August 16, 2013 · 8:12 AM

Your Tomorrow is Coming

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My wife made some comments last night about how the book of Judges ended. I decided to open it up and read there today because it has been a while since I’ve dug through that book. I started in chapter 20 and found something I know I’ve read before, but now have a new perspective on. The story she was referring to was there. An Israelite had been traveling through the country and was in Benjamin’s territory. The men of the city came to them, raped his wife and killed her. He let the other 11 tribes know what happened and they came to his defense.

When the city and tribe of Benjamin wouldn’t give up the men who did this, the other 11 tribes sent word for their armies to come to the city to deal with it. Around 400,000 warriors showed up. They prayed and asked God which tribe should be out front in the attack. God responded with Judah. They went to attack and lost. They came back to God and asked, “Should we attack them again?” God replied, “Yes! Attack them.”

The next day, they went to battle again and got whipped. They came back weeping and crying. They fasted the rest of the day and asked God one more time if they should attack or should they call it quits. God said, “Attack! Tomorrow I’ll give you victory.” They went out the next day just as before. The army of Benjamin came out full force to attack, but this time was different. The army of the 11 tribes was victorious to the point they almost wiped out the entire tribe of Benjamin.

What I saw was that God gave them the go ahead to go into battle and they lost. Twice. They were in the will of God, there was no sin in the camp and they still lost. They didn’t just lose. They were humiliated. Their army of 400,000 was beaten twice by an army of less than 30,000. Plus, they had God on their side telling them to attack and to go into battle. When they went to God each night, He didn’t give them a reason that they lost. He just told them to go attack again. I’m sure their faith was shaken by the third day when they approached the battlefield.

Just because we’re in God’s will it doesn’t mean we won’t suffer loss. Even if we have God’s exact words to do something, we may not get the result we thought we were going to get. He may not tell us why we are suffering in the place He told us to go. We may feel humiliated about our circumstances and wonder what other people are saying. Doubt can come in and say, “Are you sure you heard God? Why did God bring me to this place just to let me be defeated?” Guard your mind against those thoughts and do what the army did each night.

They returned to the presence of God day after day. They continued to listen to His voice. They still followed His directions even though it had meant loss before. They also entered into a fast to ask for His favor. Then God said, “Tomorrow I’ll give you victory.” I don’t know when your “tomorrow” is, but I do know if you’ll keep trusting and obeying what God says, tomorrow will come. Victory will be yours. This time of loss will end and you will once again be restored and bring restoration to others.

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June 25, 2012 · 7:43 AM

Stepping out of your boat

Have you been in that place where you felt like God wanted you to do something, but were unsure? Maybe you felt the timing was off or the conditions weren’t right. God often calls us to do things in His timing, not ours. If we wait for things to be just right, we will never get them done. He is looking for obedience.

In my life, when I’ve felt that tug, I have stepped out in faith at times and done what was asked. There were other times where I missed the mark and immediately felt the regret of not doing it. I let that opportunity pass me by without acting.

In Matthew 14, Peter had an opportunity to step out in faith. His opportunity shows us three things that we can do when we are asked to step out.

1. Make sure it’s God asking

In the middle of a storm, Jesus came walking to the disciples on the water to comfort them. When they saw him coming, it scared them. Peter said, “Lord, if it’s you, ask me to join you.” When the Lord told him to come, Peter did as he was told.

Life often presents opportunities for us to step out in faith. Many of us recognize them, but won’t act without checking with God first. I’m a firm believer that it is scriptural to ask God to show you if something is His will. Gideon set mats outside his tent to test if he was hearing God. If you are unsure if God is asking you to do something, ask Him to prove it.

2. He stepped out of the boat

If we wait for the right time to step out of the boat, we will never move. When Peter got out of the boat, the waves were crashing against the boat and it was raining hard. Conditions were not ideal for him to step out. God doesn’t wait for things to be perfect to ask us to step out. It’s when we are in a storm or someone else is that we are asked to step out of the familiar and into the unknown.

A minute before Peter stepped out, he wasn’t even sure that it was Jesus who was asking. As a seasoned fisherman, he knew that his survival rate was minimal if he wasn’t able to walk on water. He took the step anyway. If your faith doesn’t defeat your logic, you will never get out of the boat. There were 11 others in the boat who listened to fear and logic. They will never know what it’s like to walk on water.

3. Stepping out doesn’t mean things will go perfectly

After getting completely out of the boat, Peter began to sink. Even in our greatest acts of faith, we still run the risk of failure. It is not one step Jesus asked Peter to make. It was multiple. Getting out of the boat was step one. We have to understand that while taking that first step is important, it’s not the last step of faith you are to make.

When Peter began to sink, he knew what to do. He called out for Jesus to help him. Jesus reached down and lifted him up. If you are sinking on step two wondering what is going on, call out for help. Jesus is there waiting to help you accomplish what He asked you to do.

What is it that God is asking you to do? If you can accomplish it on your own will and strength, it is not an act of faith. What is keeping you in the boat? Don’t let fear and logic keep you in the boat. First, make sure it is what God has asked you to do, then step out in faith.

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