Knowing God's Will

I'm sorry to be so absent lately in blogging but I've been traveling a lot and will again within a few days. So I thought I'd try to fit in some thoughts before I leave again.

I'm thinking of one of my spiritual pet peeves: that troubles indicate how close you are to walking in God's will. Maybe you've heard it expressed this way:
"I must be following God's will because I'm getting a lot of opposition from Satan."
Or the reverse: "I better question whether I'm in God's will because Satan seems to be leaving me alone. Nothing is going wrong."

I don't find anything in Scripture to support this. If you know of something, let me know.

It's a pet peeve for me because I think it falsely leads people to evaluate their direction by something that is fickle. All of us experience good and bad times. For the longest time Job walked seemingly in peace and quiet, following the Lord. Eventually, Satan got his nasty little fingers into Job's life with God's permission, but evidently for some time Job was in God's will without anything bad happening to him. He didn't change his course or make different decisions because things were going well. And when bad things happened, he stayed the same course of trusting God without thinking "Now, I'm really in God's will."

If we evaluate our walk based on our circumstances, then we're focusing on our circumstances rather than God. We're seeking the right way based on whether good or bad is occurring. I think that's shaky ground. We should only seek God Himself for direction.

What do you think?

Entitlement and Pleasure--the Connection

(If you received my last post and couldn't open the link, here's the right one:
Article about praying for Egypt.)

New Post:

The other day after enjoying one of God's gifts of pleasure, I had this inward assurance that God was yelling to the angels, "She enjoyed my gift! She enjoyed my gift!" I just sat in awe of picturing God enjoying my enjoyment of one of His gifts. It was an incredible moment, affirming what I've been reading in Gary Thomas' book Pure Pleasure.

Gary has wisely balanced his book's perspective about pleasure. Yes, God does want us to enjoy His gifts of pleasure but because we can easily deceive ourselves, we need wisdom in knowing what to actually allow and enjoy.

Gary reminds us of the "E" word as a means of evaluating whether we have that wisdom: Entitlement! He writes, "How do you know if someone sees a particular hobby or pleasure as an entitlement? That's easy. Take it away, or even delay it for a moment. The vicious reaction will give you chills." (pg 139).

I relate. As in, "just give me the chocolate and no one will get hurt."
Or "You ate my left overs that I have been looking forward to eating all day?"
Or "I can't believe all these people are at Costco just to inconvenience me." (I didn't think this but I acted as if I were).
Or "How dare that guy pull in front of me? Can't he see he's in my space?"
Or ... put in your own entitlement reaction. You do have them, right?

In the moment of our demand for pleasure (or anything we think we should have), we think we not only need it, but we are entitled to it. Oh, how we deceive ourselves.

We aren't entitled to anything but God graciously and generously gives us so many wonderful gifts, including gifts of pleasure.

Would you like to see if some gift from God has become an entitlement to you? As Gary suggests, go without it for awhile. I've found this to be a valuable way to see if what I'm thinking is a gift from God has been turned into an entitlement.

Lamentations 3:37-40 says, "Who is there who speaks and it comes to pass,
Unless the Lord has commanded it?
Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
That both good and ill go forth?
Why should any living mortal, or any man,
Offer complaint in view of his sins?
Let us examine and probe our ways,
And let us return to the LORD. " (NASB).

We cannot complain about not getting our way, having our pleasures, because we deserve nothing. God is in charge of everything and if He allows that driver to turn in front of you, maybe it's to help you examine and probe.

(I just hope Larry hasn't found where I stashed that chocolate.)

Pray for the Christians of Egypt--Corrected Link

I'm sorry the link I gave previously didn't work. This should:

Here's a Christian's insider view of what is happening in Egypt and how we can pray.

Article

What's Your Definition of Pleasure?

I love going to the movies. I feel like I'm careful about what I watch but I love the relaxation and the buttered popcorn! Just give me the popcorn and no one will get hurt! I love going to the movies!

Larry hates going to the movies. He's so careful about what he watches that he watches nothing. He hates being in the theater and tries to resist the buttered popcorn. Larry hates going to the movies.

Do you see a difference in defining pleasure?

But this post isn't about marriage. It's about pleasure. Because in reading Gary Thomas' book Pure Pleasure, I realized that I define pleasure too narrowly. Going to the movies can be easily defined as pleasure for me but it's not for Larry.

Well, maybe this post is about marriage a little. Because I complain that I want time with Larry and "why won't you go to the movies with me?" I want the pleasure of his company in something I enjoy and while that's natural, I make it seem like it's only time with Larry that I'm asking for, when actually I'm trying to fulfill my idea of pleasure.

So while reading Gary's book, I realized that watching a football game with Larry (and rubbing his feet) is spending time with Larry. I say I want time with Larry but I don't want it that way! Watching a football game while rubbing his feet is not pleasure for me. I demand it be my way!

Can I broaden my definition of pleasure and include more of a variety in that definition? One way to do that is to recognize that when I'm "out," like going to a movie, I don't feel pressured to "work," like I do when I'm at home. When I'm "out," I obviously can't do the dishes. But while at home, I feel pressured knowing the dishes need washing. That's not pleasure.

How about if I consider watching the football game being "out," and ignore the dishes? hmmm...maybe that could work.

Then I started thinking of how Jesus enjoyed pleasure. What did Jesus seem to enjoy? He enjoyed his friends, fellowship, food, and solitude. Could it even be that Martha was highly energized to fix good food--and a variety--because she knew Jesus enjoyed food and she wanted to please him?

For those of us who think every second has to have spiritual value and production, think of Jesus in His times of pleasure--including sleeping on a storm-tossed boat instead of lecturing His disciples about faith. (OK, that did come after they woke Him up.) And yes, sleeping is pleasurable! I just wish I could stay awake while I'm sleeping in order to enjoy it!

Gary wisely writes, "If you're the responsible type, you may allow yourself to enjoy pleasure if every chore is done, the house is spotlessly clean, no one within a hundred miles of you is sick, no one needs anything, and the planet has finally achieved world peace.
"That's not going to happen." (pg 97)

Amen!

Do you need to broaden your definition of pleasure? (Wanna go to the movies with me?)