Seeking His Will

Understanding

Seek not to understand that you may believe, but believe that you may understand.

St. Augustine 354-430, Numidian-born Bishop of Hippo, Theologian

1 Cor 2:14-16
But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, THAT HE WILL INSTRUCT HIM? But we have the mind of Christ. NASU

The mind of death, is the mind of the flesh. The flesh must die for the Spirit to live in side of us. Rom 8:6 tells us “For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace.” Now that is a rude awakening for most, but the confusion comes when we are waging the battle of the minds. That is when we are trying to understand God’s will for our lives, how do I make the “right decision?”

There are some things that help us in this area. For one the right decision is not always the easiest decision. God may require us to step out in faith and believe Him for a miracle, or to completely trust Him with our lives and all that we are. Sometimes it may call for sacrifice, but there is one thing that will always accompany this if that is true. He will open and close the doors, and you will feel Him doing this.

How do you lay yourself before the Lord and take your hands off of your life in these times? You do it with the mind of Christ. This is when your faith becomes sight and you lay your life in His Hands to be guarded safely through your trials. Christ did this when He came into this world to save us, at His Birth, and at His death when He left this world. At each crucial point, Christ had no control, except to say, Father…Thy Will be done.

There will be much advice that you will receive, but there will only be one voice that you can trust. You may be scared, but you will feel comfort, the doors will open and you will step through. One thing to be careful of is to not listen to your voice of want, for what you want, may not be what God wants. The mind of Christ beckons once again…Father not my will, but Thy Will, peace comes, we get up and we go on.

The peace may not be outside, but it will be inside, the comfort may not be seen by others, but it will reside in your soul. That is peace, that is safety and that is the kind of mind that keeps things on target, and that target is the mind of Christ. We do as Paul says in Heb 12:2, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Pastor William