Deferring to God’s Will Be Done -- Not Mine

All nestled in at my home won't stop several of my beloved friends to come over to meet together tonight. We will come together as sisters in Christ and I'm quite assured of the fact -- "Where two or three are gathered together in His name -- He is in the midst of us!" (Matthew 18:20). So, no fear here!

Prior to the CVID19 "change of life", I was experiencing my own life change. I was thinking that God had me in His sovereign test tube. Usually in a sweet flow of His mercy and grace, my "apple-cart" got upset. I found yielding to His will -- not mine be done -- is the best choice. I had two opportunities to BE Jesus. One, with a restaurant manager which didn't fare too well and an "encounter" with a store manager that was much better.

I was picking up my new cell phone that had been on order (the unlocked version took several days to come in). The sales rep assured me that if I would go ahead and pay for it, I could trade in my old phone for $125 when it arrives. But, oh contraire! This day, he said the offer ended and couldn’t give it to me. I asked for a manager who confirmed it. I could feel the rant starting to surface when I recalled that restaurant experience and decided $125 wasn’t worth my "little light" dimming. Actually, it became a holy moment as I started thinking: “I’ll bless someone with this perfectly good, old phone!” Take that, Satan!

Back to the title of this blog today: “Deferring to God’s will be done – not my will be done!” Another scenario. Another eyes-opening experience. I recognized how our emotions can be snafued by the enemy of our souls. As a Christ-follower, it's His will, not my feelings. It's about not having to be right because God will make it right.

I’ve come up with some solutions to conquering my emotions. When I'm upset or frustrated — I need to quickly get a grip and ask myself "Do I really need it to be my way? Or, do I defer to God having His way? After all, He is the rectifier. Looking and acting like Him in every situation is a win for Him AND me.

Are these negative feelings helping or hurting me? Are these feelings making my light grow brighter or dimmer? A lot of our feelings seem natural, but they’re actually self-defeating. Oh, I get it – from my restaurant and Best Buy experience. I was feeling like I was being taken advantage of in both situations. But were my emotions helping or hurting my representation as a follower of Christ? Does nagging work? Has it ever worked? When somebody mistreats or offends us, does it make us want to change? No! All it does is make us defensive.

Managing my emotions is a "big-girl" discipline and an "atta-girl" stamp of approval from my Heavenly Father. I think the Apostle Peter called it just right: "From now on, then, you must live the rest of your earthly lives controlled by God’s will and not by human desires.” (1 Peter 4:2). And if the perfect One, Jesus, deferred to God's will, so must I. "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done." Luke 22:42

It Doesn't Have to Be My Way

Remember Frank Sinatra singing “I did it my way”? The song was about a man fondly looking back on a life lived on his own terms. But, is that the way WE want to live?

I heard a talk where the speaker handed out empty toilet paper rolls to each of us to make her point. She asked: “Have you ever had a dispute with your husband about the RIGHT way to hang a toilet paper roll? And, if you weren’t in agreement, did you correct it each time that he’d put it in different from the way you thought it should be? Did it frustrate you because it just wasn’t right or it just wasn't YOUR WAY? She said God had been speaking to her about having to have it HER WAY, so, on purpose, she has been leaving it the way her husband put it on. She realized “It doesn’t have to be MY WAY all the time. She instructed us to write on our rolls…. “It doesn’t have to be MY WAY!”

What a powerful object lesson! The point, well taken. It's such an erroneous belief that OUR WAY is the best way of doing things and then insisting others agree with us. There are those who seem to have taken a life course called, “How to Be Absolutely Sure of Everything”! And, honestly, in the light of eternity and what matters most, does it really matter? Wanting and insisting on getting our way is a set up for unhappiness and a lot of disagreements with others. We rationalize that THEY are the one that needs to change.

It’s part of our human nature to want to have our way. We all have a touch of the need to be right. We all have areas where we believe that we know better than others. As we learn to let go of the need to have it OUR WAY, the more energy we’ll have to spend on things that REALLY ARE important.

It’s time to ask ourselves, “Do I want to be right or do I want to be happy? Do I want to get my way, or do I want to feel a closeness with others?” Who wants to be a know-it-all, when there’s only one KNOW-IT-ALL? He is Father God. Instead of singing Frank’s “I DID IT MY WAY”, why not be singing…. “I did it God’s way!” And when we do it God's way.....in humility and love.....it WILL BE His way....and the BEST WAY! But, just thought I'd add a photo of the RIGHT WAY of hanging toilet paper!

"He has shown you, oh man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God." Micah 6:8

"Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in HIS WAYS." Psalm 128:1