My way or...

Not long ago I was talking with a friend about God's will. Does His will always prevail or do I have a free will? If I want something and someone else wants the same thing, and we both pray that we will get it, then what's God's will? And what about my will? The conversation went back and forth, but I think we both agreed that God has given us a will and we can choose what we want. We don't always know the results of choosing our own way, but we can do pretty much whatever we want.

I've been thinking about it and praying about it for a few days now since this conversation got me thinking. This morning I was reading Jeremiah 41 and 42 and I think I achieved a conclusion. I can have my way or I can have God's way.

In these 2 chapters of Jeremiah, the people of Israel who weren't taken captive to Babylon decide to run down to Egypt and get asylum there. Before they go, they ask Jeremiah to talk with God and see what God says about their plan. They tell  Jeremiah that whatever God says, weather is good or bad, they'll do and obey. (Jeremiah 42:6.) So Jeremiah talks with God and 10 days later he tells the people of Israel God's answer. Basically God tells them to stay where they are and all will go well, but if they go down to Egypt they'll die there by the sword, plague or famine.

10 days might have been too long, because the people forgot what they had said about obeying God no matter what and basically start saying that Jeremiah was lying. They decide to go down to Egypt anyway. So they got their way. They used their free will to do what they thought it would be best. And not only do they go to Egypt, but they force Jeremiah to go with them!

But God was right...

Now could God's will been done? Can God's will be done in my life or are things up to me? I think this has 2 answers. I can choose to follow God's will in my life, but sometimes His will for my life is affected by someone else's will. Jeremiah wanted to obey God, but the people took him to Egypt by force. They used their free will to affect Jeremiah's will. We can say there was a change in plans imposed by other people.

Now following God's will doesn't mean that I won't have any troubles just like it happened with Jeremiah. In the middle of it all, God watched out for His servant Jeremiah. I remember once having an issue at work that I needed to take care of. I knew well what God's will was for my life. I also knew that if I followed His will I could loose my job. Still I wanted to do what He wanted for me and I trusted that He was taking care of me. In the end I kept my job and came out of the experience stronger because I trusted my God.

Still in my life I can choose to follow God's will and put my will aside. His ways are better than mine anyway. He knows the end from the beginning. He knows where I'll end up if I go my way. I also know where I'll end up if I choose His way. In Jeremiah 29:11 God says: "For I know the plans I have for you. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." That sounds pretty good to me. If I do what He wants, no matter what, in the end, all will go well with me.

That's an assurance I can't have if I do it my way. So to the question my way or God's way? Definitely God's way!

Excellence!

"The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work 

and gained five bags more." Matthew 25:16

Recently a friend of mine was talking to me about excellence. She had been thinking about it and realized that in all her years of life, she didn't excel in pretty much anything. Life has gone by and she's been too busy taking care of the daily cares of life, but never excelling at even that. Her house doesn't look like the ones on Better Homes and Gardens, she didn't go as far in her studies as she would like to have gone, all her hobbies and projects eventually come to a stand still, and even the talents that God has given her are not developed to their full capacity.

This got me thinking about excellence. Sometimes we compare excellence with success, and most of the times they're related but not always. You can be a successful person without excelling at what you do. I'm not sure you can excel at something without being successful.

The Bible tells the story of a man who went on a trip, and before going he gave 3 of his servants some money. He already knew their abilities, so to one he have 5 bags of gold, to another 2 bags of gold, and to his other servant he gave 1 bag of gold. He knew what each one could handle at the time and distributed the bags accordingly. At once, the man with the 5 bags of gold and the one with the 2 bags of gold put their money to work and as a result they received more bags of gold. The man with the 1 bag of gold hid the money in the dirt.

When the boss returned from his trip, the servants shared with their boss what they had done with the gold they had been given. The boss was happy with two of the servants, but angry at the one who had hid the money in the dirt.

This parable is used to illustrate several things, but one of them is excellence. God has given each of us gifts and abilities. The men with the 5 and 2 bags of gold received what they had been given and worked to make it even better and more abundant. In doing that they improved their skills and strengthened their character, but also gave even more to their boss who showed appreciation in return and entrusted them with more. The man with the 1 bag, by hiding it in the dirt, didn't improve anything. He just stayed the way he was. It didn't make a difference in his life or in the life of others. It was just there. As a result, his boss took that 1 bag of gold away from him.

So what do you do with what God has given you? Do you work on your abilities and projects, putting the time, effort, and perseverance until they are completed to their best or do you just work at them enough to maintain them the way they are? Are you constantly working on making life better to you and yours, or are you too busy taking care of the daily cares of life? Is there something you wished you would do but just don't want to put the time and effort it needs? We have a saying that says, if you don't use it you loose it. The Bible agrees with that saying. If you don't use what God has given you to the best of your abilities, eventually you will loose it.

Are you giving God your best?  In what do you excel?