The Will of God

If you run in Christian circles long enough, say 15 or 20 minutes, you will inevitably hear someone say that they are "seeking the will of God." We churchy types use this to mean all sorts of things. I'm seeking the will of God on whether I should ask that beautiful woman out to dinner. I'm seeking the will of God on whether I should change jobs. I'm seeking the will of God on dessert tonight. Etc. Etc.

We use it as an excuse for wise action, an excuse for poor action, and sometimes an excuse for inaction. We seek the will of God... a lot.

What I find interesting this morning is that Paul gives us the will of God. Paul, the Christian whose rules for life many post-enlightenment Western Christians spend most of their time trying to follow, gives us a glimpse into what God's will really is - and it has nothing to do with women talking in church, marriage, or homosexuality.

"With all wisdom and insight he has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ, as a plan of the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth."

It is really that simple. The will of God is to bring all things back to him; earth and stars, men and women, dogs and cats, trees and bees - ALL things.

So then, the question that we "ought" to be asking as we struggle to figure out the will of God on the issues mentioned above is will whatever I'm thinking about doing further the purpose of bringing all things back into God or not? If not, well than it isn't the will of God, no matter how tastey that $1000 sundae might be.