"This spray will take the spots right out of your carpet!"
"This little pad will take the marks off of everything!"
Comments like that fill me with a sudden sinus-clearing euphoria, followed by speculation, then doubt. After all, I muse, look at my carpets and my walls. I've tried things before that didn't work. How will that product be any different?
This summer, a friend showed me another amazing discovery: plastic wrap that really does cling to the bowl for dear life. At first, I smiled politely as she told me how you could stretch it over a container and it would really stick. Then, when she said, "Watch while I turned this bowl upside down", I looked around for hidden cameras. I know she's a very smart girl, I thought, but this will push the limits. Amazing! The contents sloshed, the plastic held, my friend's mental capacities were no longer in question, and I was won over.
Just as my friend showed that the plastic would do its job, we too can prove or ascertain that the Lord has a will for our lives, and what that will is. How can we do that? Do we pull out a chance card that says "Go directly to 'God's Will' and collect directions"? Is it some feeling that makes us say, "OK, I think I know now what the Lord wants me to do in this situation--I'm good to go." Is it based on what's in our bank account or lack thereof?
No, but it is digging daily into the Word, staying constant in prayer, and immersing ourselves in the right kind of Christian fellowship. As we do that, our minds will be regularly renewed, and our lifestyle will be transforming, or continually changing from the inside out. Then we can ascertain--prove by testing--what is the Lord's will. We will be in it, and at the same time, persistently seeking it, because we are ever being transformed. We can even get to the place where we want His will--not our own. We will see that His will is good for each of us, that it pleases Him, and that it is complete--that we will have everything we need to live our lives for Him.
Can we afford to be in doubt about carpet sprays, spot scrubbers, and plastic wrap? Of course, but as for the Lord's daily transforming power, our lives depend on it.
© Thought So! //To automatically receive these blogs when written, visit Ribtickler and look for the “Free By E-mail” icon.
