Philippians 2:12 So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling;
Yesterday I had an opportunity to share with a young man for whom I have deep respect who is going through hell on earth. He's clearly broken inside. His strong desire is to restore a broken relationship. I don't know God's will in this matter and unfortunately the other person gets a choice which may or may not align with God's will. Clearly this young man is seeking it, but cannot make God move nor the other person.
Sometimes our own desires can cloud God's communication to us. When our desires outweigh our willingness to hear God, we've not made Him Lord in that particular situation. In order to hear God, we must surrender our own will, no matter how "good" our will appears to align with scripture. We must always be open to God moving in a different direction.
In "Experiencing God," Henry Blackaby relates a story about a minister friend who made it his goal to come to the point in every situation where he had no real strong desire other than to hear from God. I find that difficult. When I want a meal or a new toy, I simply prepare it or buy it. Sure I probably shop around on the internet for a good deal, but often I don't pray long enough to get to the point where I'm really open minded. That is problematic in this country and in this day and age, the basics of life just come to easy, consequently we don't have to be people of deep and abiding faith. We can simply sign up for Christ's offer of salvation and reject His desire to be Lord. We can put ourselves in charge of our own happiness and create a false theology that "God would want me to be happy" leading to all sort of rationalization about what God wants.
We've got to put our whole lives including our deepest desires on God's alter and make it available for Him to mold and shape into His likeness. Failure to do so risks us living outside of God's will.
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