Where There’s a Will, There’s a Way
Yeah, alright. Give it up for Devane! What’s up? What’s up man? Welcome to The Roads Church. We are so glad to be with you this morning. All of you watching online, it’s great to see you this morning. We’ve had a great worship service already. I want to take a quick moment to give a shout out to the NCOE Lady Cardinals on their fourth place state tournament finish. Great job ladies. Those of you, you don’t know the high school volleyball team in Norris City, finished fourth in state in the class 1A so it’s a big weekend for those of us who are parents to go there but just want to thank the team, because 9 of the 13 players on the team go to our church. So we just want to say thank you all the parents and celebrate the accomplishment. So great job team, great job guys. Great job.
We are going to start a new series of talks today called, ‘Where there’s a will, there’s a way.’ Where there’s a will there’s a way. Now when you came in, usually I say, “Hey, you’ve got your sermon notes in your worship guide.” But you don’t, and that’s because I had to leave town on Thursday and I didn’t have time to get the sermon notes turned in so we could have them, Mt. Carmel Illinois Church.
But if you are a techie, the YouVersion notes are there so you can get those on your YouVersion Bible app. So let’s get those out this morning, or you can just get out a piece of paper and take old fashioned notes. I imagine that you can also do that. But hey, let’s get the Bibles out this morning. Let’s open to Romans chapter 1. We are excited about the Bible. What that means to us is that every time we open the Bible, we believe God’s going to speak to us. So if that shocked you, that little whoop there watching online, you’re like, why are they shouting about the Bible? That’s why, we get excited about what God’s speaking to us. This new series that we’re talking about today, I want to get into, I’m going to start it by just asking you a few questions.
Does God Really Have a Will or a Plan for our Lives?
Have you interviewed, or ever asked any of these questions of yourself? I know I have at different times and maybe you’ll speak to somebody, maybe you watching online. Maybe you are here in the room. Here’s the first question, does God really have a will or a plan for our lives? Is he truly interested in what happens in our individual lives? Is he interested to that level of detail? Can we actually know his will for our life, Mt. Carmel Illinois Church?
Is that something we can even know or is it just guesswork in wonderment and I sure hope I’m there. Thanks, that’s what we’re going to address. Do we have any say so in his will coming to pass in our lives or is it just going to happen no matter what we do? Those are questions that a lot of people ask and the questions that maybe you’ve asked yourself, is God in complete control of every detail of our lives, Mt. Carmel Illinois Church?
We’re going to hit a few of these, and so if you’re not sure where you land on some of those questions, that’s all right. Sometimes it depends on the question on where, where we land and what season of our life, but where we want to see what the Bible says about this. Now this, this phrase where there’s a will, there’s a way is a famous proverb. Now I want to say proverb, not the book of Proverbs proper, but just a proverb or a saying. It’s used to describe someone who’s determined to do something and that they will find a way to accomplish it regardless of obstacles. Anybody know anybody like that? If you’re sitting by him, just keep looking forward. It’s usually used to describe how a person will figure out a way to do what they want to do when they want to do it.
If we’re really honest, how many of us know we really do what we want to do? I mean, we say all the time, why, sorry, I can’t busy. But if you really want to do something, all of a sudden that schedule opens wide up. You know? It’s like, if you’d asked me a couple of weeks ago, “Hey Chad, would you like to book a hotel in Bloomington for two nights and just hang out and stay around?” I’d be like, no, I’m busy, but all of a sudden my daughter wins a volleyball game and everything changes. Now we suddenly have time to travel and spend two nights in Bloomington, Mt. Carmel Illinois Church.
Then what I’m talking about, this happens, whether it’s volleyball for you or whether it’s a can be something serious. It can be the death of a loved one. It can be a marriage. It could be something you’re like, all of a sudden you didn’t have it planned, but you want to do it, Mt. Carmel Illinois Church.
See you made it happen. It works that way. You may have Christmas programs are coming up normally. You’re not saying, “Hey, can I go to the school and spend about three hours?” But if it’s your kids, or they’re your grandkids, you’re there, Mt. Carmel Illinois Church.
You sit there, even though your favorite show may be on at home, but you’re sitting right there. Why? Because where there’s a will, there’s a way. It’s could be a positive sense, or it could be a negative sense. But we’re going to talk about that in a lot of different areas and see how it applies. This phrase was first published in 1640 by a guy by the name of George Herbert, maybe you know him. Here’s what he said initially back then. To him that will ways are not wanting to him that will ways are not wanting, Mt. Carmel Illinois Church.
Then by the 1820s the phrase was adjusted where it came up properly known today as where there’s a will, there’s a way. So for the context of this series though, because when, when God first highlighted that phrase to me, I had that thought, you know what? It’s like where there’s a will, there’s a way. So I thought, okay God, we’re going to be talking about determination, perseverance, pushing through, and overcoming obstacles.
His Will and His Way vs. Your Will and Your Way
Yes. And he’s like, no, that’s not what we’re going to talk about. What are we going to talk about today? We’ll talk about where there’s a will, there’s a way. I’m like, yeah, so it’s going to be about overcoming. It’s to know once you to understand, I want you to talk about the relationship between my will and my way and your will and your way. Oh, it’s a little different perspective.
What I felt like God was wanting to break down is the need for us to understand that just because God has a will for our life doesn’t mean it comes to pass in our life because he gave us a will and he wants us to cooperate with his will. So he has a will, but he also has a way to get to his will. Also, we have a will, and how many know we have our own way sometimes? So we’re going to see about that. We are going to see what it looks like when I start talking about the will of God, and throw that phrase out there. All kinds of different opinions pop up and conceptions people have. Some people think the will of God is like a divine Easter egg hunt. You know, they’re just wandering around in life, not sure what to do. They’re just making choices blindly and don’t know whether it’s the will of God or not, Mt. Carmel Illinois Church.
They just think God’s up there going colder, colder, colder, warmer, okay, warmer, warmer. They think it’s something like that, and I don’t think it’s like that at all, but sometimes we wonder. Some people, when they think of the will of God (this is probably one of the most prominent ones) they think about an undesirable diet. Like when you think about the will of God, you think about a diet, because when you think diet, what are your first thoughts? When you think of a diet, you’re thinking about what you can’t eat. You’re thinking about what you can’t have anymore. Soon as you think diet, you’re thinking because there’s not a lot of it. You have a lot of fads, and a lot of great diets out there. You could be doing Atkins or keto. It could be all the kinds of different things out there.
Nobody’s coming up with pizza diet, you know, ice cream, chocolate chip cookies. Come on. There needs to be a diet for that somewhere. There is, yeah, there is. This guy came up to me not too long ago in the gym and he said, “Hey, you got any suggestions for me?” And I said, “Yeah.” He said, “What’s your secret?” I said, “More cookie dough ice cream. That’s what you need in your life.” But see, when we think about a diet, we think about what we can’t have. Too many times when people think about the will of God, they think about what they can’t do. So it’s like diet, depravity: will of God, depravity. There’s that correlation, Mt. Carmel Illinois Church.
The Will of God Doesn’t Come to us in a Text Message every Morning
Then I don’t know if I want the will of God, because when I think about the will of God, I’ve got to think about what I can’t do anymore and we’re going to address that. I am trying to bust that myth a little bit. I wish the will of God for myself. I wish the will of God came to me in the form of like a recorded message. Every morning is like dun, dun, dun, dun dun dun dun.
It’s like, I wish it’d come to me and it’d be like, “Chad, this is your mission for today. If you choose to accept it, this message will self-destruct in three seconds.” I wish it was like that, but it doesn’t come to me like that. I wish the will of God was that plane that God just sent a message to me is on my dresser. I wake up or it’s on my phone, a text from God. This is my will for the day. Check. How many knows it doesn’t come that way? So we’ve got to figure out what is the will of God look like and how can we walk in it. So let’s look at Romans chapter 1. I’m going to give you three Myth Busters about the will of God today. Three Myth Busters. We’ll get into the first one here in just a moment. Romans chapter 1:8. This is Paul writing a letter to the Christians in Rome. Thus they’re called Romans because they’re from Rome, Mt. Carmel Illinois Church.
Clever, clever. Sometimes I like to break down the exegetical difficulties of the scripture so you can understand. Sorry. Anyway, you married this. It’s all yours, so yours. She’s like, thank you Jesus. Verse 8, stay focused. People watching online. I’m sorry, these people, verse 8. First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ.
for you all that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. For God is my witness whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his son, that without ceasing, I make mention of you always in my prayers making requests. If by some means now at last I may find a way in the will of God. Underline that. Highlight it, circle it, and stare at it. To come to you for I long to see you that I may impart to you some spiritual gifts so that you may be established, Mt. Carmel Illinois Church.
That is that I may be encouraged together with you by the mutual faith, both of you and me. In verse 11 we find the will of Paul. Here’s what he says. Here’s my will, for I long to see you. I want to be with you. I want to see you. We find the presence of the will of Paul. This is what Paul wants to do. I want to come see you. I want to be with you, Mt. Carmel Illinois Church.
When he says, I longed to see you, it’s like, I really, really, really, really, really want your, like when your kids ask you to do something and you say no and they say, no, I really, really, really, really, Oh, okay. I had no idea. Now that you put five ‘realys’ on there, then go ahead. But this is what Paul was saying. I long to see you. So we see this is his will, but go back to verse 10. He really wants to come see them, but he says by some means now at last I might, I may find a way in the will of God, Mt. Carmel Illinois Church.
Paul wants to go see him, but he wants to find a way in the will of God, the word find a way. There’s a Greek word, which means to succeed in reaching or accomplishing some activity or event; to complete a successful journey. So to be successful in accomplishing or achieving something. When he says, I want to find a way, I want to be successful in my task, and I want to be successful.
So there’s all kinds of ways to be successful. We all want to be successful. You define success how you want, it’s individual, but we want to be successful in our life, in our jobs, in our careers, in our relationships, in our health, and in our finances. We all want to be successful, but how many knows there’s different ways of being successful? We all want to be successful in achieving the goal, maybe of getting married, Mt. Carmel Illinois Church.
Maybe you want to achieve the goal of being married, but you can either do that in the will of God or out of the will of God. Notice what Paul said. I’m looking to find a way to be successful, but I’m looking to find a way in the will of God. If we can be successful in the will of God, that means there’s also a way out of the will of God. So I can say, “Hey, I want to be successful in my job. I need a job.” Great, I can be successful in my job and not be in the will of God. So God has a will for our life and he has a way, notice what he says here, a way in the will of God, the specific will of God, the word will, here’s what I would break down. The word ‘will’ here is a Greek word, thelema, which indicates determination, choice or intent.
God’s Will Emanates from his Desire for You
We might think, yeah, I understand that. And that’s when I first read that, I’m like, “Okay, I get that.” But here’s what God showed me. He said, “Listen, look at the rest of it.” This Greek word, the root of it is different from other words and what he’s talking about. Determination, choice, or intent, but it’s emanating from heart’s desire. So it’s coming out heart’s desire or pleasure. So when you think about the will of God, don’t just think about his purpose, his plan, his intent for your life. We need to think about the will of God comes from emanates from his desire for you. So the will of God, if I just think will of God, I can think generic plan or purpose. But, if I understand that his will comes from, and the source of his will for my life is his desire, his heart’s desire for me.
Now I look at what he wants me to do differently because I know it comes from his desire, not some bland blueprint. So, when we understand things from this perspective, we know that wherever God reveals his will, there’s a way to experience it. This word is an emotional word and only secondary is a volitional word. So it’s not just God’s intent, it’s not just a master blueprint, but it’s also God’s emotional connection, church.
In other words, I want you to go this way. This is my will for you because this is my desire for you. I have a heart’s desire for you. So when God says, I want you to live a certain way, it’s not just because he wants you to live this certain way in a generic way. He says, I have a desire for your life and so if you will go this way, you will experience my desire for your life, church.
This is why we’ve got to understand the will of God comes from his heart for you. If you know God loves you, then now you’ll want to do what God wants you to do, because you know that man, he has a great desire for me. The Bible says that he has thoughts of us that are good, not of evil, to give us a future and a hope. So now, when we think about the will of God, I have to think about the desire of God. When I think about the will of God for my life, I don’t think about the diet. I don’t think about what I can’t have. I think about how God loves me so much. He wants me to go this way. I can’t with that person. I can’t be with that person because of God’s will. His desire for me is so good.
He wants me to go, I can’t take that job. Not because I can’t, but his desire is stronger for me. What he wants from me is bigger. So now I know he loves me. So this is what Paul’s saying. He says, “Hey, I want to find a way in the will.” So here’s the first Myth Buster that I want to give you. The will of God is based on love, not law. The will of God is not based on just law, not with rules and regulations. His will for your life is based on his love for you. You’re like, okay, that doesn’t sound very deep. But what I found this morning, at our huddle before service, is that sometimes we overlook how much the meaning of God’s love for our life and our motivation for how we live is that God loves us so much, Mt. Carmel Illinois Church.
God’s Will is Motivated By his Love
That’s why he wants to do these things for us. He just loves us. Man, he’s crazy about us. He loves you. So now when he gives you this will, he says, “Listen, I want you to go this way. I don’t want you to do that. I don’t want you to do that.” Use that. Okay, I want to do that because I know he loves me so much. You think about your mom and your dad telling you to do something or not doing something. We all may not have children, but we’ve all maybe had parents at some stage in our life tell us what to do and what not to do. We know that it’s their love for us, that’s motivating them to do that. So when they say, “Hey, don’t play in the street.” It’s because they love us, Mt. Carmel Illinois Church.
It’s that they love us. We were walking in and we were walking down the sidewalk just yesterday and Lucas was running ahead and, we were right by a road and, and we started talking. You know, Dawn starts talking, say, “Hey, look, look Lucas. Look, stop, stop, stop.” Why is she doing that? Was she trying to hold him back? No. Her love for him wanted to keep him safe. That’s why we know the will of God is the love of God. Just know that that the will of God for my life is the love of God for my life, Mt. Carmel Illinois Church.
That’s what he says. He said, I want to give you that. This has been the way it is from the beginning in Genesis. His desire from the beginning was relationship with us. Let me read to you in Genesis chapter 1:26. We have to pick up the pace here a little bit.
Genesis 1:26. Here’s what it says. In the very beginning God created man. It says, God said, let us make man and woman in our image and according to our likeness, let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, over the cattle so they can eat steak over the earth and over every creepy, sorry. No letters from PETA, creeping that creeps on the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God, he created him, male and female.
He created them. So this was God’s plan. This was his will. I’m going to create, man. I’m going create woman, and we’re going to have relationship. They’re going to be like me. I’m going to create them in their image, in their likeness. So whether you like it or not, you are made in the image and likeness of God, Mt. Carmel Illinois Church.
Yeah, that exciting. We’re made like God. Not because we wanted him to make us like him. He chose. It’s not like we formed a petition in a picket line and said, we want to be like God. We want to be like God. No, before you were ever created, God said, I want you to be like me. We’re stuck with it. Now, did God have a will? Yes, and he made us in his image and his likeness. So do we have a will? Yes. So now God had a way. He said, all right, here’s what I want to do. I want to have a relationship with you. Here’s my will. Whenever they shit, but it’s my way. So where there’s a will, there’s a way. There’s a method, there’s a means here. So he put him in the garden, Adam and Eve, maybe you’ve heard the story, Mt. Carmel Illinois Church.
We Have a Will and a Choice Because Love Requires a Choice
So, he put him in the garden and gave him one rule. There was one rule in the garden. Only one rule. Here’s the one rule in the garden. Don’t eat from that tree. You’ve got a bunch of other trees. Enjoy all these trees. But this one tree, don’t eat from it. What does he give them? He gave them a will and he gave them a choice. Love requires a choice. So you’ve got all these different trees. You can eat all of them. Here’s the rule of the garden. We’re going to hang out every day. We’re going to have fun. We’re going to play some games. We’re going to talk. I’m going to teach you about life, and then just make sure one thing don’t eat from that tree. So what did they do, Mt. Carmel Illinois Church?
One rule. How many times have you said that he had one job? You had one job and you screwed up one job. We had one rule in the garden. They screwed up one rule because what happened is that they had a will. They had a will. So, now the enemy comes to him. Go to Genesis chapter 3. Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field, which the Lord God had made and he said to the woman has indeed said, you shall not eat of every tree of the garden, and the woman said to the serpent, we may eat of the fruit of the trees, of the garden, but of the fruit of the tree, which is in the midst of the garden. God said, you shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it lest you die. Then the serpent said to the woman, you will not surely die. He had that tone. Yeah, I just imagined he had a little Barry White voice or something.
I just can’t. I don’t know where it came from. Anyway, for God knows that in the day you eat of it, look what he said to her. For God knows. Then the day you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God knowing, hold up, timeout, timeout. The devil said that the day you eat of it, you will be like, God, wait a minute, wait a minute. Didn’t we just read that they were already like God, so God had a way for them to be like God, but here’s the issue.
We Can’t Fall for the Counterfeit
The enemy has another way. He has another way and his way. He will try to come to us with the same end goal, be like God, be like God. God’s way of being like God or the enemy’s way of being like God and I’m telling you, the enemy will throw you and me all of options in our life and they will look like it’s the same goal with just with a minor shortcut, but we cannot fall for the counterfeit. We can’t fall for it.
He’s going to say, you want to get married? Hey, you can get married. This is what God wants for you. Man to leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife. It’s God’s will for your life. You can either do it with God or you can do it without God and this is what the enemy does. The enemy comes to us and gives us that ultimate or alternate option. And this is what he gave to them. And here’s the second myth we’ve got to bust about the will of God. Here’s what he said. He said, the day you eat of it, your eyes are going to be opened and you’ll be like God. God’s holding out on you, Mt. Carmel Illinois Church.
The reason he told you not to you that true, he’s holding out on you. Here’s the myth of the will of God, that the will of God is limited. So the Myth Buster is the will of God is limitless. People think the will of God is like that diet that if I follow the will of God, what can’t I do? I’m not going to have any fun. I’m not going to do anything fun. My life’s going to be boring. It has to be bland. I’m going to hang around with all of them church people that don’t do anything exciting.
So the will of God, Myth Buster. The devil tried to say the will of God in your life will limit you. It will hold you back. God was not holding back from them anything that they needed. Everything that they needed they could find in God. But the enemy came and said, if you’ll do it my way, then you will get what you want faster. The problem was there’s a catch. There’s a way that seems right to a man, but the end thereof is death. So he tricked him into thinking, if you can get this now, just eat it now and your eyes will be open. God had already caused them to be like God, but the enemy is trying to steal that. So I’m just saying to you, we’ve got to realize that the will of God, do we want to bust out of our heart is that it is not limiting.
Doing it God’s way is Freedom for your Life
It is limitless. It’s limitless. He wants to give you everything. Everything that you have. Now the second Myth Buster is the limitless. Let’s look at the third Myth Buster. Let’s go to second Peter, chapter 3 verse 9. So the first one, the will of God is the love of God. The second one, the will of God is limit less, not limited. Limitless. It’s freedom. We need to know this about the will of God for your life, Mt. Carmel Illinois Church.
You need to know that the will of God is freedom for your life. Doing it God’s way is freedom for your life. Doing it our way. We think we outsmart God all the time. We think we’re better than God out here. People make these posts that say, “Hey, you know what? We need to stop teaching girls about abstinence and we need to start teaching them about safe sex.”
There’s a reason that God has these guidelines for our life. It’s not because he doesn’t love us. It’s because he does love us. He wants to protect your heart. He wants to protect your life. He’s not holding back. He’s not putting boundaries. He’s giving us freedom, by doing it God’s way. It breaks chains, it doesn’t bring chains. Sometimes we get too smart in our own everyday world and we start thinking that God says this, but we know something better. But God’s saying to us, “Listen, the will of God is limitless.” Let’s look at the third one Mt. Carmel Illinois Church.
Second Peter chapter 3 verse 9 says this, “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise as some count slackness but as long suffering, (everybody say long suffering, long suffering, long suffering) toward us, not willing that any should perish. When we get to read that again, not willing that any should perish, not willing that any should perish.
That word any means one, some or every of all without specification. That means all of them. Not willing that any should perish or any should die. It should be left apart from God, but that how many should come to repentance. Now we got, we got to do this. I’ll make sure you’re understanding this, but as long suffering towards us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. How many should come to repentance? Oh, he’s not willing that any should perish. Any, Mt. Carmel Illinois Church.
No, as soon as you turn around, Jesus is right there saying, come on. Come on daughter. We’re going to make this work out. We’re going to redeem this. The grace of God is his ability to make a message out of my mess, to turn my trials, my difficulties into a testimony, but here’s what we need to know about the will of God. God gives you an eye, a will, and he gives it. He lays out a way and he says, here’s the way. Jesus said this in John chapter 14 verse 6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the father, but through me.” We can all say that we all want to go to heaven. Maybe you’re watching you say, “Hey ya Chad, I want to go to him.” I don’t meet very many people that come up to me and say, you know what? I just want to burn in hell for eternity, Mt. Carmel Illinois Church.
That’s really my life goal. I mean, some people try to be a dramatic and try to be, you know, just for, shock and awe. They’ll say stuff like that, “I don’t care. I want to go to hell. It’s going to be awesome.” Yeah, you think awesome. But if you understand, people say, well, how does God send people to hell? God never sends anyone to hell. Hell was not made for humans. That’s why he’s not willing that any should perish and he keeps telling you every single day. He says “Turn around, turn around, turn around Mt. Carmel Illinois Church.”
I’ve got life for you. I’ve got a different hope for you. Come on, walk away from that. I don’t want you to perish. But we have a will and at some point if we say, you know what, God, I don’t want what you want from me. I want what I want from me. Then he will say, then you will have your way instead of mine.
A Very American Illustration
He is the way. Our will has to yield to his, church. I’ll give you the story in closing that I think this reminds me of. We will see if this speaks to you. I read a communication that took place between one of our naval ships and the Canadians. I think you’ll like this. This is an actual transcription of the conversation between a U S Naval ship and the Canadian authorities off the coast of Newfoundland.
The Canadians say to the Americans, please divert your course 15 degrees to the South to avoid collision. The Americans respond, we recommend you divert your course 15 degrees to the North to avoid a collision. The Canadians negative. You will have to divert your course 15 degrees to the South to avoid a collision.
The Americans: this is the captain of a US Navy ship. I say again, divert your course. The Canadians respond. No. I say again, you divert your course. This is so American. The Americans say this is the aircraft carrier, USS Lincoln, the second largest ship in the United States Atlantic fleet. We are accompanied by three destroyers, three cruisers, and numerous support vessels. I demand that you change your course 15 degrees north. I say again, that is 15 degrees North or countermeasures will be undertaken to assure the safety of our ship. A brief moment of silence and the Canadian say, this is a lighthouse. It is your call.
Jesus is the Lighthouse, He Doesn’t Need to Move
It’s funny, but how much of this is our life? My parents used to sing in this group and they used to sing this soul song that says there’s a lighthouse on a hilltop that overlooks life. See, Jesus is the lighthouse. He’s the way, the truth, and the life. He doesn’t need to move. We’re the ones that need to move. He’s the right place at the right time. How many times do we do this? We got what we want to do, what we want to do, and we try and cram God’s will into our way, Mt. Carmel Illinois Church.
Well, I want to do this and so we pray that God will bless our way. We don’t pray. God, let me do your will, whatever it because I promise you this, if we’re going to do God’s will, just like Jesus in the garden, some of us have to die in that moment. Jesus said, I want to go to the cross. Nevertheless, not my will father, but your will be done. Jesus said, I’ll take my will and I lay it down and I say, father, I trust you. I trust you that your will for my life is based on your love for me. I trust your will for my life, Lord, is limitless, and that this cross is not going to be the end of me, but it’s going be the beginning of something totally limitless.
I believe, Lord, that your love for me, your will for me, Lord, is long suffering that even though I don’t want to do your will right now, you’re patient with me, and put in your life may render that same thing that we say. God, I’m just going to make this happen and I hope God blesses it. Too many people run into relationships that way. I just think they’re cute. I want to be with them and I don’t care what anybody says. If you know God’s will for you is his love for you, then you want to run it by him. I’ve got to take that job. It’s more money. It’s just the bottom line. I know it’s going to cost me some family time, and may cost me some church time, but it’s more money. I have to take it. Just run it by just asking. Paul said that I might find a way in the will of God.
Being Successful in the Will of God is more Sustainable than being Successful Outside of his Will
I want to come to you. I want to do what I want to do, but I want to be successful in the will of God because I know if I’m successful in the will of God, I’m going to be successful. I may be able to be successful in coming to you in Rome. I may be able to show up, but if I’m not in the will of God, it won’t be good. You might be successful in taking that job. You might be successful in getting married, but it may be something that’s not good in the long run. So can we pray this moment? I just want you to take a second and just yield your heart. Are there things in your life that you’re saying, uh, I need to run that by God?
Maybe there’s some things right now. I believe this, that the Holy Spirit does the application part. As I talk, you have things that are popping up into your heart right now that you’re like, okay, I’m doing it my way. I’m pulling the old Frank Sinatra. I’m doing it my way and I’m not sure I’m doing it His. Where there’s a will, there’s a way. Are we following his way in search of his heart’s desire for us? Maybe there’s areas of our lives we need to die to right now and say, God, forgive me.
I’ve been doing it my way. I’ve been trying this husband thing my way and I’ve been failing miserably. I’ve been trying this wife thing my way. I’ve been trying this parenting thing. I’ve been trying this job thing. I’ve been trying this student thing up. I’ve been trying this my way. I’m not doing well at it. I’ve been trying this friend thing my way. I thought this is what would make people like me and I thought this is how I would fit in better with people. I’ve been trying to do everything I knew to do to make friends and nobody seems to be liking me and connecting with me. I don’t know why people are not letting me be part of their group. I’ve done everything I know to do. What about doing it his way, Mt. Carmel Illinois Church.
Are you willing to die to your will, to yield your will to him to give it to him? God gave you a will for a reason because it’s the power of choice. The power of choice to say, I choose his way. When I could do anything I wanted, I choose him. That’s love. When you can go wherever you want to go, do whatever you want to do, when you want to do it, and you still choose God’s way. That is love. Do you have to quit doing this?
Do you have to stop doing that? No, you sure don’t. God gives you a will and he gives you freedom to do whatever you want, but if you want to end up in the result of God’s way and will for your life, you have to go his way. So maybe right now before God, just take a second to say, God, I’m sorry for doing it my way. I thought this was the best way to go, but I’m finding it empty.
Maybe you’re here or you’re watching online and you say, I’ve been doing everything my way. I don’t even have a relationship with Jesus. I don’t know that I’d go to heaven. See, everybody wants to go to heaven, but there’s only one way to heaven. The Bible says we must be born again. We must repent of our sin and realize that we are in need of a savior. We’re not good enough on our own. None of us, Mt. Carmel Illinois Church.
Thanks so much for watching with us. We love our online Mt. Carmel Illinois Church and Norris City Illinois Church family and we invite you to connect with us. We have a few different ways you can do that. Our website is theroads.church. We are on social media as well.
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