The Lining of the Clouds May Be Silver, But I Only See the Gold Sunshine

Life is like a river as it twists and turns,

The water moves as it runs to the ocean.

The water can be calm, and it can be stern,

It can be quiet or cause a commotion.

But without fail life continues on,

It moves slowly and swiftly.

It continues to flow down,

And it will end up in the sea.

Life will be rough, it will be soft.

It will be calm, and it will harsh.

But life will always flow into the ocean

And then all will be calm without commotion.

Christian life that is... I just don't know how to fit that into the words... My poetical mind is not that good yet.

But God is good and He gave me a great encouragement last night.

I was wondering what God's will was in my life... A pretty confusing subject it seems, but He showed me what His will was... Through one verse, and a few... what are they called, the little notes that tell you of similar verses... I can't remember but through those. God told me what His will was, for any Christian.

First verse was...

"Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is." Ephesians 5:17

So I did not want to be foolish  but I wanted to understand what God's will was. But this confused me cause how was I supposed to know? I mean really how am I supposed to know where God wants me to go in life. I was kinda thinking to myself, "God really you expect me to know without You ever telling me?" Then God reminded me, "I've already told you in my Word." And then I felt like Job, 

"And the LORD said to Job: 'Shall a faultfinder contend with the Almighty? He who argues with God, let him answer it.' Then Job answered the LORD and said: 'Behold, I am of small account; what shall I answer you? I lay my hand on my mouth. I have spoken once, and I will not answer; twice, but I will proceed no further.'" Job 40:1-5

So I went to find what God's will was... And those little footnotes helped me a lot. They led me to Romans 12:2

"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."

Okay, so to discern the will of God I need a few things. 1) I can't think like the world and be conformed to it. 2) I need to be transformed by the renewing of my mind. And 3) I need to be tested. So I thought, "God brought me out of the world by saving me... His Word and Spirit have been transforming my mind to be more like Him... And I seem to be going through some pretty interesting testings... So what now? My discerning seems to be a bit off."

So verse #3... 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8

"For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness.Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you."

So... The will of God is for me to be sanctified, to continue to become more like Christ? Seems like it would be, that's what it says. I am sure that this is not the only place that God has a will for me though. I mean I am already growing more like Christ. There must be more, I feel like I would be doing God's will a misfavor if I left it to this. Although this is clearly part of God's will for me, I don't think it is all of it.

So verse #4 1 Thessalonians 5:18

"...give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."

Now I would really recommend reading the whole chapter here. I actually recommend getting the whole context of all these verses you will be blessed. But to give thanks in ALL circumstances. Its a pretty big word for only having three letters. In every circumstance, in all circumstances, in everything that happens to you whether good or bad, give thanks. That was a tough one to digest. Thank God in everything that happens? I mean really why would I thank God for the evil things that happen to me? Why would I thank God for bad times in my life? But then again Job answered that question... Job's wife told him, 

"Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die." 

I was kinda thinking the same thing in a way. "God why are you letting all these bad things happen, why are you making things so difficult on me?" And I was frustrated with God in a way. I was really wondering what was going on. But I didn't want to give up on God, I knew He knows best. But Satan was really telling me, "Why are you holding onto God, just give up on Him and live life with your rules." He was telling me, "You could easily run away from your problems, just forget them and do what you want to do." And you know what, its tempting. I could easily drop away from God and Bible college and get a job and then work my way to comfort. Then I could do whatever I wanted. But then Job's answer to his wife made me think and sobered me up you could say.

"You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?" Then earlier Job also said, "The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord."

God gives, God takes away. Although God does not put evil things upon us, we shouldn't be willing to only accept the good things in life. If God promised us a bed of roses, what's a rose without a thorn? I want to have a heart like Job's. The Lord gives, the Lord takes away. Shall I receive only good from God, no I will receive both good and evil; and in all this I want to give thanks in every circumstance, event, or thing in my life. This is another part of the will of God in my life. To thank Him for everything He has done for me, whether it seems good or bad.