Trying to be still

Man, I had this whole thing halfway typed up, and it was this really cool comparison of the words endure and persevere which I was enjoying, but it just wasn't flowing out of me like it should, and so I had to stop and delete it all.
I think God wants me to share something a little different with you tonight. Maybe He'll allow me to come back to that other topic later on. But more importantly, forward with what He has in mind.

Our message at the Walk tonight is one that I've heard before. Our underlying theme is seeking God's will in relationships, but Tim really hit on seeking God's will as a whole. Let me lay the background of the sermon down for you, and then I'll tell you how God really convicted me through this message I was already familiar with.

There are 3 different routes, so to speak, for the Will of God.
1. His Sovereign Will -- this is God's will which He will accomplish no matter what. ie. Things like sending Jesus to die on the cross, creating and instituting the church to spread Christ's message, and judgment day which will come for all. This Will cannot be changed, and we don't have to pray for it to happen, because it's going to regardless. God's Sovereign will is, however, done through people, which is why it's important to be familiar with it.

2. His Moral Will -- this is God's instructions to us in the Bible on doing right and wrong. No question about it. There's no need to ask God about what He's already commanded us to do. ie. We don't have to pray whether we should have premarital sex or whether it's ok to kill that guy that sits next to you and drives you crazy. And we know without asking that we should read His word and pray for others.

3. His Personal Will -- this is the one we all wanna know, right? Bingo. This is the one that we continually ask God about. ie. What job should I take? Who should I marry? Should I have another child? Should I go to a different church? etc....

Summary statement: The more familiar you are with God's sovereign will and the more obedient you are to God's moral will, the easier it is to see and know God's personal will for your life.
It's only when we make our pursuit of God #1 that everything else will fall into place; He will take care of the details.

Like I said, I've heard this message before, and it's a great message. It puts God's will into a much clearer perspective, and offers a really simple formula for understanding and knowing what He personally wants for my life.
But here's the power statement, the punch line, the kicker that convicted my heart at the end of this sermon. Pay attention now:

The true problem is that we want to know God's personal will for our lives, but we have no desire to learn about His sovereign will and little concern for being obedient to His moral will.

Oh man did that speak to me. It is so right. This is exactly where I was not so long ago.
God, do you want me to take this job? God, do you want me to stay in this job? Should I drop everything and serve You in missions? Should I date this person? Should I leave this city and attend seminary?
Those are all "personal will" questions that I was asking God over and over. But I was less concerned with becoming familiar or being obedient. I told you, God has me in this period of waiting for a reason... many reasons, it looks like.... and it's becoming more obvious to me as He continues to speak to me and encourage me to spend time with Him, focus on Him, and fall more in love with Him, and Him alone.

I am without doubt that one of His main purposes for giving me the idea of this blog was to show me just how much I needed to learn to be still and know that He is God.