What's In Your Will?

Even in death there is a lesson. Look for it.

This is a post about death. Well...kinda..

Over the weekend I did a bit of social media fasting because I wanted to create an atmosphere where I could tune out the white noise of the day to day and really focus in on what God is saying in different areas of my life. I needed it more than you know. My prayer on Saturday was that during my fast that He be revealed.

And this is what I got:

God's will.  Almost every time we speak of God's will for our lives we are referring to the future. We talk about what is going to come, what's supposed to happen, and what our purpose is in life. This is definitely true but I want to break down what I think can be considered the dual nature of this phrase.

God's will [for our future]. The common version of the meaning of God's will. Everyone knows that God has a plan for our lives and that ultimately they are what God wants to come to pass. Obedience, grace and growth towards Him is what helps us live out the calling He has on our lives.

God's will [for our past]. Among many other definitions for the word, Merriam-Webster defines the word "will" as:

"A legal declaration of a person's wishes regarding the disposal of his or her property or estate after death; a written instrument legally executed by which a person makes disposition of his or her estate to take effect after death."

Basically, what I got this weekend is that some stuff in our lives is just dead. It was conceived, it was born, it lived... but then it died, and God has no intention of bringing it back in your life. Moreover, he WON'T bring it back because well, that's just not his will. This could be anything, an old relationship (or non-official-but-we're-creeping-and-got-all-tangled-emotionally relationship), an old hobby or skill, a group of friends you were cool with, anything! Once God shuts the door on that thing and buries it, it has no hope for resurrection.

How to tell what's not really dead [yet]. Notice in the last sentence I said that God is the one who shuts the door. Meaning, sometimes there are things that look dead in the natural but not in the spiritual. In the same way that Jesus died only to rise again later, Lazarus was raised from the dead, and God had Ezekiel raise up the dry bones, some things in your life could be on pause or on standby but not exactly dead. Maybe you have a family member that you pray for or a vision that you feel is God-given for your life, these things may look bleak right now but God's not done yet. I think that in order to sift these situations from the dead ones you have to examine how you look at them. These might clue you in on what's not really dead:

• You look back on the thing or person and still see the promise in it's future in your life.
• This thing is a part of your earnest prayer life.
• You notice signs of life/hope, whether brief flashes or blatant moments.
• This thing does not pull you out of alignment with Christian values/your walk if it were to be revived.
• The idea of God raising it from the dead increases your faith and draws you closer to Him.

These are signs that your situation might not be dead. Continue to believe in these things unless God says otherwise!

It's dead, move on. On the other hand there are things that are really, really, really dead. You can't escape these. In fact, sometimes things in our lives have to die so that new things can grow in it's place. The same way we would look foolish trying to revive a dead physical body is the same way we look foolish trying to revive something that's spiritual dead to us. These are signs that I've come across that help determine if something is really dead:

• This thing is not a part of your prayer life, in fact you've pretty much moved on from it.
• On the other hand, you haven't moved on from it but no new life is visible at all.
• Anytime you think back on the situation or person, it's more of a negative reflection than positive.
• You feel uncomfortable giving it over to God because the truth is, you really don't want it to live in you.
• If the thing/person were revived in your life it would draw you outside of your Christian values OR outside of your purpose/will.

That's not a full list and of course God has the power to revive anything, but for our sake it's probably best to turn these things over to God and allow Him to make the decision. Also, I want to note that this can and should refer to the sin in our lives. If we are in Christ, it should be our aim to kill fleshly desires and our sinful nature since there is no life in them.

Understanding God's will [of the dead]. When someone who has a will dies, the people in the will are told just what their inheritance is from the person. God works the same way in dead situations except his inheritance can be physical or spiritual. Perhaps that dead thing made you stronger, perhaps the void left by the dead thing leaves room for something to physically take it's place that God wants to be there. Spiritually, perhaps you've grown to learn a lesson. Whatever it is, do not miss it! Everything happens for a reason and if you don't catch the lesson, you might find yourself chasing down that lesson again the hard way until it sinks. The lessons in God's will for the dead things in our lives are always positive. Remember the lesson.

Bonus Coverage ( A lesson in how to bury the dead things/sin in our lives):

Tye Tribbett ft. Mali - Eulogy

Digging Deep

⁴⁷ As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like. ⁴⁸ They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. ⁴⁹ But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.” (Luke 6: 47-49; NIV 2011 Edition)

 Believe it or not, I grew up as one of the biggest Jimi Hendrix fans of my generation. I grew up trying to play all of his songs on bass, downloaded every single MP3 I could find and accumulated several of his live and studio cds. The man still remains as one of the most talented at his craft of all time. Trust me...this tangent/homage is going somewhere...

One of my favorite songs by Jimi Hendrix is this song called "Castles Made of Sand." In the song, the chorus goes "And so castles made of sand melt...into the sea...eventually." A testament to the fact that building on a flimsy surface or with weak materials will undoubtedly result in your house falling down when trouble comes.

So with that I ask...How's your spiritual foundation?

Have you ever been in a position where you wanted to change something or be more like Christ in a particular area of your life? Sometimes what happens is we make a decision to change but not an effort to dig deep to the core of the issue and rebuild a firm foundation. When God speaks to us like in the scripture above, it's not enough to take it at face value you or keep it on the surface of our minds and hearts.

How to dig deep:


Assess soil conditions. One of the first things that all builders must do before building a house is to examine the consistency and nature of the soil. Is it too wet? Too soft? Just right? I would liken this process to examining the condition of our hearts. When we want to commit to a change, our efforts will only get us as far as the soil will allow. We must condition our hearts to support spiritual change or we'll be right back where we started and wondering why.

Penetrate the soil. If you've ever seen any construction happen, you know that sturdy buildings aren't built just on the surface. Construction workers diligently dig up the soil so that the foundation can rest within the safety of the surrounding soil. Our actions are dictated by what is deeply rooted within us. It will always be this way that what comes to us most natural is what is deepest rooted in our hearts. Committing your ways to the Lord means allowing what God says about it coupled with what we plan to do about it to penetrate the soil in rest in the bedrock. The deeper you allow God's Word to penetrate your heart, the greater chance you have of building a firm foundation.

Brick by brick. Now of course a foundation is important but it's not the only thing needed to build a house. Construction workers work diligently to build with materials that are consistent with the foundation and the blueprint/plans. What does this mean for us? As we continue to build, we must be consistent in our actions. We can't build a house of kindness, forgiveness, sexual purity, financial stewardship, etc. if we allow ourselves to place brick after brick of anger, resentment, sexual sin, greed, and more. The mark of a well-crafted building is the consistency of the work from top to bottom. Notice that Jesus says the person who builds a house on rock is the one who continually puts His word into practice. Not just sometimes or once in a while. Consistency is key.

Deconstruction. In the same way that a house can be built on consistent application of God's word, it can also be destroyed by not following the steps to build a solid house. God loves us so much that sometimes He may cause our man-made lives to crumble because we failed to build a house consistent to His standards. Even worse, the consequences of our own sin-lead actions can result in having to rebuild after being broken/demolished. But don't worry, if you assess the soil, make changes, and allow what you've heard to sink in, you always have the chance to rebuild...

...brick by brick.