The Lord’s Will: Put Your Gaze on God
As my family and I took a couple of days to be together during the New Year’s celebration, I woke up one morning to a sight that was incredible. Having just started the coffee maker I looked out the kitchen window to see a fiery glow peering through the morning darkness. The pine trees looked to be on fire with an ominous red hue. It made me wonder, “What does the day hold?!” I remember the old timers saying when I was young, “Red sky in the morning, sailor take warning. Red sky at night, sailor’s delight.”
There are all sorts of portents and signs that cause us to stop and wonder; to consider events and happenings in our lives. They are not all bad, obviously, but the sheer fact that things of various kinds can stop us in our tracks and place us in a state of consideration is worth noting. God may be trying to get our attention; to warn us of things to come; to calm us in the midst of struggle. Regardless, these are moments that can make us stop and consider, and put our gaze back where it belongs—on God.
The red sky through the pines as I looked out the kitchen window.
‘Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”’ —James 4:13-15 NIV
The Lord’s will: What does the day hold?
Life is short and fleeting. We do not know what tomorrow holds and need to be careful in our planning. Sometimes our planning can UN-focus our gaze on God. We can say what we are going to do or attempt to orchestrate things so that they line up in our favor, but for the Christian our lives are to be planned according to what God is doing, considering how our lives align with His will and how our lives serve the Kingdom of God. This way of living protects us from inserting our worry or our will into what God wants. We serve God regardless of where things are headed.
Like Job who told His wife he would accept both good and trouble from the hand of God (Job 2.10); or like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who told King Nebuchadnezzar that they wouldn’t bow down to his statue, whether the Lord God saved them or not (Daniel 3.18). God is still God—red sky or not.
May we do what James says in the Scripture above and say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” The Lord’s will. His will. May THAT be what is done.
—Pastor Whit
Read more inspirational messages about the Lord’s will by checking out our past sermons.