Grace Baptist Church, Nokomis, IL.

Main Idea: All this time, we've been praying for the will of God, and it's been right in front of us.

Text:

Who’s prayed, “What is your will, God?” I prayed it the most in my teens and twenties. All this freedom is given to you, and you wonder, “What is the will of God?”

Romans 12:1-2.

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 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. (Romans 12:1-2)

When I was that age, and to be honest, even now, I always wished for that Mary and Joseph experience. Mary’s in her house, and this angel just appears to her, and he says, “Hey! You’re gonna be the mother of God.” It’s pretty easy to know what God’s will is at that point.

And then Joseph, he was having all these dreams about, “Hey, don’t divorce her, that’s a bad idea.” “Hey, don’t go home right away, go into Egypt, and then go home.” And God was telling him almost exactly, step by step, what to do. I’m totally jealous.

I’m also a little jealous of Cinderella. Cinderella had her fairy godmother, and everything was just “Bippity boppity boop!” And it was good. We can be jealous of those things. “Just show me your will, God!”

But the what’s interesting is that Scripture tells us the will of God. If God wants to talk to us, He tells us through Scripture. All this time, we’ve been praying for the will of God, and it’s been right in front of us.

There are a myriad of Scriptures that speak directly to God’s will for our lives. I’ll highlight a few of those.

Romans 12:2 says that we’re to renew our minds in order to know God’s will.

There are four people groups we need to take care of.

1. Widows
2. Orphans
3. Each other
4. The poor

Making meals for widows is a great thing! Keep it up!

James 1:27 says:

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world. (James 1:27)

All Christians are called to take care of orphans and widows. It’s easy to assume that someone else will take care of other people. But it’s everyone’s job. We’re all called to do it.

Matthew 6:2 says:

Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. (Matthew 6:2)

It begins, “when.” It could have said, “if.” It’s something we’re all to do. It’s the church’s job to do.

The Amish do this in an amazing way. They all look after each other. It’s an amazing community.

Micah 6:8 says:

He has told you, O man, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:8)

Show Christ in all situations.

God desires all to be saved. God’s will for your life is Adam and Eve, in the garden, before the Fall. He wants perfect communion, unobstructed by sin. His love is so foreign to us.

1 Thessalonians 5:8-9 says:

But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thessalonians 5:8-9)

Psalm 100:2 says:

Serve the Lord with gladness!
Come into his presence with singing! (Psalm 100:2)

“Listen, God, I can come before you with joyful singing, but you want me to serve you with gladness? All the time?” Yikes! That doesn’t happen. But that’s what God desires from us. To be glad to serve the Lord. It’s hard to do, but we do it by the power of the Spirit of God.

There’s an old saying: If you were put on trial for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?

1 Peter 2:15 says:

For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. (1 Peter 2:15)

Wait…I thought we were supposed to argue? I thought we were supposed to convince? But this is saying that if you do good, it silences what people say that is foolish. The Bible tells us to have an answer for everyone who asks us about our faith, but it doesn’t say to have an answer for every political and moral argument, or whatever. It also doesn’t say to have an argument for that. It just says to have an answer for why you have the faith that you have.

Better to be thought a fool and remain silent than to open one’s mouth and remove all doubt.

Sometimes the best thing you can do is be quiet. There are people who have been hurt by the church who want nothing more than to be hurt again, to prove that that’s what the church does. They’re going out to church people looking for a fight. And they want that fight being you being judgmental, you being condescending, you shoving the gospel out to them. But if you don’t do that, that will be a life-changer. Love them.

I’m going read this children’s story to make my last point.

Once upon a mountain top, three little trees stood and dreamed of what they wanted to become when they grew up. The first little tree looked up at the stars twinkling like diamonds above him and said: ” I want to hold treasure. I want to be covered with gold and filled with precious stones. I’ll be the most beautiful treasure chest in the world!” The second little tree looked out at the small stream trickling by on it’s way to the ocean. ” I want to be a strong sailing ship,” he said. “I want travel mighty waters and carrying powerful kings. I’ll be the strongest ship in the world!” The third little tree looked down into the valley below where busy men and women worked in a busy town. “I don’t want to leave the mountain top at all,” he said. “I want to grow so tall that when people stop to look at me they’ll raise their eyes to heaven and think of God. I will be the tallest tree in the world.”

Years, passed. The rains came, the sun shone and the little trees grew tall. One day three wood cutters climbed the mountain. The first wood cutter looked at the first tree and said, “This tree is beautiful. It is perfect for me.” With a swoop of his shining ax, the first tree fell. “Now I shall made into a beautiful chest, I shall hold wonderful treasure!” the first tree said.

The second wood cutter looked at the second tree and said, “This tree is strong. It’s perfect for me.” With a swoop of his shining ax, the second tree fell. “Now I shall sail mighty waters!” thought the second tree. ” I shall be a strong ship fit for kings!”

The third tree felt her heart sink when the last wood cutter looked her way. She stood straight and tall and pointed bravely to heaven. But the wood cutter never even looked up. “Any kind of tree will do for me.” He muttered. With a swoop of his shining ax, the third tree fell.

The first tree rejoiced when the wood cutter brought her to a carpenter’s shop. But the busy carpenter was not thinking about treasure chests. Instead, his work-worn hands fashioned the tree into a feed box for animals. The once beautiful tree was not covered with gold, or filled with treasure. He was coated with saw dust and filled with hay for hungry farm animals.

The second tree smiled when the wood cutter took her to a shipyard, but no mighty sailing ship were being made that day. Instead the once strong tree was hammered and sawed into a simple fishing boat. Too small and too weak to sail even a river, he was taken to a little lake. Every day, he brought in loads of dead, smelly fish.

The third tree was confused when the wood cutter cut her into strong beams and left her in a lumberyard. “What happened?” The once tall tree wondered. ” All I ever wanted was to stay on the mountain top and point to God…”

The thing about God’s will is that sometimes we just don’t like it. Sometimes it seems too simple. We see people who do amazing and massively cool things for God, and we think, “Who am I?” So we can discouraged.

This tale seems to illustrate that life and the will of God takes a turn, and you think it’s a turn for the worse. But it’s not.

Many many days and nights passed. The three trees nearly forgot their dreams. But one night, golden starlight poured over the first tree as a young woman placed her newborn baby in the feed box. “I wish I could make a cradle for him.” Her husband whispered. The mother squeezed his hand and smiled as the starlight shone on the smooth and sturdy wood. “This manger is beautiful.” She said. And suddenly the first tree knew he was holding the greatest treasure in the world.

One evening a tired traveler and his friends crowded into the old fishing boat. The traveler fell asleep as the second tree quietly sailed out into the lake. Soon a thundering and a thrashing storm arose. The little tree shuddered. He new she did not have the strength to carry so many passengers safely through the wind and the rain. The tired man awakened. He stood up, stretched out his hand, and said, “Peace.” The storm stopped as quickly as it had begun. And suddenly the second tree knew he was carrying the king of heaven and earth.

One Friday morning, the third tree was startled when her beams were yanked from the forgotten wood pile. She flinched as she was carried through an angry jeering crowd. She shuddered when soldiers nailed a man’s hand to her. She felt ugly and harsh and cruel.

But on Sunday morning, when the sun rose and the earth trembled with joy beneath her, the third tree knew that God’s love had changed everything. It had made the first tree beautiful. It had made the second tree strong. And every time people thought of the third tree, they would think of God.

It’s called the Tale of Three Trees.

All this time, maybe you have been doing the will of God, you just haven’t accepted it yet.

Many of you, instead of wanting a new mission from God, need to accept the one He has for you. It takes humility. Maybe instead of asking, “What is your will, God,” ask Him to allow you to accept it, and do it.