By Dennis Pollock
In the Book of Isaiah, we find a passage that almost everybody believes is a reference to the fall of Satan, and his attitude that led to this fall. Isaiah writes:
How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation. On the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’ Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, To the lowest depths of the Pit (Isa 14:12-15.
The thing that stands out to me in this declaration by Satan has to do with all the “I wills.” “I will ascend into heaven,” “I will exalt my throne,” “I will be like the Most High.” The devil had big plans, and they are expressed with a great big “I will,” again and again. Another word for this is self-will, which is at the very heart of Satan, and in the lives of those who have no use for God or Christ. “I want to do what I want to do. Don’t you tell me what to do! Don’t you give me any of your morality or Bible verses. I want to live as I please and no one in this world is going to stop me!”
Every human being has strong desires and passions. C. S. Lewis wrote, “It comes the very moment you wake up each morning. All your wishes and hopes for the day rush at you like wild animals. And the first job each morning consists simply in shoving them all back; in listening to that other voice, taking that other point of view, letting that other larger, stronger, quieter life come flowing in. And so on, all day.”
Not all desires are evil, of course. Some desires are both natural and good. And when we come to Jesus in faith, we are given the Holy Spirit, who releases in us a large package of righteous desires: the desire to please our heavenly Father, the desire to be a blessing to others, and the desire to live a productive, responsible life. But we also must deal with evil and selfish desires that come from what the Bible calls “the flesh,” which refers to our sin nature, and these desires are not good at all.
The children of God have a certain concern and desire for something that the secular man and woman never even consider. We talk about, pray about, and concern ourselves with something that we call “the will of God.” Non-Christian never worry about this. When they are about to make a major change in their lives, or when they are dabbling with the idea of entering into a sexual relationship with someone they find attractive, they never ask themselves, “Is this the will of God?” In their mind, as long as this new venture or relationship is something they find pleasing and attractive, there is no more consideration.
In Romans, the apostle Paul tells believers: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” The will of God is a big deal to us. Any time we are about to make a major decision in our lives, we pray about it and we ask God, “Is this Your will?” And if we ever come to believe that this new thing is not the will of God, we immediately cease from our plans. If God doesn’t want this, neither do we.
Sometimes the will of God is easy to determine and at other times it can get a little tricky. First, we know that God has already made His will known to us concerning morality. When He says, “Thou shall not steal, or kill, or commit adultery,” those issues are forever resolved. If a Christian man works at an office where a beautiful co-worker constantly flirts with him, the man does not pray about whether it is the will of God for him to jump into bed with his co-worker. No need to pray, no need to fast, and no need to spend months seeking the Lord over this. God has already spoken and made it plain that fornicators and adulterers will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Likewise, if someone has hurt our feelings, and then comes to us and apologizes, we do not need to pray about whether the Lord would have us to forgive them. God has plainly told us to forgive those who trespass against us. The will of God is not at all vague or mysterious on these and hundreds of other issues. God’s word is abundantly clear on the basic morality He desires His children to follow and submit to. In these cases, knowing the will of God is easy. All we need to do is open our Bibles and start reading.
But there are many other issues and decisions in life that are not covered by the Scriptures. Who should we marry, what career should we pursue, where shall we live, should I start a small business, or be content to work for my current employer. You could read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation several times over and still not find answers to these questions. In these and thousands of other decisions to be made we are going to have to pray, to seek the Lord, perhaps to fast, and to wait for God to make His will known. Our God is a very communicative Creator, and He can use circumstances, people, dreams, peace in our spirits or the lack thereof, and a host of other things to make His will known to us.
Sometimes, while we wait for God to make His will known to us, we may have to endure a season of confusion, not really sure which way to turn. Sometimes Christians have said that confusion is not of God and have implied that a strong Christian will never be confused. I have never believed that for a second. Many times in my life I have been confused over decisions that needed to be made. Eventually the Lord made it clear which way I was to go, but it was not instant. The Bible says, “Unto the upright there arises light in the darkness” (Psalm 112:4). We may have our seasons of darkness, but if we patiently wait on God, with faith and praise, light will arise and we will know the direction we must go, and we will know, as Paul wrote, what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
