Today's Devotional

October 29, 2003

Subject:  God's Will Versus Our Will  

John 6:5 - 6 "When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?  And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do."

This may sound simplistic, but it really is a good thing that God's power and work is not contingent on us as weak and frail human beings.  If we are to understand our relationship to God's sovereignty, then we must understand how our will relates to His will.  

If you remember the best case to illustrate this difference in "wills," it would be Christ's petition to God inquiring if the cross was the only way.  It was not particularly Jesus' will to go through what He would have to go through on the cross, but He ultimately subjugated His will to the will of the Father by saying, "nevertheless, not my will by thy will be done."  This simply displays the fact that we have a will and it can or can not be aligned with the will of almighty God.

Now if we understand that God has a plan for the world and the power to execute that plan, then there will be times that His will shall be carried out without regard to the will of man, for instance, remember the scripture in Luke 19 that says that even if the people hold their peace, then God is able to make the stones cry out.  This illustrates that omnipotent God, while able to use submitted man, does not "need" man to accomplish His purposes.  That said however, God has ordained that man would be used to proclaim His gospel throughout the world.  

God has given us a free will to choose and it is therefore our responsibility to submit our will to His divine will.  We are then usable by Holy God.  However, if we believe that His purposes can not be accomplished without our submission, you might want to talk to the stones. 

Carlen