My Will Or God'

Here we find a command given to Jonah to go to Nineveh and preach. What an honor this must have been for this man Jonah. He had the privilage to have direct communion with God. He did not have to sit and wonder about God's will as we often do today. He did not have to sit and ponder, wait and trust as to whether a decision was a good idea or not, or how "all this" {whatever that may be in our lives} might play into God's divine plan for us and the lives we touch. He had direct instructions.

VS.1 Now the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2 Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.

Quote from Matthew Henry's commentary- Jonah means a dove, a proper name for all God's prophets, all his people, who ought to be harmless as doves, and to mourn as doves for the sins and calamities of the land. His father's name was Amittai--My truth; for God's prophets should be sons of truth. To him the word of the Lord came--to him it was (so the word signifies), for God's word is a real thing; men's words are but wind, but God's words are substance. He has been before acquainted with the word of the Lord, and knew his voice from that of a stranger;

So we have to question why Jonah would disobey. We understand his reason, of course. Nineveh would have been the last place this man of God would want to be, and he simply did not find these people worthy of God's mercy. But more than that, it was a pretty gutsy move to disobey God in such a direct, determined way.

Vs. 3 But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD

We know the rest of the story. While on the ship there came a great wind, the sailors cast lots to find out who was bringing this evil to them, and Jonah was thrown into the raging ocean to be swallowed by a great fish. He eventually found himself in Nineveh to complete God's instructions and plan.

If God is in control, does that mean that all of our choices and actions are within God's will? Can we go through life saying, "Que sera, sera. What will be will be? " Can we rest knowing that if we choose wrong or "seemingly" good, or even this or that, it must all be a part of God's plan? Can we use God's will as a tool when we want our own will, believing that it does not matter because no matter what, he'll make it all right?

There is a long road to understanding the parallel between God's will and man's God-given free will. We do know that when we are saved, we are saved by, through, and within the grace of God, and not the laws of God. We are saved by grace alone and not by anything that we might do or not do. We also know that we have been given free will, the ability to choose right from wrong. Under the prementioned questions is the humanness {imperfect, total depravity}of mankind and the perfection and holiness of God. But being new creatures in Christ, we desire/will to be in step with God's will.

We are saved through Christ alone...Rom:3:24: Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
and are free from the eternal death sentence of our humanness, and free from our humanness itself at death as we enter a holy Kingdom....Rom:8:2: For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death, but in life we are still held down by that humanness as Paul points out in the following passage in Romans..

Rom:7:14: For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.
15: For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.
16: If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. 17: Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. 18: For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. You may want to look at other translations.

Kind of confusing? Yes it is, and so is the state of man. But break down each line we find in Romans 7, dwell on it a bit, and the matters that we wrestle with on a daily basis becomes very clear.

God tells us that we are not to use our freedom and liberty unwisely- 1Peter :2:16: As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God. So within this, knowing that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose- Romans 8:28, we are cautioned not to have the "Que sera, sera. What will be will be " attitude. We can not use this promise in a cavalier manner, saying, "Oh well, this is the choice I made after a great deal of though over what is best for me, so it must be God's will." Do we have trust and faith in God, or do we have trust and faith in what we want and believe to be best?

Breaking down that wonderful promise { Romans 8:28} is the key to why we cannot say, " What will be will be."

{All things work together for the good} Does it say that all things are good for us? Was it good for Jonah to be in the belly of that great fish and vommitted onto dry land after being in there for three days? Of course it was NOT a good thing. That was a horendous expererience and if it had not been for God's grace, Jonah would have perished.

But why was Jonah there in the belly of the great fish? It was due to a choice he made that was not within God's will, was it not? Had he observed the principles of godly obedience, he would have saved himself a lot of trouble.

Note: Not all struggles in life are the result of disobedience. But disobedience always brings us struggles.

Jonah was told to go to Nineveh and God got him there right on time, regardless. No, not everything is good, but God works all these things, good and bad, sorrows and joy, wealth and poverty, health and sickness, loss and gain TOGETHER for our ultimate good.

Who is this promise made to? {together for the good of those who love God} It is a promise to God's people who are under his grace. He may use unbelievers, and include and use people who are his, but not under the knowledge of his saving grace yet. But this promise is for his own.

Eph 3: 4: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
5: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, and that brings us to the final clause, "who are called according to his purpose."

We are called and we have a purpose. Jonah decided he had a different purpose and decided that God was wrong and he wasn't going to go to Nineveh. He said, " What will be will be!" He didn't trust God to take him to Nineveh, and made plans to accomodate his own and immediate comfort.

And so, we have to be very careful to observe and practice the principles of godly obedience. We find in his word direct instruction for each issue in our immediate life, and we leave the rest to him . If we make choices that are contrary to God's word, we cannot say, "Oh well, God will work this out for my good. What will be will be. " It doesn't work that way. True, he will work all things together for our good, but we can choose to get from point A to B through the belly of the great fish, or God's way.

Eph:5:17: Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.

Yes, he does, and going into that will take us down the path more deeply and may even confuse us more. We, at times, must simply leave God's working to the Master.

Isa:55:8: For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.

What are some things that we have direct instruction from God himself, through his word that we do not have to guess about? There are areas of which we knows what God has to say.

Our relationship with Him.

Prov:3:6: In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

Gal:2:16: Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

Eph:1:12: That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.

Acts:5:29: Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.

Rom:6:12: Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.

Relationships & Emotional Ties

Marriage In the make up of a marriage, there is to be one headship which is the man just as in Christ's relationship with his people/the church. And, there is that role of submission, which means to 'adapt to' the husband as the wife.

We adapt to God's presence in our life and what he would have for us.. And so, the wife does the same with her husband. The husband leads with love, is not a tyrant, and most importantly, he places himself within God's will.

The wife follows with love, trustingly, placing herself within her husband's will, and in doing so submits to God's design for a well-working relationship...

Eph:5: 22:-33, Col:3:18, 1 Pt:3:7

If we abide in obedience by these principles, we guard that relationship from the 'Jonah experiences' within that relationship.

We can not pre-determined about health,wealth, and the whens, wheres, or hows of life together, only how a marriage should be as God's people.

Parents Siblings & Brothers & Sisters in Christ.

Eph:6:1: Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.

3: For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.
14: For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
15: But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.
16: This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
17: For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.
18: But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.
19: Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
20: Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
21: Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
22: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
23: Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
24: And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
25: If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
26: Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.

Buisness & Wordly Matter

Ti:3:1: Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work.

Cor:4:2: But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.

All of life will be a struggle between God's will and our own. At times our own will can be very sincere and logical, but we must always, always hold everything up to God's word. And, when we can find no direct comparison, we must find the fortitude to simply step back and let the spirit move.....