Day 4 of False Choices: You must choose between happiness or obedience to God’s will.

“Then I said, “Behold, I come; In the scroll of the book it is written of me. I delight to do Your will, O my God, And Your law is within my heart.””

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭40‬:‭7‬-‭8‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

I once heard a young man say that he was worried about surrendering to the Lord because he was afraid the Lord would make him marry an ugly girl. Now, whereas we may laugh at that statement, a little honest examination of our own thinking concerning the will of God, might disclose sentiments not that far removed from the sentiments of this misguided young man.

Truth be told, most of us would admit that there have been times (maybe recently) when we wondered if we were going to be able to get what we really wanted, what we really needed to be happy.

Let’s break it down for a minute.

The truth is, if we are trying to do the will of God without having submitted our own will to Him, then we will not find the true happiness coming from doing His will. Trying to walk in God’s will while glancing over at something we “left behind,” is bound to cause dissatisfaction.

“And He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and prayed, saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.””

‭‭Luke‬ ‭22‬:‭41‬-‭42‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Jesus: all man and all God, in order to endure the cross, had to submit His will to that of the Father. That being the case, we must do the same. The true happiness coming from doing the Lord‘s will, will never come if our will is longing for something else and begrudging the “weary way.”

Having said all of this, I will add that the Lord wants good things for us. Of course, we might be called on to endure something we don’t understand, even something painful. But when we have aligned our heart with the heart of the Lord, we take pleasure in those things that are pleasing to Him.

“For I know the plans and thoughts that I have for you,’ says the Lord, ‘plans for peace and well-being and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”

‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭29‬:‭11‬ ‭AMP‬‬

The Lord reassured Israel that their future in Him was going to be good. He offers no less to any of His children. But as long as we aren’t sure of whether or not the Lord wants good things for us, as long as we doubt that the Lord is working all things for our good, then we will never be happy in our (begrudging) obedience.

In our opening scripture the Psalmist is not only speaking from his own heart, but also prophetically speaking from the heart of the Lord. He truly finds delight in doing God’s will.

“Then Jesus explained: “My nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me, and from finishing his work.”

‭‭John‬ ‭4‬:‭34‬ ‭NLT‬‬

The Lord acknowledged that God’s will was His nourishment. Additionally, He made clear that He was not acting according to a will separate from that of the Father.

“For I have come down from heaven to do the will of God who sent me, not to do my own will.”

‭‭John‬ ‭6‬:‭38‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Rather than struggling over whether we are going to choose happiness or the will of the Lord, let us allow the Holy Spirit to transform us into being more and more like our Lord. As such, we will more and more find joy (true happiness) in doing what He desires. But make no mistake, that will never occur until our own will is put on the altar just as the Lord did.

The Lord wants to give you your heart’s desire; that happens when our desires begin to line up with His will.

There is no choice to be made between whether we will be happy or whether we will do God‘s will. The choice is whether or not we will submit our will to His. As we ask the Lord to form our desires according to His heart, we will see that we will have joy unspeakable and full of glory in our walk of obedience.

“Trust in the Lord and do good. Then you will live safely in the land and prosper. Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭37‬:‭3‬-‭4‬ ‭NLT‬‬

And, as an aside, how many people living their lives according to whatever they want, seem to be truly happy?

Today we lay to rest the false choice between happiness and obedience to God’s will.

#10daysoffalsechoices