God's Will, Your Path, Your Sin

I keep coming across this issue this year, it seems a great many people are vexed concerning these three subjects.

God's Will
I rather firmly believe the short quip from the Four Spiritual Laws, "God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.".

Really, based on experience alone, it seems almost the opposite at times!  Yeah, Kris sometimes needs smacked by a God sized bat to understand what God wants him to do!  I have the lumps to prove it.

But, as I have studied and mulled over the concept of God's will these past 13 months, yeah - God does have a plan for what we are to accomplish in this life.  We can do it willingly or we can do it at the end of a God sized bat.  (On December 31st my post about this year will have some interesting comments concerning this....)

I have discussed before the differences between God's Determinative Will and His Permissive Will.  Suffice it to say that there are those things you will do because He demands it (via baseball bat, if nothing else) and those things which He allows but are immaterial to what you are going to do.

Your Path
So for you to accomplish what you must, you have a series of exercises you must meet in order to be prepared for what He really wants you to do.  By trusting God, relying upon His directing  your path, you will get there - for what ever purposes He had in mind.  Important point here is that you are doing something God wants you to do - not what you necessarily want to do!

So, what is on your path?  Well, maybe it involves marriage, a family, a car, a house, a dog, a million dollars - everything you have always wanted (usually thanks to Hollywood teaching you humanism).  And it might all be permissive, God does not really care, He wants from you what you are to accomplish for Him.  So, scratch the marriage, the family, the car, the house, the dog, the million dollars and you would still be on the path you were to be on - with His ultimate goal still in view!

We have to learn to see life from God's perspective, not from our situation in life.  Nothing is impossible for Him, nothing of lasting value is possible for us.

Your Sin
And as I have been forced to watch, for a second time in my life - a loved one choosing to break their path.  Yes,  you can rebel against God Himself, to the extent that He retracts His interaction in your life - ends your path - ends His expectations of you.  Sure you have the ability to repent, but your life will never be what it could have been from that point on - and repentance is far more than just a prayer when we are talking this level of sin!  You get to swallow a sour pill called pride and repent to everyone impacted by your rebellion.  REBELLION is one of the big four sins that God has great concern over and does judge harshly, because you are taking a stand against Him.  You can add MURDER, SEXUAL IMPURITY and WITCHCRAFT to round out that list, all of which are stands against yourself and fellow man (and ultimately God).  There are no take backs on these sins.  Only under American Theology can you accomplish this and expect the fluffy teddy bear god in heaven to interact with you as usual.  Sorry, but that is not Christianity, it is HUMANISM and PAGANISM.

Yes, God can and will forgive you of almost anything, however there are consequences for all sin, not just the big four.  So, you did not blaspheme the Holy Spirit, cool you can be forgiven and will be forgiven when you confess your failure to God.  But, that does not lessen the consequences for you.  You may have to be executed by man for murder, you may carry and suffer the effects of any STD for the rest of your life, you may lead a very frustrating and unproductive religious life (due to the cost of rebellion and witchcraft), you may have to crawl before those you have harmed for their forgiveness.  Yeah, but at least you can be forgiven - which is EVERYTHING!  Your eternal standing is far more important than comforts in this life!  But, that does not reset everything.....
 
Conclusion
Under American Theology, god's will, your path and sin are all sort of like playing Lets Make A Deal.  Remember that TV show?  You can pick from curtain number 1, 2 or 3, but oh by the way, you can have what is in the box instead.  Oh the pain, the torture, which to pick!?!?!?  Choose wrong and you go home empty handed, pick that right one and  you get the house, the car, the dog, the marriage, the family and the million dollars!  But, that is not how the REAL God works.

The REAL God has a purpose for you in mind from when He first created you.  That purpose is perfect, honors Him and you by extension (at least in His eyes).  He knows if you are going to be His or not.  He knows what the goal is for you.  He knows the best path for taking you there.  He knows He might have to make some corrections along the way - because like everyone, you are going to fail, unless you are Jesus, but then He has already been and gone, so we know you are going to fail if you have a belly button.

In reality your path through God's Will is actually more like a GPS system.  You have a starting point, He knows your destination, now how do you get there?  You sin, you break the perfect path, God goes into recalculating mode.  Destination remains the same but now you will need to adjust your tasks (path) to get you there because now you are no longer on the original path.  You sin more, you path needs to be adjusted again, again, again, again, ad nauseum (whoops talking about me again!).  Even if you violate God's four biggies - He will continue to adjust that path for as long as it takes to get you where He needs you to be!  And yes, He can and will still use you if you repent!  And that is the important point here - He DOES NOT give up on you, He DOES NOT forgive you and then continue to punish you.  When He forgives it is perfect forgiveness: complete, final, without further penalty.  But, just remember that bitter pill; you will still have to pay for what you did do, to set right your self before your fellow man and God. 

But, the car, the house, the picket fence, the dog, the family, the spouse, the million dollars, where are they?!?!?!?  They may well have never been a part of His plan for your life and/or path.  Perhaps God might have allowed it, and we have no right to second guess God here, He may still allow us our desires, but we do not know, nor do we have the right to demand!  It is His perfect Will we must seek, not our own desires, or we will end up right back at paganism.

When you can approach the real God with a broken heart and a broken spirit (use the word contrite instead of broken, if it is more meaningful to you), God will hear your voice and act - but not before.  It is unfortunate that most of us only can do this when we are in sin and feeling guilty.  God wants your broken spirit all of the time before Him, not the prideful creation we offer Him.  And if you slip into false piety, guess what - He is not going to be listening again!
When you can empty yourself of all expectations, other than to serve God - at His leisure, He can and will use you.
When you have accomplished His Will for your life, no He isn't going to kill you! (though that can be a blessing!), He will use you and all of your life experiences as a witness, as a tool, in others lives so that they to may accomplish their tasks in life.  And when I think of a those whom care for the elderly saints, yeah, now there is a blessing .....

So, if you can understand this post, I am very happy indeed.  Because you do not know of the heartache it took for me to discover the REAL God and finally understand the God whom is there, the God whom does love, God whom does forgive, the God whom does have your best interests at heart, the God whom does listen to a broken spirit.....