Sunglasses

     I want to be fully honest with you; I want to know God’s will for my life.

Wait, you too?

     Some days I earnestly pray all day that God would just shine light over the unknown so I can better follow Him.  So I can know what to do.  I do not need a booming voice from the Heavens or a burning bush to tell me what God’s will is for my life.  However, a nice little letter in the mail, an email, or even a Facebook message from God would suffice.  Honestly, anything would be enough; I simply want to know which path to take.  I just want to know.

     In one of his songs, Chris Rice says that he would take “No” for an answer just to know he heard God speak because sometimes trying to see God’s will for his life is like trying to “Smell the color nine.”  That is how I feel too.  If I were to get a “No” from God when I ask about something, I would be content, because at least I know for sure that that is not the path to take.  However, every once and a while, I do not feel like I get a “Yes” or “No.”  People might say that is God’s “Wait,” but sometimes I feel like I need to act right away.  So what do I do?  I squint past the situation and try to see through to the thick, foggy future.

     In Psalm 119:105 it says, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.”  This verse intrigues me.  God could have inspired these words to say that His word is a headlamp to our path.  Picture a miner with his light attached to his helmet as he sets out into a vast, dark tunnel.  Sometimes I wish that that is what it said, because a headlamp shines ahead of where we stand—at least five paces ahead.  We would be able to see what was ahead, but the present would be darkened—God didn’t want that.  If it were this way, we would be left in the darkness with no comfort except seeing our own destiny; robbing us of contentment for the now and taking away the ability to learn and experience the simple joys of the season we are in.  God says He will never leave us or forsake us—He will never leave His children in the dark.

     The verse also could have compared God’s word to a lantern—something that we guide and control.  With a lantern, we have the power to shine the light over whichever area of our path we desire to see more clearly.  Essentially, we are guiding our own lives—there is no reason for us to yield to God’s will and His sovereignty.  In effect, we are leading ourselves.  But God didn’t say that either.  He purposely said His word is a lamp to our feet.  Or in other words, this situation, this day, this choice.

     God has been teaching me a lot through this verse lately.  His light is shining over today.  In other words, we have this step clear to us, and not until we take that leap of faith, do we see the next step clearly.  The choices I am to make today are being made known to me when I need to know them—in His perfect time.

     So often I miss these revelations.  I put sunglasses on, fading the brightness of God’s grace over my present situation to squint and interpret the future.  I worry over the crashing waves in the distance before I ever even step out of the boat.  I miss God’s hands aiding and guiding me over those deafening waves because I am fearing the dark clouds looming in the distance.  When all I need to do is keep my eyes fixed on Jesus, on His light, to guide me—which He is ever doing through His grace.

     One of my most favorite hymns is by a woman named Helen H. Lemmel.  In the chorus she writes, “Turn your eyes upon Jesus; look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.”  When Ms. Lemmel wrote this song, she had already been blind for years; having to trust God with each step.  While I desire to know God’s will spiritually, as do all Christians, she had to rely on God’s hand even physically.  Her hymn goes along with our verse from Psalm 119.  When we worry about the future—what is to come, and where we should be—we are allowing the fear of the world to take over our hearts and minds—to cloud our vision.  But when we focus on Jesus’ face, His wonderful, all-forgiving face, all of that grows dim in the midst of His glory.

     While it may seem somewhat unfair to have only the present situation in the light, God does not leave us without anything to go by.  Philippians chapter four, verses six and seven, say that when we present our requests and desires to God, His peace will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.  This peace doesn’t always tell us straight out what God’s will is for our lives, but it transcends understanding.  An understanding that God is good that He will never leave us in the dark.  A peace that God knows and is guiding and purposing, all we need to do is learn to trust Him.

     I am still learning to take off my sunglasses and focus on the light of today’s step, and in that God’s grace abounds—praise Him!  So I do not know what His full will is for my life—I don’t know where I will go to college, when I will get married, or even who I will marry, for that matter; I do not know how many children I will have or what turns my life might take—but what I do know is that God has given me peace.  Peace for the present, a peace to trust Him.

     P.S.  I have to admit; I know a piece of what God’s will for your life is.  Would you like to know?  Funny thing is, it’s the same as mine.  His word will shed light over it.  Just read 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, and remember to take off your sunglasses.  Praise God.

“My heart of faith keeps pounding so I know I’m doing find, but sometimes finding You, is just like trying to smell the color nine… Nine’s not a color, and even if it were you can’t smell a color. That’s my point exactly.”  - Chris Rice, “Smell The Color Nine”