'New Beginnings' is the excited cry of 2008. A new year that ushers in resolutions and plans that supersede our previous years' wonderings. We vow to live better, healthier and happier lives. All of which is important and the evaluation of the prior years progress in crucial. However, in this attempt to recreate ourselves do we miss the voice of God? The voice that is telling us His will for our lives; the voice that knows the plans He has for us. We must seek after the revelation of God's abundant will and the discovery of His agenda through prayer.
We must realize that God is not impressed by our grand ideas and the efforts we put forth to accomplish what we believe to be a great feat. We become enamored by our own noble exploits and believe that God should be pleased and in awe of us. Yet our labors and intricate plans are nothing compared to what God has designed for us. "Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us" (Ephesians 3:20). God's plans out weigh and surpass the mere capability of our minds to imagine a plan that would even compare to His. We must not insist upon living out our own incisive agendas. We cannot operate outside of God's will and then ask God to bless it. We must seek the revelation of His abundant will and it will already be blessed.
God's will is not hidden from you; all you have to do is ask that it be revealed to you. The revelation of God's will, will not always unfold as neatly as we had planned or even take us in the direction we were heading. A complete turn around may be required. As Christians we must follow God's will even if it does not make sense to us at that moment. We can plan our course, but the Lord will determine our steps. God does not ask your opinion on where you would like to go or the people you would like to meet or what we think is best for our future. He doesn't need our opinion, because he already knows. In Galatians 1:12 Paul was called by God to preach the gospel and said "I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ." God's will begins with revelation.
We receive the needed revelation to God's will through prayer. Jesus is our example to follow. He separated himself from the masses and prayed to God in the early mornings so as to keep his mission set by God on the right path. When Jesus was tempted by the devil to follow the ways of the world, He prayed (Matthew 4). "One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray and spent the night praying to God" (Luke 6:12); when he had prayed all night he was ready to select His twelve disciples. Jesus prayed to God before miracles took place. When Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead and they rolled away the stone to his tomb, He said "…Father, I thank you that you have heard me" (John 11:41). Prayer preceded all the happenings in Jesus' life including His walk to the cross. Jesus sought revelation from the Father to walk out the calling upon His life. How much more important is it for us to seek the Lord in prayer to discover the revelation of His glorious agenda for our lives?
With prayer and revelation we will walk in God's agenda for our lives and we will be shown the way; step by step. "Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them. Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying "This is the way; walk in it"" (Isaiah 30:20-21). Gods' people must live by revelation. Each new revelation from God is a chance and the hope for a new beginning. ~Rebecca Williams
