When we think of the will of God we are often concerned for not just this moment, this specific decision, but how this choice will affect everything down the road, trying to discern the ramifications of what we are about to choose. That often paralyzes us, making it difficult to make the choice and then time moves on and our indecision becomes our decision. We have to stop doing that. We know that moment is part of a larger whole, so that when you make that decision (like Paul saying yes to Jesus on the Damascus road) the significance of that event echoes down the long chain of God’s will,. It affects not just your life, but everyone you will ever meet and interact with from that moment through the rest of eternity as well as who they meet and interact with. It even affects the ripples flowing out that choice that you cannot begin to see.
At the moment Paul lay in the road, blinded, when the Philippian jailer saw all the cell doors had been opened by the earthquake, and when Lydia chose to conduct her business in a specific location, these points of choice changed everything for them, and indeed for us and all of history. I could go on, but you get the drift. One thing that you need to know, and that is that when you try to find the will of God, it does not lead you to an isolated experience (though you must make that choice when it is offered) but to one connection in the infinite web of God’s will for all eternity. Your decision has a place, just like a single tile has its place in the larger mosaic. Nothing you do is without consequences, without outflowing ripples that will take eternity to propagate and understand, since at any given moment, the full impact of any a single choice is only understood in the mind and will of God. That leaves me in a quandary, since except for some very obvious consequences, I have no idea how my current choice will affect the rest of history. Only God knows that. It is not my job to know that.
As a result, when I now approach God about what is his will for my life, I am going to focus only on apprehending the one decision he is asking me to make right now and leave the complexity of figuring out the future ramifications to him. What do you want me to do right now Lord? Is there something I need to address today? So I guess you could say that I have come full circle, from being concerned about isolated moments, to seeing the interconnected eternal aspects of those moments and now back to being concerned about single decisions. However, even though I will now try to focus on the single decisions I face, I cannot ever forget how each of those events are interdependent/interconnected with all the other events going on throughout the eternal web of God’s will. I will have to take into consideration some of the obvious consequences of my decision. However, my job, which is more focused now, and that is to just make the best choice that I can for this decision and let God deal with all the rest. If I am doing what God wants me to do, none of that depends on me. It is only the choice in front of me right now that is my responsibility.
So, where does that leave us? It means that the peace that passes all understanding will guard our heart and mind in the assurance of our salvation in Jesus Christ knowing that we can trust God in each decision he asks us to make to know and guide us into what is the best course for us and the future. He has promised us that he will make everything turn out right in the end (Romans 8:28). After all he’s God and that’s his job. It definitely is not mine or yours or anyone else’s. And, even if we fail, we know that there is forgiveness and restitution, for God has even factored our failures into his sovereign plan. You can trust God to have your back.
