Both Will and Work

Scripture: For it is God who is working in you both to will and to work according to his good purpose. Do everything without grumbling and arguing, so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God who are faultless in a crooked and perverted generation, among whom you shine like stars in the world. Philippians 2:13-15

Observation: Paul continues in his encouragement to the church in Philippi, pointing out that God himself is working within the believers. The movement of the Lord and his Holy Spirit within the church will align them to the purposes of the Lord ... it will align both their will (what they desire and hope for) and their work (what they do in his name to advance toward that will).

Again, work follows hand-in-hand with will. What the church does is an activity that reflects what the church is called to. For example, as the church is called to preach the gospel to non-believers, care for orphans and widows within their own body, and be a reflects of kindness and joy and honor even in the midst of a "crooked and perverted generation", then their actions must involve ... preaching and care and public kindness.

Application: I am seeing the repeated messages about work, and recognize I am in need of working again in my faith. I have served in many activities over the years, and honestly have grown weary as I have grown older. I can no longer just be the 'muscle' that moves heavy items in order to make programs work. My body just cannot do that anymore. As a result, I have backed off of active work on many activities.

My work needs to better align to my will. I still wish to serve the Lord's purposes of reaching others with the good news. Most of all, I wish to somehow - in a very real and demonstrable way - show those in our community whose lives are in total turmoil because they have embraced a lifestyle that mentally, morally, and physically opposes the Lord's guidance for living, that true joy and happiness is found in the Lord and in a life of following Jesus, and not within some post-modern philosophy, spiritual pursuit, political rhetoric, social cause, internal pronoun-based discovery, or physical human relationship.

I can't do that in my chair in my office, or in front of a TV in my family room, or through social media posts only my friends see anyway. I need to work according to the Lord's purpose. At this point, I am convinced that the Lord's purpose for our town and our region can only be one of two paths ... ambivalent surrender and eventual destruction, or miraculous and earthshaking revival. I should be figuring out how the Lord would like me to work in the context of his will.

Prayer: Lord, as I look to you for guidance in all things in life, please guide me on your path. I desire to actively walk with you, and thus work for you, serving others in alignment to your will. Amen.