Ambition pays off in the future. Laziness pays off now.

Ambition pays off in the future. Laziness pays off now.

A few years ago I ran into one of my friends that had just finished her first semester of college. We chatted for a bit and much to my surprise, I discovered that she didn’t want to return to school. Apparently at this moment of her life, she had enough of higher education. So of course I asked her what her future plans were going to be since she had no immediate desire to continue going to school. She responded by saying she wanted to do whatever God wanted her to do. That would be great I told her, but what exactly did that mean? She answered by repeated that she wanted to do whatever God wanted her to do. So I asked how she would know what God wanted her to do. She said that whatever she would be doing this next year is what God wanted her to do. So being slightly frustrated at her responses, I let it be.

Why was I frustrated by her responses? After all they sound good. Don’t we all want to do whatever God wants us to do? Shouldn’t that be the goal of every Christian? Well sure. Like most of you, I want to do whatever God wants me to do. However, I am not going to just sit there and wait for whatever to happen. You may be wondering what I mean by this. I will expound. The Bible says, “Where there is no vision, the people perish” (Proverbs 29:18). This tells me that if you want to do what God wants you to do, you should have some sort of vision or goal. God wants you to have faith, but God’s faith is not blind faith. He will tell you exactly what he wants you to do (or what he doesn’t want you to do). He’s not just trying to string you along and make you stumble blindly through life. In fact he already said, “I know the plans I have for you” (Jeremiah 29:11).

Now, some of you may be able to relate to my friend. You may be saying, “hey, that sounds like me.” Or, “I want to do what God wants me to do, but I don’t have a vision yet.” Well, there are tons of ways to proceed from here. First of all, I would suggest that you ask. The Bible talks about asking in many places. In Matthew it says, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” (7:7-11) Now, here’s the secret. This is the key. When you ask God, ask him as specifically as possible. Notice the son asked for bread or a fish. He asked for something very specific. He didn’t just ask for whatever his father wanted to give him. When you pray do the same. Let’s revisit a verse from last week. Philippians says “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need” (4:6). The second part of that verse says to tell God what you need. Notice it’s not what you want but what you need. Again, be specific because it still commands you to tell God what you need. In another place it says, “You do not have, because you do not ask God” (James 4:2).

Now here’s the trick and I’ll wrap it up. If you’re really serious about finding a vision, knowing the will of God for your life or even just receiving, expect an answer. This means that you need to listen for an answer. Now the answer that God gives may not be what you expect even want, but if God answers you then you need to accept it no matter what it is. Remember, it’s God that knows the plan, not you. But I’ll tell you this, the more you pray specifically, the more you’ll be able to gain an understanding of the plan that God has for your life. If you pray in faith and are willing to accept a yes as well as a no answer (and sometimes God will tell you to just wait a little while) you’ll be able to start heading down the path God wants you to travel. And there is nothing like walking in the perfect will of God.

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