“It is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” – Philippians 2:13

Dear Saints, What’s in your will? When we sit down to compose our Last Will and Testament, we carefully consider what’s most important to us. We seek to reflect our priorities – family, accountability, charity, faith – in the ways that our heard-earn assets will ultimately be distributed. We hope that this one last act will be one of care and generosity toward the people and causes that have meant the most to us. 

The word “will” appears many times throughout Scripture, but it doesn’t refer to this common legal document. Instead it refers to intention. The “will of God” is what God desires or intends for his creation. And in that context, to “do God’s will” is to align our desires and intentions with that of our Creator. Wow, sounds like a tall order, doesn’t it? First of all, to discern the mind of God could be an enormous and mind-bending undertaking. And then to align our own frail human wills with God’s own – how humbling indeed!

Thanks be to God for the work of the Trinity in this daunting task. Philippians 2 promises that “God is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for [God’s] good pleasure.” To know God’s mind and to align our will with his is not something we’re expected to do alone. Instead, God through the Holy Spirit is working to bring us closer and closer to his own heart. And in case we need an example, we look to Jesus. Jesus came to earth to reveal God in the flesh, to show the ways God’s will unfolds in human existence. Mimicking Jesus is no small task, but he prepares for us a way, and himself leads us on the way, so that with the help of the Holy Spirit, we may be welcomed into the Dance of Trinity.

May the Holy Spirit, through prayer and contemplation, reveal to you the will of God for your life. May our brother Christ lead you to more closely follow his ways. May the grace of God be yours, so that through you, all may know his love.

+ Pastor Ginger +