Today's Devotion

It seems I have a constant struggle between wanting to know exactly what God wants me to do (step-by-step instructions, please) and believing that His will for me is simply to love Him and seek Him with all my heart. Yesterday the pendulum swung to the side of feeling like I need God to tell me, "Go be a doctor. Go to Food Lion and buy popsicles for the homeless. Go do X, Y, and Z." Once again I asked God to show me His will for my life. And this was this morning's devotion:

"Not as I will, but as You will" (Matt. 26:39).
"Because we want to follow God, we spend a lot of time trying to figure out His will for us. Sometimes instead of going through life enjoying fulfilling God's will, we actually go through life terrified that we're going to miss it. It can get pretty stressful.

Our tendency is to see God's will as a map. We live in fear that if we don't follow the map perfectly, God is going to get upset with us, or we're going to get off His number one "road" for our lives - never to get back on again. But that's not what God is like or how His will works at all.

God's will for your life is simply this: for you to be in constant, close fellowship with Him.

God wants us to follow Him. It's the difference between following a map and following a person. If someone gave you a map showing you how to get somewhere, you'd focus on the map. But if a person asks you to follow him, you'd focus on keeping your eyes on that person. God isn't going to give you a map of your life and send you on your way - there's no relationship in that. He wants you and Him to go on the adventure of you life together. That's His will for your life.

Stay in constant conversation with God and pursue closeness with Him above all else. Read His Word and get to know what He is like. Every day, choose to honor Him with your actions and words. Invite the Holy Spirit to guide and lead you.

Spend one-on-One time with God on a daily basis. As you go throughout your day, talk to Him about what you're seeing and experiencing, spend time getting to know Him in His Word, obey His commands, invite Him to lead you. As you do that, you'll grow closer to Him and learn more about Him. His Holy Spirit inside of you will guide you." (Journey, March 18)