Live in God's WillSample

                             Part One: What is God’s Will for Us to Become?

DAY 5: Live in God’s will by becoming a suffering servant. 

We do not long to suffer. Suffering is painful and takes significant character to endure over time. Unfortunately, we cannot avoid suffering if we want to live in the will of God. God asks us to surrender whatever we love that is not in line with His Word. Not giving into our longings and desires that are ungodly will feel like continual suffering. It’s hard to not gratify our flesh. Our fleshly temptations are not just about sex, but also about drunkenness and idolatry. When we are intoxicated, we aren’t alert to the sin around us. We exhibit less self-control and often have a hard time saying no to other fleshly desires. Getting drunk puts our guard down, and we become vulnerable to the attack of the enemy who wants to destroy us. 

Idolatry is anything we long for more than intimacy with Christ. It’s what we go to when life gets hard or overwhelming. What idols might you have in your life? Who or what do you go to instead of Christ? It can be a lot of different things. We may engage in self-harm to try to ease our emotional pain. We may shop at the mall and spend more money than we have in the bank, thinking that’ll bring joy. We may indulge in food for comfort. We may escape to alternate realities through video games, addictive TV shows, or apps on our phones to avoid what’s happening in our lives. We may go to relationships and sex for affirmation and acceptance. We may go to success for respect and purpose. None of these things are more sinful than the others. The sin is the fact that we go to these things rather than to God. That is the sin of idolatry. If we want to be in the will of God, we must surrender whatever we love that is not following His Word. We cannot live in sin and be in the will of God. 

Some of us may feel like we have sinned so much that God can never really use us for greater impact. But that is a lie from the pit of hell. Satan wants us to think that our sin has disqualified us from experiencing God’s plan for our lives. That is not the case. It is when we choose to turn from our sin and experience the suffering of obedience that we can walk in God’s will and make an eternal impact with our lives. 

The men and women of the Bible who had the most impact for God’s Kingdom weren’t the ones with the least amount of sin. They were those who had repentant, humble, teachable hearts. It’s not about how far from holiness you are. It’s about being committed to growing and becoming more like Him daily. It is a journey, a process. Even when it feels like suffering, it is worth it. As sin is purged out of our lives, we are able to live out God’s will for us and make an impact on those around us. We will become His suffering servant.

· How have you suffered to live in obedience to God and His Word?

· How might you have been mocked or even persecuted for pursuing God’s ways and not the world’s ways? Why is it still worth it? 

PRAYER:

Lord, please renew my mind when it comes to embracing suffering for the sake of holiness and obedience to You. Continue to purge sin out of my life so that I’m not led by my human passions but led to do Your will. Holy Spirit, empower me where my fleshly desires are strong. Give me the strength to say “no” to them and “yes” to God’s will. Amen.