The Will to Live
by Victoria Tkachuk

Reading through the New Testament is like reading an old journal; you are reminded so much of where you have come from and where you intended to be going. Yet it differs in so many wonderful ways, the greatest being that the Church, though the enemy in many forms tries to convince us otherwise, is growing. It is being strengthened. Granted it is not growing in this country, at least not very noticeably, but it is growing around the world. China, India and parts of the Middle East are believing on Christ in droves by the day.


Why is this happening? Or, how is this happening? Believers are accepting more easily now, perhaps, the will of God in their lives. And when you know God's will, and how it is tailored to your unique circumstances and gifts, life becomes a whole lot simpler. So what is His will for you, for me, for all of us?


It may not be as unclear as we sometimes make it out to be: He wants us to grow the Church, of which Jesus is the head, by apologetically encouraging unbelievers to become a part of it. Once joined, He wants us to have a special heart for nurturing and building these new members up, training them doctrinally and theologically so that they can go on build it up more, and so it goes. Simple as that sounds, I believe it is the ultimate answer to any doubts we have about where we find ourselves geographically, who we find ourselves associating with and what occupations we find ourselves doing.


"But it really isn't that simple," you might object, "There are all sorts of details, specific questions that must be addressed before knowing if our immediate circumstances are according to God's will or not!" I sympathize with you. I, too, often become nervous to the point of exhaustion wondering if the actions of today were God's will, or whether I was working against Him by doing what I did, or similar queries. And although today is a part of history and is, thus, can be evaluated on a daily basis, I strongly encourage you to dissect His story as little as possible. For God's story is not bound in time because God is not bound in time, so it may do little good to try and see what is happening today in accordance to God's will.

"For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor?" (Romans 11:34)

There is nothing we can do to add to the Lord's counsel, His direction for us, His choices. We cannot know His mind, except to know that His mind is the mind, and our minds are derived from Him.

"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service" (Romans 12:1).

Every day present yourself as a living sacrifice to Him, and rest in the belief that He is doing something with you eternally even though you are bound by time yourself and cannot fathom what He could possibly do with, in my case, a miserable, disobedient sinner who just wants to know everything He's up to.

"And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God" (Romans 12:2).

So long as you are being transformed, and you will know this in your mind (not by your feelings), you will become less attached to the world and less curious to know what He is doing with you right now. You will begin to dream about what He could possibly be doing with you eternally. And then, someday, you will find that you are done daydreaming, but instead you are living out God's will without even realizing it.

If you reprint my article to a website, please e-mail me to let me know:  velcrotkachuk@gmail. I'm trying to keep track for my portfolio. Thanks!

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