Fences do not just keep things out...

For a few years now we have talked a lot about fences and walls in the country- and I do not mean that as a political statement, I mean it as an actual telling of history. We have talked walls and fences to death. In the middle of all of these conversations is a debate on the purpose of walls and fences keeping people out of areas- that is one of the purposes of fences, but there is another purpose as well- to keep people and things in certain areas as well. Which is actually the purpose we are more concerned about when it comes to the fence at our house.

We have 4 kids and a dog that we love very much, and we do not want to see them harmed in any way. As some of you know, Jess and I live on Rt 11, so traffic is always humming outside our house. So what did we do? We put in a fence. This fence, not designed to keep anything out, but to keep our kids and pets in and safe from what was outside. We tell our boys, everything inside this fence is fair game, have at it! Run and play, you can be on the swing set or in the yard, or on the porch- we do not care, just stay in the fence. Same concept in the house, our house is free and you can play wherever you want- your room, the living room, the play room, wherever, just stay in the house.

I believe that God’s will is more like a fence, and less like turn by turn navigation. Let me explain. What many of us want/seek/hope for is a GPS God that sits on our dashboards and tells us which turn to make and how far to go, but most of the time, that is not how God operates; not even in the story of Scripture.

Instead, I see God’s will operating more as a fence in the story of Scripture. God sets up rules, ethics, morals, and parameters in his Bible and by his will and gives us freedom to live our lives inside of them, and in rare occasion but have specific direction for our lives, but these are anomalies and not regularities.

So, let’s unpack this concept. What is the fence of God’s will, then? What sets the boundary- well it is found in . The boundary is living a holy and sanctified life. The ethical and moral boundaries of the Bible set the fence, and inside the fence is freedom.

What if, then, the only things that God allowed into the fence of your life were things that benefitted you- because guess what- that is exactly true. Listen to what Jesus says in -10 “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; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.  “Which of you, if your 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!  So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

9 “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 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! 12 So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

English Standard Version Chapter 7

7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? 11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), .

God brings good things to us, the problem is that many times we leave the fence and do things or bring things back into the fence and the act as though it was God that did it.

God brings good things to us, the problem is that many times we leave the fence and do things or bring things back into the fence and the act as though it was God that did it.

But how does that help us in making decisions, especially when there are options? Personally, I think it liberates us, because we can know that our God is not a snake giver. Here’s what I mean by that. It gives me peace to know that I can pray and use the mind, will, and desire that God himself gave me to make my decisions, and that if I am against God’s will I can fully trust him to stop it, or make it obvious that I need to change direction. You see, for too long we have painted this picture that God gives us options in hopes that we choose the right one- that there is one right answer and if we choose any other one we will be outside the will of God and forced to live our lives cursed by God until we get back into his will.

Does that really make sense, knowing what we know about God? Let me ask you a question, what if your kids found a big rusty knife in your yard, and started playing with it? Would you stand back and allow them to do it, hoping they would make the right choice? Of course not. So, why do we project this idea on God?

What if God guides us in our decision making, but not nearly as directly as we sometimes portray? Let me read to you some verses that seem to outline the will of God.

: Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, to acknowledge those who work hard among you, who care for you in the Lord and who admonish you. Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other. And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone. Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else. Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not treat prophecies with contempt but test them all; hold on to what is good, reject every kind of evil.  May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.

: For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives,  so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light.

So, if God’s number one will for your life is Christlikeness, this should be our number one priority. When we say yes to Jesus we are also saying yes to a new kind of value system, and a new set of priorities for our lives. So, when you wonder “what is God’s will for my life?” The first answer is simple and the same for every person in this room- to grow in Christlikeness. When we are striving for that and our first priority in life is holiness listen to the promise Jesus made in  “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?  Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?  Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?  “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin.  Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), .

The New International Version Chapter 6

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), .

Did you catch it? God will add these things to you- you wont have to fret and worry and force them, they will happen. So, while God does have a will for you, that will may be more freeing and less ambiguous than many of us may have dreamed.

The question becomes, do we trust that God is going to bring it to us or not? Is God’s sovereignty limited to just telling us what he wants, or is God’s sovereignty so big that he simply filters out things that he does not want for us, and allows us freedom to chose with what is left- by the way this is exactly what Paul said in the very first part of Ephesians 1:11 In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will,  in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.

The New International Version Chapter 1

11 In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, 12 in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.

The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), .

So the point is, God will make it happen- it is his to do not ours to fabricate. While we are called to discern, we are not called to be tortured in the discernment process. God’s will is not oppressive, it is freeing.

16 Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), .

See, here’s the thing, God’s will and free will are not always in opposition. Remember, God gave is free will- it is a gift, not a sin. God loves us so much that he allows us space to make decisions.

19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not treat prophecies with contempt but test them all; hold on to what is good, reject every kind of evil.  May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.

23 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.

The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), .