Deciding in community ... update

Almost two years ago, I can't believe it has been that long, I wrote a post entitled Deciding in Community. In it, I shared a letter that I wrote to our local body of believers asking for prayers and wisdom in discerning God's will. I was not just soliciting prayer for us; I was asking for people to pray that God would reveal to them also what His will was for our lives. While I was very much so convinced that I needed to follow that approach (read the letter for my rationale), I have never seen this done in my lifetime as a believer and was not sure what to expect, and as a matter of fact, that was precisely my answer when people asked me what I expected.

So how did it all work out, you might ask? Well, interestingly enough, God did precisely what I was praying He would do. As He worked in my heart to communicate to me that the job opportunity for which I had asked wisdom about accepting or declining was not what He had in store for us, He did the same in the hearts of my brothers and sisters in Christ. As I talked to several of them individually, one by one they told me that they just did not see us in Louisiana at that job. It was neat to see God work in that way.

Do I believe that He always works in that way? No, I never want to put God in a box. Do I think that we underestimate how God can communicate to the whole body about our lives? Yes. We have bought into a very individualistic society and individualistic Christianity and unfortunately often miss the corporate component of our faith. Ultimately, the bottom line is that as believers, our lives are not our own, our lives belong to the Father and He is in control of them. All we have to do is be obedient.

Since my post two years ago, I have seen many brothers and sisters make decisions, some with the help of the body, and some individually. In every case, my prayer has been that they would seek the will of the Father, not their own will, and that they would have the courage and boldness to do it. Personally, though, I pray that God will not just tell them, but that if it would be His will, that He would tell me also.

I find myself at another crosspoint in our lives: would you pray that the Father would let you know what it is I need to do? Looking forward to hearing from you ...