Intentional Pursuit

“If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority.”

– John 7:17

God desires a genuine response from His loved ones, not a forced response toward Him. He sometimes conceals things from us and patiently waits for us to draw them out. It even seems on occasion that He pursues us and then steps back, provoking our hearts to search for Him with an intense desire. As one man wrote, “He conceals Himself, His voice, His specific will, His reasons, in ways that are sometimes frustratingly obscure for us.” Yet He does this to reveal true faith in Him. Those simply looking for religious practice will give up the search. Those who truly belong to Him continue seeking and discovering His will.

God’s will for our lives is revealed and confirmed through His Word. Indeed, He uses circumstances in life to provoke our conscience, yet the direction must align with Scripture. After all, if Scripture and conscience tell us a direction is sinful, we must not continue down that path.

When we reduce what we know and put it into practice, we will know our duty to practice. Believers who sincerely desire to do God’s will, place themselves in the direction He is headed. On the road of obedience, God reveals His plans for us. “Obedience is the organ of spiritual knowledge.” And “a good understanding have all those who do His commandments” (Psalm 111:10). Be intentional and place yourself in God’s path today and discover those truths waiting for you to find.

“Thou dost not move men like stones, but dost endue them with life, not to enable them to move without thee, but in submission to thee, the first mover.”

– A Puritan Prayer