Understanding God's Will
Over a year ago I read the book, Understanding God’s Will, by the now deceased Kyle Lake. It’s not an academic treatise, but quite humorously and honestly explores some of the questions that have always resided just below the surface when I’ve thought about the will of God. Anyhow, I was looking through my journal and thought that I would share with you several quotes that stood out to me:
"Mark [1:16-20] is communicating something profound about the invitation to being an apprentice of Jesus. What Mark is communicating is that being an apprentice of Jesus is central to everything else in our lives. It is not a side issue. It is not a peripheral aspect of life. It cannot be compartmentalized. In fact, it’s so pervasive that it defines who you are" (p. 27).
"It seems pretty evident that the life of a disciple encountered all sorts of wild adventures, but an apprentice of Jesus in the first century could bank on this: A life of ease was never promised nor was it expected… Where in the world did we get the idea that God’s will for our lives would entail a life of ease and safety?" (p. 39)
"… It seems as though so much of our time, energy, stress, and thought space goes into alleviating 'the unknowns.' And yet 'the unknowns' are inherent to life. Jesus never seemed to give the disciples a heads-up on what to expect… A major misconception about God’s will… [is] that God’s will is the path of least resistance" (p. 40).
"... Herin lies another myth about God’s will—namely, that God’s will revolves around what you do. And the reason that is a myth is because God’s primary will does not revolve around what you do, but who you are and who you are becoming" (p. 92).
"Mark [1:16-20] is communicating something profound about the invitation to being an apprentice of Jesus. What Mark is communicating is that being an apprentice of Jesus is central to everything else in our lives. It is not a side issue. It is not a peripheral aspect of life. It cannot be compartmentalized. In fact, it’s so pervasive that it defines who you are" (p. 27).
"It seems pretty evident that the life of a disciple encountered all sorts of wild adventures, but an apprentice of Jesus in the first century could bank on this: A life of ease was never promised nor was it expected… Where in the world did we get the idea that God’s will for our lives would entail a life of ease and safety?" (p. 39)
"… It seems as though so much of our time, energy, stress, and thought space goes into alleviating 'the unknowns.' And yet 'the unknowns' are inherent to life. Jesus never seemed to give the disciples a heads-up on what to expect… A major misconception about God’s will… [is] that God’s will is the path of least resistance" (p. 40).
"... Herin lies another myth about God’s will—namely, that God’s will revolves around what you do. And the reason that is a myth is because God’s primary will does not revolve around what you do, but who you are and who you are becoming" (p. 92).
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