SEPTEMBER 3 "IS GOD'S WILL SMOOTH?"

     WE are a people that looks "for signs" and try to base our assumptions on that.  If we have problems with weather and a flat tire on a road trip, only Christians begin to wonder, "should I have taken this road trip?" The unreligious person will just deal with the bad weather, fix to flat tire and move on.  We determine "the will of God" the same way.  When everything is out of joint and going wrong, we begin to think, "maybe this isn't the will of God?".  Is the "Will of God" always smooth and everything goes right; nothing goes wrong".  In our text today we read "For when we came into Macedonia, this body of ours had no rest, but we were harassed at every turn-conflicts on the outside, fears within." 

     HOWEVER in the Book of Acts we had read this original story, how Paul was describes to us the dream he had in which the Angel was calling him, beckoning him to go to Macedonia. Paul was going to another city, to Bithynia (you can read it on the June 24th reading) and is prevented from going there and called to go to Macedonia.  And so Paul is obedient, and goes to Macedonia and we never hear another thing about it, until...TODAY!  And we find out, it was a nightmare.  It didn't go smooth at all.  I'm sure Paul thought to himself, "am I in the right place, did I really hear from God?" Why would Paul ask himself that, why would you ask yourself that?  The answer...because it's rough, not everything is going smooth, there's problems, conflict.  Wow, you sound just like Paul now.  And we know that Paul was in "the will of God".  Yes, things can go terribly wrong when we are outside the will of God. But that does not mean every time, there's problems, ....it's up to us to be able to discern.  How do we discern?  Easy!  You don't discern by "the problems" (problems come from both situations) you discern if God dealt with you in advance to you going or making that decision.   God doesn't wait 'till we arrive and then start dealing with us. Why would he do that and what good would it do?  He starts dealing with us in advance as he did with Paul.  "don't go to Bithynia" and Paul didn't.  So now, Paul having problems in Macedonia, he can have peace of mind, that he is in God's will and the problems are not a sign from God.  They are simply life and perhaps demonic opposition.  Is God's will always smooth?  Absolutely not, but we can eventually get through and be victorious.  If it's not God's will, you're not gonna get thru and be victorious and the sooner you turn around and go back; the sooner things will get better for you. 

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