Have you ever said, “I just want to know God’s will?”
It’s a question many believers ask in the face of a dilemma or a difficult decision. We may stand at a crossroads, looking at two different paths before us, and don’t know which way to go. We fear the unknown and want God to make it clear which path is better than the other. We just want to know what to do. There are times where we need wisdom in a complex situation and we desire God to provide that wisdom. We pray for God to help us make decisions that glorify him, that are in keeping with what he has called us to do.
There are inevitably times in life when we search God’s word for wisdom and what we find clashes with our wants and desires. We read the Bible and find that our plans conflict with God’s revealed will—that what we desire is sinful and we are called to turn from it. In that moment, it is tempting to step back and say, “Did God really say…?” Or to attempt to bend what God says to conform to our own will. Or to deny his will altogether and do what we want to do anyway.
In the book of Jeremiah, we see God’s people desire to know God’s will, or at least that’s what they say they want. After the king of Babylon destroyed Jerusalem and took most of the people into captivity, he left behind a small remnant to tend to the fields. The king also placed a governor over them. But a man named Ishmael led a revolt and killed the governor (Jer. 41). The people were afraid of what the king would do to them. They thought they ought to flee to Egypt. So they asked the prophet Jeremiah to tell them what God wanted them to do. They asked for God’s will: “Let our plea for mercy come before you, and pray to the LORD your God for us, for all this remnant—because we are left with but a few, as your eyes see us—that the LORD your God may show us the way we should go, and the thing that we should do” (Jer. 42:2-3). They then promised to do whatever God said.
Jeremiah then brought them God’s response: "
“If you will remain in this land, then I will build you up and not pull you down; I will plant you, and not pluck you up; for I relent of the disaster that I did to you. Do not fear the king of Babylon, of whom you are afraid. Do not fear him, declares the LORD, for I am with you, to save you and to deliver you from his hand. I will grant you mercy, that he may have mercy on you and let you remain in your own land. But if you say, ‘We will not remain in this land,’ disobeying the voice of the LORD your God and saying, ‘No, we will go to the land of Egypt, where we shall not see war or hear the sound of the trumpet or be hungry for bread, and we will dwell there,’ then hear the word of the LORD, O remnant of Judah. Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: If you set your faces to enter Egypt and go to live there, then the sword that you fear shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine of which you are afraid shall follow close after you to Egypt, and there you shall die” (42:10-16).
God called them to stay in the land and not flee to Egypt. He tells them he will plant them there and they will be fruitful. He calls them to trust in him, to fear him and not the king of Babylon. He promises them mercy and deliverance. But if they disobey and leave for Egypt, he warns them of punishment.
As it turns out, they don’t like what God has to say. They decide Jeremiah must be lying to them. After all, he didn’t tell them what they wanted to hear. So they go to Egypt, where they wanted to go from the beginning (Jer. 43). They didn’t trust God and sought salvation apart from him.
Isn’t that what got them into trouble in the first place? Their relentless pursuit of idolatry brought Babylon to their gates. They turned from God to pursue false saviors and he punished them by sending Babylon to defeat them. The ink was barely dried on the their new passports when they once again turned their hearts from God, seeking salvation apart from him.
In terms of their encounter with the prophet, God’s people had already determined what they would do; they didn’t want to know God’s will, they wanted his will to conform to their plans. They wanted his will shaped to fit theirs. And when it didn’t, they did what they wanted to do anyway.
The truth is, it is always God’s will that we trust him alone for salvation. It is always God’s will that we cast aside all attempts at self-rescue or deliverance from a counterfeit god. And it is always God’s will that we do what his word tells us to do.
I can’t help but think of my own wayward heart as I read these chapters in Jeremiah—as I thought of the times I’ve done the same. The times when my own foolish desires resisted doing what I know God’s word says. When I tried to find ways to fit my will in and around God’s word, bending it to shape what I want. And in the end, it revealed that I truly did not want to know God’s will at all.
But praise the Lord for his mercy! God knew what was in the people’s hearts. He knew their intentions. He knew they would turn and make their way to Egypt. And he knows what is in my own heart—the false saviors I trust in, my sinful desires, and rebellious pursuits. That’s why he sent Jesus, the One who perfectly lived the will of God. The One who cried out, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done” (Luke 22: 42). The One who walked into God’s will, fulfilling the plan created in eternity past to bear the sins of his people.
God is merciful when we are unfaithful.
Father, create in me a clean heart and renew a right spirit within me. Through your Spirit at work in me, help me to want what you want. Shape my desires and plans to align with yours. Thank you for Jesus, my savior and deliverer. He alone rescues me from my sin. Help me to turn from all counterfeit loves and serve you alone.
In Jesus’ name, amen.
Photo by Taylor Heery on Unsplash
