“In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” (Prov. 3:6)
The Lord will guide you; He will lead you, provide for you and protect you, He will at times even put words in your mouth, He will make your path smooth or rough, easily seen or not so easily seen at times. But there is one thing He will not do, and I do not believe He ever has, He will not force you to walk it.
“Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.” (Luke 22:42)
Moses tried to talk his way out of following that path at the bush that burned but was not consumed, Jonah thought he would go the other direction that was set before him, but even when the fish spat him out onto dry land, he could have disobeyed. Peter thought violence was the path to take that night in the garden.
The following verse is just one of many that offers this truth, that even after we have been born-again, even after we have been hid in Christ and received eternal life, we still maintain our free will, we are servants of the Most High God who can decide for ourselves if we will walk the path set before us.
“If ye love me, keep my commandments.” (John 14:15)
You have to want to serve, you have to want to obey, you have to be willing to walk the path set before you, no matter what lays ahead, no matter if you can see it clearly or not.
“Save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me.” (Acts 20:23)
Yet Paul walked forward.
“And he prayed unto the LORD, and said, I pray thee, O LORD, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil.” (Jonah 4:2)
And so Jonah walked for three days through enemy territory.
If you do not obey, the Lord will either punish you, “And it came to pass by the way in the inn, that the LORD met him, and sought to kill him.” (Exo. 4:24) or He will find someone else to fulfill His purpose in that particular scenario, and you will be left on that part of the path to contemplate your disobedience, your lack of desire to serve, to consider why you do not love Him enough to obey Him.
My friends, if I did not choose to obey and write these letters as He has commanded me to, He would find someone else to write them, and all the studying of His Word, all my prayers to be used in a different manner than what He desires are for me would avail me nothing.
“Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?” (Romans 9:20)
An empty vessel does not tell the One who fills it what to fill it with and how much, a servant makes no demands on his Master. But the gift of free will, even unto those who have been crucified with Christ allows us to do so, and sadly many have done just that. And for the reason of inconvenience towards their own plans, their own desires, because of the possible rebukes of friends and family members, of being ostracized from the world they are to hate, because of the fear of possible persecutions, of fear, of selfish ambitions, many say to the Most High, “No Lord, not that way.”
They are loved by Him who gave all for them, they will spend eternity in His Kingdom, but they are not profitable to it, and will lose rewards because of their disobedience, because of their desires placed above His.
To fulfill our purpose in this life for His glory is to walk the path without reservations, questioning at times, but never stopping to the point of disobedience.
“Thy will be done,” and then continuing to move forward.
He is not going to force you to walk the path set before you, it is your choice. We are to trust and obey, and in faith accept His will, no matter what lays ahead on that path for our lives.
