What Is God's Will?

So listen to me, my sons, and pay attention to my words. Don’t let your hearts stray away toward her. Don’t wander down her wayward path. For she has been the ruin of many; many men have been her victims. Her house is the road to the grave. Her bedroom is the den of death. [Proverbs 7.24-27]

There is today the obvious face-value meaning of these words of wisdom and the allegorical meaning of these words. As I have read and re-read today's OYCB reading from Proverbs, I cannot help but believe the allegorical instruction of these passages is what the LORD is speaking to me.

As I have believed in the past and have come once again to believe today, there is a much more broad-reaching allegorical lesson in the selection from Proverbs that makes up today's OYCB reading. This lesson becomes clear as the reader considers the 'immoral woman' to be the allegorical picture of 'anything other than God's will' for his or her life.

Having a wife is a good thing. So it is with God's will! Having another man's wife is, well, adultery,, and unleashes a plethora of undesirable results. So also it is with God's will! Even though one man can have conjugal relations with a woman and it be okay because she is his wife, another man cannot do so! It might be argued that she is a woman and, as such, capable of conjugal relations with anyone, right? Right indeed! However! When a marriage is consummated in conjugal relations, that relationship then becomes a unique bond between the two participants and forevermore no others! Again, then, when we consider 'God's will' allegorically in place of 'a wife,' the instruction of this passage gives reason to pause when considering our every life decision and path! In other words, just because a pathway lies before us does not necessarily mean it is our pathway to walk!

So, the question begs to be asked, "What is God's will for MY life?"

For me, I have known since I was a boy that there was a calling on my life. Almost every day, especially lately, I find myself considering what I read in the Bible and how I would convey that to others. It almost feels like a fire in me - some days with more intensity than others - but always there nonetheless. Throughout my life I have both focused on that calling and ignored it. I have prospered spiritually in following it and I have prospered financially in ignoring it. Lately, it is on my mind more and more and I can't seem to prosper so much financially.

It should seem obvious what I should do. Consider the verses preceding the selection above:

So she seduced him with her pretty speech and enticed him with her flattery. He followed her at once, like an ox going to the slaughter. He was like a stag caught in a trap, awaiting the arrow that would pierce its heart. He was like a bird flying into a snare, little knowing it would cost him his life. [Proverbs 7.21-23]

Flirting with anything other than God's specific will for one's life is just as dangerous as flirting with sexual promiscuity - there is a point of no return where irreversible events and consequent damage will be done.

For the record, the decision to flirt with an immoral woman is rarely an issue when the wife is present. In keeping with the allegory, so the decision to flirt with anything other than God's will is rarely an issue when God's specific will is present!

Father, I realize the decision to be faithful to You and Your calling on my life is my decision to make. I realize that the destructive seduction by other things will come closest to me when I am furthest from Your will. By Jesus in me, help me to follow You - not my will, but Your will be done!