Text: Acts 26:12-20

To be real honest with you, what I say today will make you feel very uncomfortable. There are some aspects of folk religion that are so ingrained in our lives that we believe them even though we have evidence to the contrary. We even take folk religion ideas and read them back into the pages of scripture so that we make the Bible confirm our superstitions.

So, if you get a little uncomfortable today, I ask you to do four things:

  • Suspend your judgment until you have heard everything
  • Take time to look at the whole counsel of scripture and not just a few proof texts (passages that seem to justify one position)
  • Be willing to reexamine the beliefs you hold in light of scripture
  • Enter into dialog, not to prove a point, but to understand

Paul’s mission statement

    When we look at Paul’s life we see a man chosen by God for a specific mission. There are situations where is seems that God had a specific plan for everyday of Paul’s life: the call to mission journeys, his arrest and trial at Rome. But here in this passage, Paul recounts for the third time what happened to him on the road to Damascus and spells out the tasks God assigned for him to do:

    • To be a servant and witness of the things that would be revealed to him
    • To proclaim these to the Jews and Gentiles.

    Everything that happened in Paul’s life and ministry was a direct consequence of Paul’s faithfulness to this commission. In other words the plan for Paul’s life was not a minute by minute path from which he was never to stray, but using his gifts and abilities to be a faithful servant of Jesus Christ

    The Blueprint Plan

    The blueprint plan is the idea that God has a specific path marked out for your life. That path includes all the major decisions that you must make for you to be in the center of God’s will. There does seem to be some biblical precedent for such and idea. (Jeremiah, Jonah, Joseph).

    The we have modern examples. We try to seek God’s plan for the right college, the right spouse, the right job and then expanded it all of the major decisions of life.

    Assumptions of this model

    This model assumes several things about and our relationship with God. First, God has a plan for your life fully mapped out from birth to death which you must discover in order to live faithfully in the world – be in God’s will. Second, God is completely in control of your life. And third, God reveals this plan as you seek him in various ways.

    Problems

    When we go into Scripture we find all kinds of problems with this idea.

    It is just not supported in the Bible – just because God worked this way with one person doesn’t mean he does it with everyone.

    It makes God a reluctant giver. He hides will will from his children and expected them to go looking for it.

    It turns God into a machine spitting out plans rather than a person. At its worse it seems to make God into a blind uncaring force like Fate or Destiny. God has set an unalterable future in front of you and will fulfill it regardless. Like the ancient Greek heroes.

    What happens if you get off the path? Are you sunk for the rest of your life because now you are not completely fulfilling God’s plan.

    When you do get off the path you have to settle for God’s permissible will rather than his perfect will. And what is that any way? (Rom 12:2)

    If God already knows the future and knows that you will either keep or not keep on the path, why bother seeking him? It will happen just as he saw it happen. If God is really in charge how can you do other than his will?

    If God has a blueprint for your life, he has already made every decision for you, so there are no decisions for you to make.

    It is just not the way we experience the world.

    God’s plan for our lives

    What is God’s will for your life? God’s will for your life is not so much a path to follow as a purpose to fulfill. There may be something specific, but God is willing and able to show you that.

    [Two resources have been extremely helpful in this regard check them out. Decision-Making and the Will of God and Questions to All Your Answers by Roger Olson.]

    This is some of what Scripture says about God’s will for you:

    • Eph 5:15-17 – make the most of the opportunities we have and be filled with the Spirit
    • Eph 6:5-7 – Serve others, carry out your responsibilities
    • 1 Thes 5:18 – give thanks always
    • Heb 10:36 – Be faithful to God no matter what
    • 2 Peter 3:9: “The Lord is…not willing that any should perish….”
    • 1 Thes 4:3: “For this is the will of God, your sanctification….”
    • 1 Peter 2:13-15: “Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right. For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men.”
    • 1 Thessalonians 5:15-18: “Rejoice, pray, give thanks…for this is God’s will for you.”

    The Dynamics of the relationship model

    God enters into a real relationship with us. God is open and does not hide things from us that he wants us to do. Look at what Jesus said about prayer:

    [Mt 7:7 ESV ] “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

    God is not a heavenly MapQuest; we live in relationship with him and it is a real relationship. We discover what he wants by spending time with him.

    What is God’s Plan for our lives?

    God wants us to discover and use our gifts and abilities for the Kingdom; How do we begin?

    • Through worship – offering all of our lives to God
    • In Fellowship – developing close relationships with other Christians so we can grow and care for others
    • Step out in ministry to develop our gifts and serve others
    • Join in God’s mission for the redemption of the whole world

    God wants us to grow into the likeness of Jesus

    Is there something very specific, maybe? The best place to discover that is in fulfilling this part

    The Choice

    Paul was confronted by Jesus with a blinding light on the Damascus Road and everything else in his life flowed out of that confrontation. God’s will for Paul’s life was to be a servant and witness of the things that God revealed to him.

    The choice is God’s plan or yours; God’s dream for your life or yours?

    You must live with the consequences, temporal or eternal of which ever one you choose.