Try walking

“What are you going to be when you grow up?”

That question had to be answered each fall as a new school year began. I guess the assumption was if we knew where we wanted to end up, then we had a better chance of doing things that would lead us in the right direction. That line of thinking sounds logical, but what if you can’t answer the first question? What if you don’t know or are afraid to choose the wrong path? That was me growing up, and at times still today.

Growing up in the church there was always talk of doing God’s will, finding God’s will, and living His will. We were all created for a purpose and our job as followers of Christ was to find that purpose and live it. As a youth, that all seemed like it was right, it made sense but it never settled right with me. It actually created a sense of fear and doubt in my life. I doubted my salvation through my teen years, many times in part because I didn’t know what He wanted me to do. How can I be a Christian if I don’t know what to do? Or what happens if I choose incorrectly? These were questions constantly banging around in my little head. If only Morgan Freeman would show up and lay things out as clearly as he did in Evan Almighty.

You see, that scene never happened to me and maybe it hasn’t for you either. It would be nice, I think, but better than that would be to rightly understand this thing called God’s will. Turns out it’s much simpler than I ever thought it would be.

In trying to understand and answer the question, “What does God want from me?”, you don’t have to dig too deep into His Word to find out. First Thessalonians 4:1-5 explains it much better than I ever could. God has a way of doing that—explaining things so we can understand. God explains it like this: “Walk with Me.” That’s it? What about what college I should go to, or how many children we should have, or who I should marry, or where I should work? All those questions are answered in that little phrase, “Walk with Me.”

This idea of walking with Christ is simple, but very complex. You see, He explains throughout the Bible what that looks like, but it flies against everything this world teaches us. This world teaches us to do what feels good and is ruled by an unquenchable appetite. You can never have enough or ever be fulfilled. Thankfully, God offers another way—walking with Him. So then our lives are lived pursuing Him rather than trying to fulfill our own desires. We trade the appearance of freedom for actual freedom. No longer slaves trying to always “feel good,” we get to live life in full freedom, walking with the Father. We go where He leads and He uses where we go. If you want to know where to start in the search for God’s will, begin with a walk and see what happens.