God’s Will, God’s Way

Some passages of Scripture ignite questions in my mind that I may not see answers to on this side of heaven. One of those is Matthew 4: 1-11, describing the temptation of Jesus.

After reading this passage, I have mulled over the common debate of whether Jesus would actually have been ABLE to sin. The fact that He is God means He cannot even look upon sin. Yet His nature of being human means He experienced  the temptations that are “common to man.” Scripture doesn’t directly answer that…I have my own opinion, but it’s only that— an opinion. I’ll let you ponder over that thought and come to your own conclusions!

But another part of this passage raised a question for me that I now understand better.

In Matthew 4, verses 8 and 9, Satan tempts Jesus by promising Him all the kingdoms of the world. He takes Jesus to a very high mountain with a view of the cities and tells Him, “All this I will give you if you will bow down and worship me.”  

I always wondered why that would even be a temptation for Jesus. I mean, hadn’t God already said Jesus would rule over all? Psalm 2:8 says, “I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession.” Revelation 1:5 says that Jesus is the “ruler over the kings of the earth.”

It is obviously God’s will that Jesus will rule over all. So how could Jesus be tempted by something that was already God’s will and was already destined to happen? Why was that even a real temptation for Him if it was going to happen anyway?

But I’ve seen it in my own life.

Achieving something we know is God’s will by a means that is NOT God’s way or that is NOT God’s timing is one of the crafty ways the enemy tempts us to sin.

It may be God’s will for you to have a lifelong love relationship with the man of your dreams and enjoy the blessing of children. But it is not God’s will for you to achieve that outside the boundaries of marriage.

It may be God’s will for you to live in that nice home in a safe neighborhood. But it isn’t God’s will for you to be enslaved to a house payment you can’t afford.

It may be God’s will for you to graduate from college and have a successful career. But it is not His will for you to cheat on your exams or use deceptive business tactics to achieve that.

God’s will was that Jesus would rule over all, but God’s WAY was the pain and suffering of the cross. Jesus dreaded the cross. Satan tempted Jesus with the easy way out. Don’t you think Satan does the same thing to us?

Sometimes we attempt to achieve things that are good and may even be God’s will for us, but we don’t always seek God’s way or God’s timing. I’ve found that most of the time His way and His timing are vastly different from mine.

We should never try to achieve God’s goals without following God’s means of achieving them.

We may know God has called us to a certain thing down the road, but God doesn’t necessarily show us all the details. Psalm 119:105 describes God’s Word as “a lamp for my feet.” That lamp doesn’t show the whole path. It illuminates only our feet so we can know the next step, not the whole journey.

God calls us to take that next step of obedience. And then that next step. That’s how we follow not only God’s will, but also follow God’s way.

Then we can say with the Psalmist, “You have laid down precepts that are to be fully obeyed,” (Psalm 119:4). Because partial obedience is disobedience.

May we all seek God’s will…God’s way.

…”That you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in EVERY way…” (Colossians 1:10).