YOU ARE HIS WILL
(AN EMPOWERING PERSPECTIVE)
Jamie and his friend Tommy loved playing with matches striking one, seeing it blaze and actual fire appear at the end of the match.
Jamie’s Dad happened to come upon them one day when they were having a grand time striking matches and watching them blaze. He sat them down and told them they were never, ever to play with matches and he told him why.
One day shortly thereafter, a good portion of Tommy’s house sustained serious fire damage. What caused it? Tommy was playing with matches and a curtain in his bedroom caught fire.
Jamie and Tommy never played with matches again. They acquired an empowering perspective.
It was knowledge that changed their behavior, at least when it came to playing with matches.
There is knowledge that changes one’s behavior.
Dr. Carl Rogers, one of the most highly regarded Psychologists of the 20th Century, in his 1961 book, ON BECOMING A PERSON, made the following observation. He said:
“In all my experience with the process of learning, the only learning
that significantly influenced a person’s behavior(s) was self-acquired,
self-appropriated learning.”
It’s been said that experience is the best teacher. And there is certainly some truth in that statement. But best? I wonder.
Someone else’s experience is the best teacher IF I am smart enough to be willing to learn from it.
Then there are the people who even though they possess a particular bit of knowledge, it still does not influence their behavior(s).
Years ago, my Father-in-law was the County Agricultural Agent in Guernsey County, Ohio. He would go out and meet with his farmers and offer them tips on how they could make their farms more productive.
It was not uncommon for a farmer to tell him, young man, I already know how to farm better than I’m farming.
We hear that and say, well, that;s dumb! And, it is. But how many of us do that very same thing when it comes to living lives we were created to live?
Read the Bible? Get to know God’s will for my life? Hey, I already know how to live better than I’m living. How many of us have said that or at least thought it?
In the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 11, verses 28 and 29, we have these words:
“Come unto me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, (learn about me) for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.
What will I learn from Jesus?
I will get to know that God’s will for my life is that He only wants what is best for me. And why does He hate sin?. It’s because He knows what it does to me and to my family,
What else will I learn from Jesus?
I will learn that I AM HIS WILL.
We have these words from Psalm 139:
For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth, Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And all the days you fashioned for me, they all were written in Your book even though they were yet to be.”
Once a person knows this, accepts it and with HIS help is able to believe it, THAT is an empowering perspective.
You know what, YOU AND I ARE HIS WILL.
OH! REALLY? WOW!
