The Sanctuary: Walking With God Episode 42 – God’s Will

Welcome to Episode 42 of The Sanctuary: Walking With God! In this episode, theologian Dan Robb and scientist Mark Wadsworth explore how we can discern God’s will for our lives. Is there a predetermined path for each of us, or does our free will play a role?

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:12

Welcome to the Sanctuary. It's a podcast about walking with God. I'm Dan Robb. I'm the theologian. This guy over here likes to freeze me out of everything. It's called Mark. His name is called Mark. It's called. It's called Mark. Wadsworth. And let me tell you, uh still freezing. And he's just like a polar bear. Yes. Wrapped in his nice warmth. And I am just over here. So if you see me shiver throughout this podcast because you're watching us on Rumble, then uh yeah, you'll know why now. You know, it's uh I'm a mean, mean person. Yeah, yeah. You're like Dr. Freeze over there. I mean, I'm surprised. I'm surprised Arnold Schwarzenegger got the job to be in that movie, you know, over you. All right. Uh I'll just uh I guess I'll survive. I'm still alive, sort of. All right. And you're you're you're not gonna decompose this stuff. I'm not gonna decompose in this. So yes. For all us little people, the little people uh we need help. All right. Uh on a serious note, if you do have a question, a comment, a query conumnum, or a quagmire, and you want to know what those are, then please email us at contact at sanctuarybb.org. Or you can check us out on the Facebook page where I forgot to take the picture for this episode, which I'll probably do afterwards, and post it on the old Facebook. And you can ask us questions there as well. Um, or as I mentioned earlier, you can watch us on Rumble if you have a death wish coming. Uh just a strong constitution. Strong. I didn't vote for that constitution. What? This is Yeah, on today's episode, we're gonna be talking about God's call on your life. Oh, here you go. It's for you. No. I'm on call waiting. You know, it and this whole uh you know, I I I'm gonna say it because uh I'm gonna say it now because I'm gonna put you, make you accountable. Oh dear. Uh yeah. Uh I really hope that you put that cheesy 70s, 80s picture of Jesus standing outside the door knocking at someone. The door that has no handle. The door that has no handle. Yeah. Neiz is like, hello, come in, coming in. Uh you have to open. You have to open the door. Right. I I hope you put that on there, you know. Yeah. That uh that white Jesus. That's we'll see what sources I can steal. I mean, uh from. Yeah. Still that's that's a lot of pressure. All right. Well, I and I say that because Christianity, for me growing up in a Christian home, every, you know, when they're at church Wednesday night, Sunday morning, Sunday night, you know, going to the camps, all of it I'm glad I did. However, it's like it's become its own culture that has its own language, and that no one really has any idea of what it really means. And you can ask, and and I have, I've asked multitude of people what things mean, and it's like something different for everybody. And there's books. I mean, there's a tremendous amount of books out there. Uh, here is Dallas Willer's book on, you know, God's call, God's will for your life. How do you know? Ten easy steps, you know. Oh, easy. Uh for God's will in my life. Oh, okay. Yeah. And all of these things, and I say God's call, I mean you can just slap in there God's will, you can just slap in there uh whatever a baloney sandwich with olive loaf, you know, in there if you want. I mean, it's just getting like put everywhere. And I say that because I am one of those pastors that that used to do that because I had no idea. And every time I would do a search to find it, I would think that I found it, like I found the holy grail. And then the next thing you know, a boulder's rolling down at me, and I gotta go running through the cave. And you know, let me tell you, that's how I lost all my hair because of all those cobwebs, you know, and that whip. And now I'm getting into Indiana Jones.

SPEAKER_01 4:37

This reminds me of uh, you know, the old thing about being a parent. Mm-hmm. You know, when uh which I'm not, unfortunately. I mean, God did not bless us that way. But I've heard so many people who are parents talk about the fact that, you know, when when they're expecting their first one, they're panicking because they don't know what to do, and they're out there reading all these books and getting advice from everybody and you know, doing their thing, and then the first kid's born and they do what they can, and the second one or the third one or whatever. By the time you know they get down the chain, they realize that every kid is different, and it doesn't matter how many books you read or what you do or what you think or anything, you have to deal with that individual. Yeah. And I think that's the situation with God's call for each of us. You know, that's that's why it's it's so easy to want to go out to like uh you know, the the the Bible app on your iPhone and find all the devotionals on how to determine God's will in your life. And you read them and they're all gonna say something completely different. And the reason they do is because God's will is completely different for everyone on the face of the earth. So no one can tell you what God's will is. Yeah. You know, the Holy Spirit can tell you what God's will is any real thing.

SPEAKER_00 5:55

And and even by like God's will, we don't even really mean what God's that because you look at what God's will for you in the Bible, it's like abstain from fleshly lusts. You know, it's God's will. It's like, oh, I but I I want to know if I'm supposed to take this job. What's God's will?

SPEAKER_01 6:12

You know, so do you think a lot of people, you know, they go and they look at these things because they're trying to they're trying to get something that shows them that it's okay for them to do what they feel like they ought to be doing. You know, I want to take this job, but Lord, should I take this job? I need you to verify that I need to take this job. Yeah. You know, and it's like, I don't we've talked about this before, right? It it's crazy. I I went from being a person who believed that you know God had this absolute path cut out for every one of us, you know, kind of kind of like a stoic would think or something. Each of us has this perfectly defined path that we're supposed to go down, and you know, God laid that out for us, but none of us ever get there, so we wander off, and it's like using the driving app in your car, you make the wrong turn, and then the lady yells at you, make a U-turn at the next available thing, right? Yeah. I've gone from believ from believing that to believing that God gives us all massive amounts of freedom, and that regardless of the decisions that we make, he figures out how to get us to our destination. You know, without without the annoying U-turn if it makes me off. You got the guy who's you know got a job offer, or two or three job offers, and he's like, Lord, which one of these should I take? Yeah. And probably what the Lord's telling him is yes. You know, well, that's not an answer. Well, yeah, it is. Which one do you want? But you need to tell me, Lord. Right. No. Yeah. No, I don't. Oh yeah. Uh you've got this stuff called free will. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:01

Use it. Yeah. And what we're talking about is so completely different than what modern Christianity and even what I grew up with, Christianity, what it even espouses and teaches. I remember I've heard messages, chapel messages, or you know, you know, seminary chapel messages where it's like, and God's calling Christian businessmen, is he? For calling you to be a businessman. Uh God's calling some women to be pastor wives. You know, I'm like, well I can say a lot of things about that. Yeah, we don't want to go there. Yeah, we don't want to go there, but I'm just like, and if that was the only time that I ever heard that statement, that last one I made. Yeah, but I've heard it multitude of times in there. And it's all like this ideology or or common thinking that this is what God wants, this is what we think God wants, and He does this. He look, the Bible is just normal people that were there, and you're like, well, that's true, but God had specific tasks for them to do, and he needed to accomplish his plan. He elected them to do that task. He elected them to do that task.

SPEAKER_01 9:19

Do you think that a lot of this stuff about you know the determinism that we all feel like you know God's made for us comes out of Matthew uh 7.13. Oh, please read. Yeah, Matthew 7.13, Jesus is talking and he says, Enter by the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Oh, for sure. Like we were talking about a week or two ago, whenever it was. Um, context, context, context, right? Yeah, you can pull that out, and it's like, oh, the narrow way. That means, boy, God's got this really amazingly fine-tuned razor.

SPEAKER_00 10:00

If I miss a step, then I've I'm out of God's world.

SPEAKER_01 10:03

Yeah, I'm I'm like it's what happens if you answer the question wrong with the gatekeeper and Money Python and the Holy Grail.

SPEAKER_00 10:10

Yeah, yeah. We're in that uh why uh that all of a sudden I'm thinking of like old Saturday Night Live sketches with Mike Myers and Chris Farley. Oh yeah. Chris Farley loses a finger. Uh but uh anywho, uh now let me go ahead and get to the text here. And um, this text, it was actually a sermon message that I heard I forget where, but the guy made it so simple, and it was like, duh, and you're like, that was it the whole time? Like, why did I lose sleep? Why did all of this? So delight yourself at Psalm 37, verse 4, uh New King James, delight yourself in the Lord, and he shall give you the desires of your heart. And the guy made the statement, he's like, God's will is like this pen. I'm gonna take this pen here. If you're following the Lord, you're doing what you're supposed to be doing, God just puts his desires in your heart. And I was like, And he's like, You're not gonna have to pray and wonder, you'll know exactly what he wants you to do. And this whole putting out a fleece or doing this or that, it's really, you know, he either wants you to do it or he doesn't want you to do it. And if he wants you to do it, it may be difficult, but go out there and give it everything you have. And you you may still find yourself in a Max Luceto uh deal where you're a missionary in Brazil and you're like, this is the worst decision of my life, and you have to learn from that and go, God's still with you, and was that God's will for you to do that? I don't know, but you learned a lot from it and that experience and that shaped who you are. So, how can you say that was a really a bad thing? You know, how do you want to? I guess that really the the question is, how do you want to frame it in your life? You know, because I don't believe God, God and I hate I hate when people say it, God doesn't make mistakes. Yeah, he he does not make mistakes, but people do. Yeah. And uh we're really good at it. We're very good at it. And I hate when people say that because it's like, you know, you're trying to do the best you can in the moment with the facts and the things that you're presented with, and what they're insinuating by that is you either didn't know all the facts or that God made him, whatever. There's there's a lot going on there in that statement, and I just I just really dislike that. And uh yeah, sorry, I I yeah, someone said that to me once, and I was I'm still I'm still not over it apparently. So, but anyways, uh Psalm 37 verse 4, let's go to uh 1 Timothy chapter 3 verse 1. Uh it says this this is the faithful saying, if a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good work. Well, it doesn't say anything about how you're called.

SPEAKER_01 13:08

Yeah, it doesn't say, hey, if God tells you, boy, you should be a bishop. It says if you desire that.

SPEAKER_00 13:16

Yeah. And then it gives qualifications. So basically, what did we say here in Psalm 37? Delight yourself in the Lord, also in the Lord, and he shall give you the desires of your heart. Hmm. And first Timothy here. If a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good work. Okay, interesting. Uh but what but really, who am I supposed to marry, Dan, and in life? Well, let's get to First Corinthians chapter seven, verse thirty nine and forty. A wife is bound by law as long as her husband lives, but if her husband dies, she is at liberty to be married to whom to whom she wishes, only in the Lord. And then verse forty is Paul's opinion here, but he goes, But she is happier if she remains as she is, according to my judgment, and I think I also have the Spirit of God. Uh I kinda I don't know if this is exactly what Paul is saying in verse forty, but I after being married before and being married versus being single, it's like you can kind of just do whatever it is you want, and you don't have to worry about the other person and the the looks that they're gonna give you. It's easier. It's easier. So I and I kind of get I I feel like when I'm reading that, that's that's what I'm what I'm seeing there. But again, that's based on my feelings, not based on scripture, but that's how I feel about it. Uh but verse 39 is the key because he's basically saying she is free to marry whoever in the Lord. That's your qualification. Who does God want me to marry in my life? Should I be praying for them? Sure. Should should I think it's this girl or is it gonna be this guy? It's like it could be anybody. You can go go get married right now if you want to, hop on a plane, go to Vegas. There's lots of people that may want to marry you. Uh is that's is is that something you really want though at the end of the day? Could you make it work? Quite possibly. There's all kinds of shows on Lifetime or whatever uh special, some some network I can't remember, that's like 30 days to marriage, you know, blind marriage, you know, whatever it is. Married a first side. Yeah, I married an ex-murder. Thanks, Mike Myers. Uh all of these things. Yes, you could. But then he come back, oh, is the right one? And we pull out the whole mystic mysticism, you know. And the thing that I hate is don't make God the scapegoat in your decisions. Okay? Don't make him, well, you know, the Lord told me not to. No, he didn't. He just said you're free right there. So you're free. Marry whoever you want to marry. If he's a good guy, if he's not, ask good questions, you know. I you know, date her for a while, find out interesting things, look for red flags, you know. Hopefully they don't have in front of DRW. Do whatever. I don't know. It it's I mean, seriously, uh, you know, I uh sometimes that later in life it's harder to marry somebody or get remarried because you have so many I can't, you know, because you're now stuck in your way. Oh, we get so stuck in our way. And that and that's that's so easy to do in marriage is about two people that are just uh coming together, and really there is there is a lot of compromise in that. Um, but you're becoming one, the you know, um for both of you. So the two become one flesh. But I just think it's you can't make God the scapegoat in any of this. And so whether or not you're not unhappy with your career in life, it's you that have chosen that career. You know. Um if you are wondering if God's cause called you to preach, well, read first Timothy chapter 3, verse 1 again, and you tell me, because I'm not the one putting desires in your heart. If you're following the Lord, then He's the one doing it. And I think that's really it's it's just that simple. We don't need to make it into this whole thing. Um make wise decisions. So for example, um I prayed about it, but it was just more or less I I was I was praying and asking God for wisdom and how to make this decision. But when you know my I got laid off in July last July, I said, All right, here's the deal, God, you know, this offer has come to me from this company. Uh they're gonna put me up in Michigan for six months to work, probably gonna be like four, really. Um I don't I don't know, if they give me an extra week, I'll take it, you know, because I need the rest. They didn't give me the extra week, I didn't go. I turned it down, you know. And then I waited. They never offered me until another different job came my way, and it was for a company that was locally. And at the time, that was how I felt, which is okay to make decisions based on how you feel, which is I wanted to stay in this area in this Austin area at that time and work on some things in my life, and then maybe down the road I would make a decision and I would do something else. But I always knew in the back of my head, well, if this one company calls me back, I will take that job because I know what they'll do, what they'll pay me, and all of these things. I'll accept the good with the bad. And so I took the immediate job and I could have stayed there uh really until I died, you know. But this other job came up came came up, it was a job that I wanted, it was the job that I knew right away. I didn't even have to pray about it, I knew I was gonna take it. But I still took the time to pray, but I I also knew this this is gonna be it. This is this is it, you know. And when I walked away from that job, they didn't want me to leave, and they still offered me money, but I I looked at more money to come to stay, and I was like, no, based on what they had not done up to that point in time, which was after my 90 days offered me more money. So I figured you had your chance to say, oh, you passed your 90-day exam, you know, ish, to stay at the company, and you did, and we're all pleased with you. Thanks. Continue working out your current wage. And I was like, well, if you're not gonna offer me and you've done that for other people, then it just tells me you don't think too much of it, of the position I'm in. So that's okay. I don't I'll just go find something else. And I I think that's kind of for all of us. We we need to stop making God and put him in the scapegoat position of all these things, and just pray for wisdom and make smart decisions, but know that it's on you to make that decision. Do you have any uh any anything else you'd like to add?

SPEAKER_01 20:27

No, I think you hit the nail right on the head.

SPEAKER_00 20:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:30

I mean you know, it's easy it's easy to blame God or use God as the excuse for things. Or like uh you've you've heard it before when pastors say, Oh, I'm I'm going, I'm leaving, I'm going to church, blah, blah, because the Lord is calling me there. Well, maybe. Yeah. But maybe it's you're calling yourself there because you like the way it looks, or you there's a challenge that you want to attack or something. You know, just because you're leaving doesn't mean you're a bad person. Yeah. Um and you just don't have to invoke God as an excuse for your for your choices.

SPEAKER_00 21:10

Here's the other thing that I did. I had to have honest conversations with God and myself, and that is this is what they're going to expect. Can you do this for this new job? If you're willing to say yes, then take the job. If you're not willing to give this up or that up, then don't. But no, if you do take the job, there will be you'll have a greater opportunity and other doors will open up to you in your life. But if you stay here, this is all that it's going to be, all that it will ever be, and you're gonna be doing the same thing that you're doing day in and day out. And if you're okay with that, that's fine too. You know, neither choice is bad. I can be I found happiness, you know, in both places. The only difference was is that one just offered more of an opportunity, and that's the part that you you you have to look at and you go, do I want the opportunity or not? You know, is it you know, and other questions if you have family involved in your life, you know, wife, kids, whatever, now things get more complicated, and you have to kind of look at that as well. But I am not you. And you have to make that decision, and ultimately, you know, God knows about the decision that you're going to have to make. So pray, reason it out, and wrestle with it, and then make the decision.

SPEAKER_01 22:40

And read the Bible and use biblical wisdom and your choices. What I'm saying is, you know, go ahead. No, it's just it's a it's a decision, ultimately, it's a decision that you have to make, but you need good input. Yeah. Uh and that input is there for you.

SPEAKER_00 22:59

You just have to use it. Yeah, you don't have to over-spiritualize it and turn it into this whole thing, you know. And I think when I was younger, I did that all the time. You know, but it's I mean, you can read the Bible all you want. It's not gonna tell you, you're not gonna turn to Second Hezekiah and go, oh, there it is, Dan's supposed to take the job, you know. It doesn't work that way. Uh now, if you're inspired by something and and something sticks out to you and you want to, that's an inspiration to you, and you use that to do something, okay, cool, you know. But uh that's no more inspired than the Daniel diet is. Sorry, I had to get that dig in there, you know. You really blew it with that diet. I did, man. No, no, I'm talking about the uh okay, yeah, yeah. The actual, the actual, yeah, exactly. I'm gonna eat roots and berries. Yeah. That's all I have to do, and I'm gonna do this. And it's like, okay, you know, but the Bible says, and it's like, I'm sure I think there was a little more going on. There's probably a little bit more going on in that context there.

SPEAKER_01 24:09

You know, it's uh God's like, yeah, these are these are my Hebrew friends. We're gonna make sure that they look better than everybody else. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 24:18

If it's weird in the Bible, it's important, as Dr. Kaiser once said. Um, however, though, look, you're free to make whatever choice you want to make. Just know that if you make certain choices, it's going to cost something from you. It all choices do. And you have to be willing to fulfill that end of whatever it is. And it may come a point where you're tired of doing whatever those choices are, you're tired of reaping those consequences. That's fine. You have the ability, at least in this country still, as far as I've known for a while that I know of, to change your mind and to do something else. And so, and that's the thing, you know, it's like you can find happiness in anything. It's just a matter of are you willing to look for it or or not? Yeah. You know, are you willing to create it or not? So anywho. Well, folks, thanks for listening. Please remember to rate, review, and subscribe and smash that like button. The next time we talk, I'll have uh more ideas. So this is a TBA to be announced uh topic the next time. Although I I'm pretty sure I have an idea, but it just means I'm gonna have to really come more prepared than usual because it's gonna involve Nephilim and Giants and Numbers 13, 33, and Anakin and all these tribes and Genesis 14, and where do we all stand? Illuminati, okay, there it is in Bigfoot. So, all right, but I digress. Please remember that we're not saved because we're eternally faithful to the Savior, we're saved because He is eternally faithful to us.