What on earth does God want from us?

What is God's will? The question we all want an answer to but dread to ask. This question seems so complex, but it is so incredibly simple, and yet we, (I included) don't get it.

He wants us to passionately pursue Him. That's it. He wants our hearts, our minds, our everything.

I often worry about what God wants to do in my life, and think about different things He may have me do. "Does He want me to start a church? Does He want me to be a worship leader? Does He want me to move out of the country and be a missionary?"

While all of those things are fine and good, thinking about what God wants me to do is NOT what He wants me to do. (funny huh?) Rather than worrying about figuring out God's will, or figuring out how to carry out His will, my thoughts should be on Him.

I just got it this morning, I've heard it a million times, and agreed with it just as many, but I just realized in my heart what it truly means. You see, when we immerse ourselves in Christ, I mean really dive into Him, focus all our efforts on loving Him, connecting with Him, and knowing Him, all of the other stuff seems so much less important. It doesn't really matter whether He wants me to be a pastor or a missionary, those things are great, but they are just vehicles. They are means to an end. And what is that end? It is knowing Him and making Him known. God can accomplish that through me as a car wash worker.

A church is great, and starting a church would be a great thing, but thinking about how great it will be to see a church that we may envision happen is wrong thinking. The focus should be on Christ, and if a church happens, that's great, but our fulfillment must come from Him alone. Otherwise we end up with a big church full of people, dead inside, searching for some experience that cannot be found by the methods that they employ. It can only be found in the person of Jesus Christ. (A church is just an example, this can apply to anything.)

People often tell me that God doesn't work by formulas, and for the most part I agree with that statement, but there are some places where He definitely does. In Luke 10:25-28 Jesus had the following discussion with an expert in the law.

On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"

"What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?"

He answered: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"

"You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live."

Do this and you will live. Personally, I don't think He's just talking about eternal life and salvation here, He's talking about true life, fulfilled life. The life He wants us to live. If you do this, you will live. It's that simple.

Elsewhere it says "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." Matt. 6:33

You see, when we seek God with everything that we have, we become bolder in our faith, we start to look more like Jesus, and suddenly, people start taking notice, we start to see God use us, we start to see the things that were on our hearts become reality without our even trying for them.

The point is, the thing that God wants to use you for is insignificant, your relationship with Him is not. All of the stops along the road of life, the different positions we hold and things we do are just means to an end, and should not distract us from the real goal. Everything else will fall into place when we seek Him. Don't worry about it! Seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, seek first HIM, and you'll be surprised how unimportant all the other stuff becomes.