Knowing the Will of God

There have been many books written and many sermons preached on finding and knowing the will of God. How can we know the will of God? One of my favorite scriptures is John 15:7 - "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you."

If you ABIDE in Me and My words ABIDE in you - Whew! I love that word - do you know what it means? Have you ever pondered over it? To ABIDE is to lean on Jesus minute by minute - moment by moment - to look to Jesus and depend on Jesus. It also means that we are to stay in His word so much that it moves from the pages to our hearts. In all circumstances, if we seek the will of God, we will know the will of God. Why this thought today? - please read on.

Tomorrow morning, I am going back to visit the staff of the public school that God once called me to serve in prior to calling me to a wonderful Christian school in 2005. Each morning on the way to school, I pray for all the Christian teachers in the public schools that I pass along the way to "my school." I pray that their lights will continue to shine even when they are sidetracked by the rules and regulations of the system. I also pray that God will never let me lose the passion that He gave me for Christian education. I don't ever want to be a teacher with a negative attitude. I want those I serve to view me as a Christian Educator - not an educator that is a Christian. There is a huge difference!

Anyway, I told you all that to share this with you - I remember the day that I resigned from public school. I had mixed emotions - on one hand I was thrilled about the new path God had laid before me and on the other had I was sad to leave some of the friendships behind that I had formed in the ten years that I had worked there. I asked the principal - a non-Christian - if she had a view moments. She invited me to sit down and from the look in her eyes, she knew this was serious. I began to explain to her that God had called me to Christian education and that I would be leaving at the end of the school year. I shared with her that this was not a result of any unhappiness or isolated incidents - that this was something I had prayed about for several years and that God had revealed His plan for me for the next season of my life.

She tried to rationalize my decision. She said things like,"But, what about your state retirement? What about your health insurance? What about your 401K? What about your professional growth opportunities? You have worked so hard, Kim. Are you sure about this? I know that you are a smart woman - I know you have thought all this through - are you sure?"

Through her desperation and search for words, I realized how lost she was - how much in need of a savior she was because she had no idea of why I would surrender all of these earthly achievements for Jesus. I went on to explain how I knew it was right, how I put obedience to God over all other benefits and how I knew that this was His plan for me.

She closed with "You'll be back.....and then she hesitated and said, "You won't, will you?" I said, "Not unless God calls me..." The amazing thing took place on my last day there - the assistant principal (who lives an alternative lifestyle) stopped me and said - "You seem so certain about this decision - how did you know it's God's will?" I would like to talk to you about that sometime.

I would love to tell you that I had the opportunity to do so - but I did not - I tried to see her several times on my last day there but she had been appointed principal of another school and was in and out of meetings all day. But I at least know that God allowed me to plant a seed that I pray will be cultivated by others.

So pray for me as I visit that school tomorrow - that the light of Jesus will radiate all around me and that it won't be about me....but that what I say and do tomorrow will be for His honor and glory.

Shining for Him,

Kim