Do not be Foolish

Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 

(Ephesians 5:17 ESV)

Paul warned the church in Ephesus about living wisely and making the most of the opportunities presented to us. Paul’s focus was on knowing the will of the Lord.

Evil permeates the world we live in, and Satan places traps before us every day. He is an expert in pulling humans away from the Lord, including the saints. How can we, with our infantile minds, understand the will of God?

A life given to the Lord is a life that God called. In order to understand the will of God we must be in the closest relationship with Him. If we are not in prayer, we cannot hear the Lord and distance ourselves from Him. As a brother said to me, “Most times, when we are not in prayer, we are also not in the Word.” If we abandon the conduit of conversation with God and disregard His Words on how we should live, we may not realize it, but we are abandoning our relationship with God.

When we turn our backs on someone, especially someone we love like the Lord, we are unable to hear their words when they speak to us. Prayer is a time of speaking and quieting ourselves. It is a time of praying for what we want God to hear and praying for guidance as to how God wants us to proceed in our lives. Prayer is not a time to offer God our opinion on how He should respond.

Imagine you were standing at the edge of a strong river with a friend, and you were considering trying to swim to the other side. You ask this friend if you should try to make it across, and before they answer, you jump in the river and start swimming. Your friend thought it was incredibly dangerous and was opening their mouth to tell you, but you did not wait for the answer. Your friend is yelling for you to stop, but with your back to them, the noise of the river, and your swimming, you cannot hear them. Suddenly, the river sweeps you away.

This is what happens when we fail to wait for an answer from God before we make major decisions in our lives. God answers in His own time. If His answer takes time, it is because He wants you to consider what you are about to do. You also must quiet yourself so that God can give you the counsel you desire. If something is not good for us, and we are listening for God’s counsel, we will know it through the actions of the Spirit.

Missing a prayer life dampens our connection to God. Missing the Word in our lives is like shredding the roadmap of life. If you are too young to know what a road map is, try taking a hammer to your GPS. Avoiding or minimizing the need for counsel found in fellowship causes you to lose the counsel of those with wisdom. Do all three, and you find yourself sealed in a box belonging to the enemy.

Do not be foolish; understand the will of the Lord. In the long run, it is much less painful, stressful, and tiring. God has a plan for your life; why are you seeking a plan of your own? Seek the Lord, seek His will; He is there; you just need to quiet yourself long enough to hear Him.

Do not jump in before you get His response; your physical and spiritual life may very well depend on it.

Grace and Peace!