"???" 1-12-25

Overview

Freed from the Fear of "What's God's Will?"

"What is my purpose?" and "I want to be led by the Lord in everything" are good questions and good desires—until they become a source of paralysis. Continuing our consideration of fear, which is fundamentally a matter of trust (recall the First Commandment: we are to fear, love, and trust God above all things), we turn to a particular fear many believers know well: the fear of making the wrong choice. Should I take this job or that one? Move to this city or stay? Wear this or that? We can sit at life's crossroads convinced our entire future hangs on a single decision, waiting for a burning bush that God has not promised to send.

Scripture redirects our anxious search for hidden guidance to the will God has already revealed. In Ephesians 1:7-12, Paul declares that "with all wisdom and insight, he has made known to us the mystery of his will." That mystery is not a secret roadmap for daily decisions—it is redemption in Christ. "In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses." God's first and foremost will for your life is that you would know you are redeemed: not by what you do or fail to do, but by the blood of Christ, who took on flesh, lived perfectly, and purchased you for eternity.

From that redemption flows our purpose: "that we…might live for the praise of his glory" (v. 12). This is not a new law of behaviors to perform but the orientation of an entire life. It is lived out through the doctrine of vocation—God places us as masks of his providence in the ordinary callings of waitress, teacher, neighbor, parent, friend—and in those places we love and serve those around us with the love Christ has poured into us. The waiter who serves customers in love, the teacher who teaches with care, the neighbor who checks on those nearby—each is praising God and walking in the purpose he intends.

This is why we can take a breath. If something is forbidden in God's Word, he has said so plainly. If something is commanded, he has said so plainly. In the freedom between, where Scripture neither forbids nor commands, you may choose the sweater, take the job, or turn left at the intersection without fear. When we pray "thy will be done" (see Matthew 6:10), we are asking for wisdom and discernment, and trusting that God works all things according to the counsel of his will for his glory and our good. As you face a new year and the decisions it brings, return first to God's Word, rest in the promise of eternal redemption, and walk forward in peace—confident that the Spirit who lives in you will use you to love your neighbor and praise his name.

Transcript

Have you ever wondered what is my purpose? 3s

What is my purpose? 8s

What does God intend for my life? 10s

This isn't a bad or a wrong question until it is. 14s

Have you ever uttered, I will be led by the Lord in all that I do. 22s

This is not a bad statement until it is. 29s

How can these questions or these statements be wrong or off or possibly even bad? 39s

In this sermon series, we are talking about fear. 48s

Last week we talked about how fear itself can paralyze one, 53s

that it can take over the entire being and we are crippled with the fear of fear. 60s

Today we are digging into a specific aspect or a specific fear that we have. 74s

And remember last week how we talked about that fear is really a matter of trust. 83s

It's really a matter of trust. 90s

In the small catacysm, it's laid out with the first commandment that we shall have no other 92s

thoughts and what does this mean but that we are to fear, love and trust God above anything else. 99s

So where do we go off course? 110s

Where do we go off course in purpose or seeking after God's direction? 115s

We go off course when the search or the question itself becomes the point of concern or the question itself becomes the fear. 125s

I remember a time. 145s

I was relatively new to Lutheranism so I'm going to claim that as a caveat here. 150s

I remember driving and coming to a three-way stop. 157s

And I sat in my car paralyzed in the fear of what the right choice of direction would be. 163s

If I turn to the left, does that mean that there's a certain outcome for sure? 176s

If I go straight, is that a different outcome? 182s

Certainly, if I go right, am I sure to have an accident or be in peril? 186s

And I sat there praying for God to tell me the right direction and it was paralyzed in the fear of not knowing the literal direction that God wanted me to go. 194s

But sitting at that crossroads, sitting in that fear, seeking an answer was not seeking after the purpose of God in my life. 216s

I was stuck in the fear of making the wrong choice. 236s

I think we've all come up against this fear at one time or another. 244s

Should I take this job? Should I take that job? Should I live in this city or that city? 249s

Should I go out tonight or should I stay in? And we think that the entire existence of our future 255s

hangs in the balance of this one choice. 265s

My brothers and sisters, take a breath. Take a breath. 274s

In the words of the great theologian, well paraphrased words of the great theologian David Ibel, 281s

you're seeking a burning bush. You're seeking after a burning bush and God 288s

does not pop up with burning bushes at every turn. I certainly did not see a burning bush at the crossroads. 295s

There is not a burning bush in our closets in the morning when we're trying to decide what we're going to wear. 304s

Because God gives us the beautiful freedom of matters this side of heaven. 310s

He gives us the freedom to choose the sweater or the t-shirt. He gives us the freedom 318s

to choose if we would like to go to the left to the right or straight ahead. 324s

He does not call for us to get paralyzed or bogged down in the minutia of the decisions. 333s

If it is directly forbidden in God's word, he speaks it to you. 342s

When we pray in the Lord's prayer, thy will be done. We are praying that God's will would be done in our lives. 358s

That He would give us wisdom and discernment. We do ask that we seek after him and we seek after 371s

his will. If you would please open your bibles to the book of Ephesians, 383s

if you're using a Pew edition of the Bible, this can be found on page 169 in the new 391s

Testament. We're in Ephesians chapter 1. We're going to look at God's will for our lives. 398s

Looking first, please with me at the second half of verse 8, where Paul under the inspiration 411s

of the Holy Spirit says with all wisdom and insight, He has made known to us the mystery of 419s

his will. God in his mercy has given us through his word, his will for our lives, his purpose for our 428s

lives. We're going to back up just a couple of verses to verse 7 to find what this mystery is. 443s

In verse 7, it begins in Him that is God. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness 452s

of our trespasses according to the riches of His grace that He lavished on us. First and foremost, 460s

the will of God in your life is to know that you are redeemed, that you are saved not by your own 470s

doing, not by the words that you speak or don't speak, not by the actions that you do or don't do, 480s

you are redeemed by God Himself, the second person of the Trinity. Jesus who came into creation, 488s

taking flesh on Himself, living perfectly according to God's will. He has redeemed you, saved 496s

you by His blood, purchased you. It is an eternal redemption that Christ has made for you. 507s

And so as we seek to understand the mystery of God's will in our lives, 520s

as we seek to know the purpose of God's will in our lives, we must begin there. 528s

That God's will for your life first and foremost is that you would be redeemed, 540s

that you would know that you are redeemed. The greater will of God is eternal redemption. 548s

The greater good and will of God is that you would have relationship with Him, bought, 559s

purchased with the price of His own blood obtained for you, 568s

by Christ Himself. Let's pick up now with our reading for the morning. 574s

With all wisdom and insight, He has made known to us the mystery of His will, 584s

according to His good pleasure that He set forth in Christ. As a plan for the fullness of time, 591s

to gather up all things in Him, things in heaven and things on earth. In Christ, we have also 598s

obtained in inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of Him who accomplishes all 606s

things according to His counsel and will, so that we who were the first to set our hope on Christ 612s

might live for the praise of His glory. Do you hear the eternal purpose of God for your life? 619s

Do you hear the eternal will that is spent set forth for you? First and foremost, it is the 632s

eternal will of your redemption made obtained by Christ Himself for you. 639s

Look at verse 12, so that we might live for the praise of His glory. 648s

So that we might live for the praise of His glory, God's will for your life as a redeemed 659s

child of the Holy One is to praise the Lord. To praise the Lord to seek His glory. 668s

That's very easy to turn that into a rule, into a law that we do certain actions 680s

or perform certain behaviors that would glorify God. But God is saying that our entire being is for 692s

His praise. To praise Him in our revelation reading, we have insight into the throne room, 702s

the throne room before God Himself, where all praise and glory is being lifted up to Him. 709s

Is that just for the future? Absolutely not. When you were redeemed, you were redeemed eternally. 719s

You were called to praise and glorify the Holy Name of God eternally and today is 728s

but one day in all of eternity. And this is where we move from. This is where we find our purpose 736s

or God's will for our lives. It's not so much that should I take this job or that job because 752s

one is the right one and one is the wrong one. It is the spirit with which we move and live 762s

and have our being. If we take this job as a waitress or a waiter and we serve our customers 775s

with all our heart making sure that we show them love. The love for our neighbor and serve 788s

that person, that customer. We are serving them with the love of God. And by doing so, 799s

we are praising God and living the purpose that He intended for us. If we are called to be a teacher 808s

and we teach our students because we need a paycheck and because it's what we just decided 823s

to do and there is no love and there is no care and there is no concern that we are not serving 832s

to love our neighbor. If we are called to be a neighbor, if we are called to check in on those 843s

that live around us and we do so with the love and the care and the concern for our neighbor, 860s

we are serving praising God living in the purpose of what He intends. It's this beautiful, 869s

beautiful doctrine of vocation that we are as God's children, the masks of God, that He uses us 880s

where He places us to serve and love those around us and by serving and loving those around us 891s

with the love that we receive from the Spirit from Christ who lives within us, then we are living 900s

the purpose that God has set before us. We don't have to fear 908s

making the right or the wrong choice. We don't have to fear if we're doing it the wrong way 918s

if it is forbidden by God's word, God is clear. If it is commanded by God's word, 931s

God is clear. You are called to love. You are called to serve. You are called to trust 941s

God. And by doing so as we take that into the world we are serving as a witness 957s

of who God is, a witness of who He is in our lives, a witness of who He is 967s

in creation and a witness of who He can be for those around us. 977s

Every person is called every person is called to specific offices and will that look the same 986s

absolutely not. But we don't need to get stuck. We don't need to be paralyzed in the fear 995s

of the minutia around us because we live in the freedom as redeemed children of Christ 1007s

so that all that we do, all that we say, how we live, how we work, 1017s

our entire beings are lived in the purpose of glorifying and praising God. 1028s

I hope that this is a good word for you. I hope that as we face this new year 1042s

and you consider all the things that you have to do, all the things that are laid out before you, 1056s

all the things that you want to do and you feel overcome by the pressure of not doing 1062s

the right thing, not living the purpose that has been laid out before you. 1075s

I hope I pray that the word today knowing that God's first purpose for you is that you 1087s

live praising His name, glorifying Him, honoring Him and worshiping Him so that when you find 1113s

yourself stuck at the crossroads, paralyzed wondering which way do I turn, what decision do I make 1123s

that you first turn to God's word? And you pray, Lord thy will be done. And if it is not 1138s

expressly forbidden or expressly commanded in Scripture that you have complete peace, 1153s

peace knowing that the promise of eternity, the promise of praising God for all eternity is yours 1162s

through Christ alone and that if it feels good or is good right in salutary to take this job 1173s

to turn that way to wear that sweater then you can do it without fear because you walk in the 1183s

evidence knowing that it is God's spirit that resides in you that you will serve Him to His glory 1197s

and according to His purpose and trust, trust in the goodness of God and that all will be worked 1206s

to His good will and purpose for His glory and for our good. 1220s