Currently listening to: “Hall of Justice” by Deepspace5
A fun rap romp through classic comic-book superheroes, this track graces the very old-school DS5 EP – which is probably impossible to find an original print of, but can be listened to here: The Beginning, Is The Start Of Everything. “Who you think is the guy writin’ with the fat marker / Spreadin’ rhyme webs on walls, it’s no-one else but Peter Parker” It’s great to hear DS5 circa 1997 – they all sound so much younger… but man, did they ever bring the fire.

As I mentioned a couple days ago, I’m in a phase of life (called “job hunting”) where finances and economics are on my mind a lot. Money stuff. With that in mind, I’ve been doing a survey of what the Bible says about money… and it’s many synonyms – wealth, riches, resources, etc. I like to call it “THE MONEYS”.

That being said, I’m sitting on a mostly-finished “part 2″ to this series. Before I drop that – in a couple days, Lord willing – I felt inspiration hit tonight and so I decided I’d hit inspiration back with a brief tangent. Consider this post #0 if you like. See, when I started this series I neglected to preface it. I’ve realized lately that it’s often prudent to preface any serious study – particularly if it’s topical – with some of the roots beneath the topic. In the case of this study of finances and fiscal responsibility and “THE MONEYS”, a closely-related and very root-ish issue that I believe needs to be addressed in tandem is something we usually refer to as “the will of God”.

Why the will of God? The easiest explanation is actually my own circumstances. My reason for studying the scriptures concerning “THE MONEYS” is that I’m at a point in my life-journey where there’s a lot up in the air, particularly in the area of work and providing for my family. Of course, this means that studying the principles laid out by Scripture concerning such providence and work and, well, economics… is paramount. With that in my mind, while I was at a meeting tonight someone shared briefly some scripture from 1 Thesselonians which served as a reminder to me that even more deep and vital for me to understand right now (amidst all my many concerns about finding a job and being a responsible post-grad employable individual) is what God’s will for me is. If I have a solid grasp on God’s will, that will both inform and reform my understanding of finances. Thus, we’re going to consider God’s will tonight.

Christians are much in the habit of making “The Will of God” something mysterious and unknowable and far-off and complex and convoluted and so on, ad nauseum. Sure, when we study it theologically in its fullness, there are many facets and components we must necessarily take into account – such as the idea that God has two wills (one revealed, one hidden/secret – etc) and so on.

For the purposes of what I’d like to address tonight – in terms of what I hope both challenges and encourages you – we’re going to be talking about God’s practical will. That is, we’re talking about “God’s will” as it relates to the everyday, mundane decisions and the overarching, significant decisions we make as we journey through life. In my case, right now, that involves things such as “How can I spend today fruitfully and productively?” and “Do I take this job or not?”. Further, we’re talking about “God’s will” as it relates to the many forces that exert themselves upon us throughout life… upon which we have no control or recourse. In my case, right now, that involves things such as… well… some random company offering me a job, or the unlikely event of severe sickness coming upon me. Does that make sense? We’re talking about “God’s will” in the sense that people often say “I’m just trying to figure out what God’s will is for me right now”.

1 Thesselonians 4:3a ESV
For this is the will of God, your sanctification.

Well hey, that was easy!

Come back tomorrow when we’ll start to explore the implications of this profound, explicit truth. All I ask is that you ruminate on this a bit. What does it mean practically to know that God’s will for me is that I be sanctified – that I become more like Jesus every day, in each decision, and in all my faculties? Ponder and consider, friends.

(If you’re skeptical, I already have the next post written – no jokes!)