Loaded Questions | Part 4: Does God Have A Plan For My Life?

Amen, amen. Well, welcome to Canvas Church and to the last week of a series that we've been calling Loaded Questions. And if you happen to be with us for the first time today, the reason that we've been calling it that is because we've been taking some of the most controversial and frequently asked questions that people have had about God and faith and religion for centuries and that we are tackling them. And quite frankly, they're still asking them today. If you weren't here for week one, let me just quickly recap. On Easter Sunday, we started our series with is Jesus really the only way to God and eternal life? And that's been a much debated question for years, especially given the variable that there are 4,200 religions in the world that are categorized into five major denominations. It's a pretty big statement to say out of all of that, there really is only one way to God and one way to heaven. But Jesus clarified it when he said he was the way, the truth, and the life. And we explored those claims and why we believe that. It's worth your watch. I want you to go back and see that if you weren't here for that. Week two, we tackled another big one. If God is so good, why is there so much suffering in the world?

I asked it for years before I came to Christ. Quite honestly, I asked it for years after I came to Christ and we learned that there were four navigational points or five navigational points that God gives to us that even though Jesus said in this world you'll have trouble that we could still have peace that passes understanding, even though there will be some things in life we will not be able to fully understand. It's really worth your watch and I think it'll answer some questions that maybe you've had. And then last week, we answered another big one that I've heard for years. Do you really have to go to church to be a Christian? And I promised in that message that I would bring it to a point where I would give a very specific definitive answer and I did and that is worth your watch as well. I think it'll really bless you and help you. And today, the last question that we're going to attempt to unpack and tackle is really, I don't necessarily think a controversial one like the others, but I do think that it's one that more people have asked and wrestled with, maybe or perhaps more than any, that we are tackling in this series and it's this one. Does God really have a plan for my life? I mean, is it random? Am I just out here spun out into the universe? Does it matter what decisions I make?

Does it matter what choices I make? And if he does have a plan, how in the world am I supposed to know it? It's a big question and it's one that I've asked for years as a husband, father, pastor, leader, because you know this and I know this, that decisions really matter and they will have a lasting impact on our lives and our futures. I like to say it like this. The decisions that we make today will ultimately determine the stories that we tell tomorrow. The decisions we make today will ultimately determine the stories that we tell tomorrow. It's just true. The person that we are today and the life that we are currently living right now, good or bad, by the way, is the result of the decisions that we made yesterday. And who we will become and what we will do tomorrow will be the results of the decisions that we make today. So this is not a small or insignificant issue. This is not a small or microscopic question. It's a big one and the word of God does indeed address it. Because what I know is in a church our size and in a room this size with this many people, there's some people right now in this room that are facing some really, really important and big decisions. Maybe you just graduated and you're wondering what's next.

I mean, do I go to college with the massive expense that college brings? Or maybe do I just get a job and learn a career or a trade? Or if I do go to college, which college do I choose? Or maybe you're here and you're single and you're dating someone and you're thinking, man, there's a lot about this person that I really dig and I really like. But gotta be honest with you, there's some red flags that are coming up. Should I continue in this relationship and just kinda hope they change and evolve and we're able to work through it? Or should I just end it now before it gets too serious? Maybe there's some people in the room that said, you know, I got a new opportunity that's facing me right now. I've been on one career path for a while, but I've got a chance to get a new job and I don't know what the future holds. It could be a disaster, but do I take it and just hope that it turns out the way that I want? Or do I stay where I am and just hope that I can make that better? So we've got decisions. Some decisions are not big in life. You know, where you eat today after church ain't gonna matter. Chicken, pork, or steak, baby, pick one, that's fine. They're all gonna be good for you.

They're all gonna sustain you. That's not gonna be a defining issue in your life, right? But there are many in our life that really, really do matter. They have potential. They have potential to change our life forever. And what we're all hoping for is, as we pursue God, that we will find some divine direction for your life. So let me start here. I wanna teach you today. So I just wanna kind of walk through some scripture, but I wanna unpack the will of God for you because I think there's. A lot of myth and misconception around the will of God. I thought about this a lot as I was prepping for today. And so I wanna start by laying a foundation about the will of God. When you read the Bible and you harmonize the scriptures, you'll find out that the will of God actually comes to us in three different specific ways. Number one, there is the sovereign will of God. The sovereign will of God will always be done. No one or no thing can ever stop the sovereign will of God. This will always have a little bit of a mysterious quality to it, and we may not always understand it, but it's just God handling his business and running the universe the way that he sees fit. He is sovereign, he is over all, and there are some things that he has set in motion

that no one will be able to alter or change. It is God being sovereign and doing what only God can do. And then there is another one that comes to us, and the Bible talks about clearly the moral will of God. The moral will of God is an established standard, now please listen, of what is right and what is wrong. God sets it by and through his word, and it is not up to debate or for debate by any of us. And we have to be really, really careful when we begin to study this, because what he's saying is, as followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, our values must be set by the standard of right and wrong that God declares, not that we declare on our own. And the reason this is important is because we are living in an age of live your own truth. We are living in an age of do what's right for you. We're living in an age where the world is baiting us to say, no, no, no, you just do whatever makes you happy, and we have to be careful that we do not accept our moral standards of right and wrong by TikTok. Amen. That we do not accept our moral standards of what is right or wrong by Twitter, or Facebook, or any of the social media platforms. You cannot listen to the world and think that they're telling us the truth. The world has questioned the moral will of God, they have abandoned the moral will of God, they have rejected the moral will of God,

but it has not changed, and it will not change. The moment that we become followers of Christ is the moment that we must embrace the standard of God's word as the ultimate authority of what is right and wrong in our life. You've heard me say this before, but I'm gonna say it again. Whenever we read the word of God as followers of Christ, and we read something that rubs us the wrong way, or that we disagree with, we must assume that we are wrong. That went over really good, boy, but I got caught. We must assume and understand that we are in the creation, and he is the creator. If you went down to the dog pound and you rescued a talking dog, now just go with me. You rescued a talking dog, and you bring him to your house, and as soon as you bring him into your house and you sit down, dog walks up and says, man, get out of my recliner, I wanna sit there. What? Fix me something to eat. You pour him some kittles and bits, and he said, I'm not eating that garbage. I want you to fix me some steak and eggs. I'm gonna get up where I wanna get up, I'm gonna sit where I wanna sit, I'm gonna do what I wanna do. You would look at that dog and say, let me tell you something, cat. I just rescued you from certain death,

and I brought you into my house. I paid for this, I created this. You're living under my good graces. That is a hyperbolic understatement of what it is when humans try to tell God what they want him to do and they want him to be and the standard they're going to live by. The Bible says in the Psalms that we are his people and the sheep of his pasture. It's his pasture, baby. We all eat in his green grass. He gets to say where we eat, when we eat, and what we don't eat and what we don't. Now, see, that rubs the world the wrong way. That's why I say they have abandoned that, but you cannot cherry pick the Bible. You cannot say, I think God is brilliant here, but he's wrong over here. He's either Lord over all or he's not Lord at all. So there's this moral will that the world has a real problem with right now, and it's a hot, hot topic, but we have to accept as followers of Christ, as followers of Christ, if you're not a follower, hey, man, whatever, dude, but if you're a follower of Christ, you have to say the word of God is the standard of right and wrong. So there's a sovereign will, there's the moral will, but here's the one that we all kind of came for,

I think, today that we wrestle with a lot, and that is the specific will of God for our lives. This is what most people are referring to when they think of what is God's will for my life. It's those navigational decisions that we make based on how God created us and in what way he wants us to invest our lives for good, and let me say this, that God does indeed involve himself in our daily lives, he does, but the truth is, I am really convinced after years of pastoring people and having conversations with people that we need to develop a much broader sense of God's will for our lives. Sometimes I think we get bogged down because we think way too specific about the will of God for our lives. In fact, I want to circle back around to this. I think I shared this with you sometime last year, but I really believe there are six major myths that people kind of buy into or think about when it comes to the will of God that I just want to take a moment and address, okay? Six myths about the will of God. I've heard this one forever. God will eventually give me a clear, clear roadmap for my life if I am patient enough. No, he won't. Let me just go ahead and clarify that. Not even close.

It's not going to happen. God's will for us has never been a roadmap, ladies and gentlemen. God's will for us has always been guided by a deep relationship with him. Let me give you an Old Testament illustration of this. When God was leading the children of Israel through the desert out of Egyptian bondage into Canaan, he did not give Moses an old McNally map or a Waze app on his phone and say, I want you to go down to the river, take a right, go to the old rock, take a left, go to the big sycamore tree and take another right, stay close to the mountains, and then you'll eventually end up where you wanted to be. That's not what he did. When he got them out into the Jordanian desert, God said, I'm going to give you two things. I'm going to give you a cloud by day so that you will have shade and you will have reprieve and you will have rest. Gather under that cloud. At night, it's going to drop to freezing temperatures. I'm going to give you a pillar of fire by night that's going to keep you warm. I'm going to provide for you, but here's the way I want you to go. I want you to stay close to the cloud, close to the fire. When the cloud moves, you move. When the fire moves, you move.

Here was what he's saying. I want you to stay close to me. I'm not going to tell you 100 miles ahead. I'm not going to give you five miles ahead. I want you to stay close to me so that when I move and you see me move and you sense me move, I want you to move with me. That's how God still does it today. So get over the idea that somehow, if you're good enough, if you're holy enough, if you pray hard enough, if you fast enough, that somehow God is just going to drop to you these 10 steps ahead of your life. It is never going to happen. When he moves, you move. Stay close to his heart. Number two, God's plan for my life is probably going to be boring and probably going to make me miserable. I can't tell you how many people I have ran into that thought, man, any fun I'm going to have in my life is going to happen outside the will of God. Anything that I'm going to do that's going to be adventurous and joyful and wonderful, I've got a segment of my life that I just got to live for myself and have my fun. And then when I surrender everything to Jesus, which I hope one day I will, that's when I'm going to live like some Tibetan monk in the hills of Nepal and have to shave my head and do chants and eat weird stuff.

They really think that, that there is no adventure into the will of God. Can I tell you that that is a lie from the enemy, that he has perpetrated on people for years? The Bible says in Hebrews 11 in verse six, that God is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. He is not a hater of them that diligently, you show me one good father that would take advantage of the obedience of his son to exercise horrible things upon them. You can never and should never be afraid of the will of God for your life. It will be the biggest live life to the adventure that you have ever had in your life. And the reward and the blessing of God will flow into you when you say yes to God in every dimension that he leads you. I am living it, I have traveled the world because of the gospel. I have seen things I would have never seen and experienced because of the gospel. Now, I'm not saying that God's a negotiator, I'm just saying he's a rewarder. And when he finds pure obedience and people that say, God, you are the Lord and wherever you send me and whatever you want me to do, I will obey that fully. You have just invoked and invited the favor of God over your life in fresh, brand new ways. Don't ever be afraid or think God's gonna make you miserable or there'll be some struggle, that's just anything in life.

But you don't need to be afraid of the will of God, it'll be the greatest thing that ever happened to you. Myth number three, God speaks to only a certain group of people but not somebody like me. I've met a bunch of people that go, pastors, sure, God speaks to them all the time. Preachers, of course. Missionaries, mm-hmm. I sit up at 3 a.m. watching Netflix eating Doritos. God's not talking to me. God's not talking to somebody like me. Nothing could be further from the truth. God desires to lead and guide every one of his creation. So I'm just telling you, I'm not gonna spend a lot of time here but whether you're a secretary, a plumber, a burger flipper, or a ditch digger, if you are alive, it qualifies you for God's guidance in your life. He doesn't love me any more than he loves you. He doesn't wanna lead me any more than he wants to lead you. you God will speak to anyone and everyone who is open and receptive to his voice myth number four only young people should really be concerned about knowing God's will no not even close if you're not dead God's not done and the best is always yet to come matter of fact everybody in this room just do this with me do that take a big breath that is proof positive God still has a plan for your life because one day you're gonna go all right it's over right one day you'll try and ain't done go come and in Italian finito de finito on this earth now may God may use you somewhere else in the universe but but it's done for you here all right that day will come but as long as you can breathe the

breath of life if you got up this morning you have all the proof you need that God still has a purpose for you I I'm telling you I know people that are more effective right now at 70 than they were at 27 so if you're not dead God's not done everybody that's alive should be seeking and pursuing and praying for the will of God to be done in their life myth number five God will reveal his purpose to me through some dramatic event I could but ninety nine point nine percent of the time I'm just telling you that he's not he's just not gonna do it in the book of Kings the prophet Elijah was on a mountain he experiences a wildfire the Bible says a fierce wind an earthquake all in just a few moments and the Bible makes a very specific point in telling us that God was in none of those things he came to Elijah in a still small voice God doesn't shouted his people God doesn't need to use your back we are so many people have this idea that if God really wants me to do something that I'm gonna wake up one night and at the end of my bed Gabriel's gonna be standing there going right something out of the movie and and he's just gonna he's gonna tell me it's gonna give me these golden scrolls it's gonna be a scene out of a Spielberg flick or something right I'm telling you it's not gonna happen like that here's how God's gonna do it he's not gonna shout at you and it's not gonna be dramatic he's gonna speak to you and me he always has still small voice listen listen it'll be a normal conversation that you have with someone you trust on a Tuesday morning over coffee it'll be that Monday afternoon that you set aside 10 minutes and you just open your Bible and you're just reading casually and your heart is just receptive to the Lord that God will bring something out of his word it'll be one of the 52 Sundays maybe that we meet together and you'll come thinking it's just another Sunday and God will lead me or somebody else to preach something and you will know in that moment beyond the shadow of a doubt that God knew where you were saw your situation and crafted a message that was specifically to speak to the situation of your life and heart it'll be it won't be but we only see them when we're open and receptive to them oftentimes we miss them because we're looking for the dramatic don't

look for God in the dramatic look for God in the daily and when you look for God in the daily you will begin to see him and hear him everywhere myth number six God purposely hides his will from us in a shroud of mystery like God it's a cruel joke that I really want to know it and God just won't reveal it to me and look I know sometimes it can feel that way but the scriptures don't indicate that at all I love Psalm 37 it says the Lord directs the steps of the godly he delights in every detail of their lives God takes pleasure God takes joy in every detail of his children's lives he wants to be involved in our lives God's will is not sending us on some wild goose chase like Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom he doesn't just lay out step one through ten ahead of time here's how God does it God gives us one step at a time and then if you have enough faith and trust and courage to take this step then he reveals the next step I've shared with you for years that the psalmist said his word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path not a Q beam that shines two miles out in advance that we can clearly see the steps God doesn't give you one through ten God as you get close to him listen and are receptive he'll give you the next step and then you have to trust have courage and walk by faith and say okay I'm gonna take this one step next and see where it leads and when you have the obedience to do that your obedience unlocks the next step of where you need to be because if God showed you all of it you would get ahead of him if God showed you all of it you would outpace his spirit if God showed you all of it there would be things of maturation that you need to grow in along the way that you would skip over and God loves you too much to give you a premature blessing he'll allow you to grow into where you need to be I was not ready to pastor a sixteen seventeen hundred member church when when I started 15 years ago I thought I was and I would have I'd be in the corner somewhere going Well, they brought me medication all day long Right. I thought I was way more mature than what I was I wasn't and God knew it and that's why with this church has grown

Incrementally because God allowed me to grow with the vision and and there are days even now that you know You just feel the weight and the pressure of everything But listen God in his infinite wisdom node knows that I needed to mature There were some things in my life that needed to be purged God had to mature me and grow me and and be patient with me and it's the same in your life So God is not gonna give you a premature blessing. He loves you too much to do that He wants you to grow in the pace that he wants you to grow now now that I've done that Let me turn the corner. Okay, here we go. I Actually believe that we asked the wrong question. I Actually believe one of the reasons why more of us do not know more of the specificity Of God's will in our life is because we ask a wrong question I think there is a far better question that when we ask it honestly and sincerely That it unlocks more of the specific will of God in our life In other words, I think sometimes we get the cart before the horse and in God's divine providence and his wisdom He knows we needs to be asking better questions And I want to give it to you If you really want a better question that I think really unlocks the perfect and the specific will of God in our life in more detail It's this one right here when it comes to his children God. What is it that you care about the most? When it comes to my life as a child of God a follower of Christ God I want to know what is it that you actually care about the most. Do you care more about where I work? Do you care more about who I date? Are you more concerned about where I live? What is what do you that's the things I am most concerned about but God let me flip the script Let me look at it a little bit from your perspective Lord What is it when it comes to me that you care about the most? The reason this is so important is because I think we rarely think about it at all most of the time we become so scope locked and obsessed on the specific details of our daily lives and what each specific move should be that we never step back and see the larger picture and I am suggesting to you that if we could I think far more daily things would become Clearer to us in life. So in the spirit of that I want to answer the question What does God care about when it comes to his children and his followers the most here we go

Number one. I am telling you scripturally I'm going to show it to you that God's main priority for our lives has far more to do with who we are Genuinely becoming than it does with what we are specifically doing We are scope locked on where and when and who and how and we beg God for these questions And I really think God is begging us to ask a that deeper question. What does he care about the most? I'm gonna show you one verse of Scripture that clearly clearly delineates and clarifies God's perfect will for every one of his followers. It's exciting. You ready? Here we go Finally brothers and sisters we urge you in the name of the Lord Jesus to live in a way that pleases God For you remember what we taught you by the authority of the Lord Jesus God's perfect will is For you to be holy Is that anticlimactic for you? It feels like it This is his perfect will it's his perfect will for me it's his perfect will for you It doesn't say God's perfect will is for you to be an accountant God's will is for you to be a plumber God's will is for you to be a preacher God's will is for you to be you fill in the blank. These are all awesome things The world needs every one of them, but when God wanted to communicate his ultimate will for our lives Here's how he said it. My ultimate will is for you to be holy now I've clarified this before but let me say it again the word holy Don't let it throw you Because it has been hijacked for years by religious zealots and has been reduced to to what somebody wears Or how somebody looks or some very specific standard that lines up with their religious beliefs or doctrines But the word holy is a Greek word this word Greek and the Greek means its agios It means to be set apart. It means to be consecrated to the Lord It means to be different God's will is for you and I to be Different now, it's not that we're what we're trying to decide in life doesn't matter

It's just that God is not overly concerned about it It's not it's not his biggest concern and desire for our lives his biggest desire for us his biggest desire For us is that in a world that lives only for its self-interest its self-pleasure and its self promotion that we would be different that we would not allow the world to Determine what set of values that we are going to live by or what success is for us or that we exist by that we would Live out our lives by a set of principles and values that God's Word and God's Word alone Determines for us even if the world makes fun of us for it and thinks we're crazy God wants us to be different in a world that is driven by pure Narcissism in a world that says live your own true when we become a follower of Christ We are called to something different to something unique to something that's rare in this world to never live only for ourselves But to live our very lives to bring glory and honor to God and serve others. That's different That's different while the world says move towards yourself Just do you bro? Don't matter who likes it. Don't matter who you got to step on Don't matter who you hurt doesn't matter live your truth. Do your own thing Jesus calls us to move towards the gospel and himself when the world says Fulfill yourself. He says no deny yourself and take up your cross and follow me Don't don't live only for you live for me The secret to life is not to try to live some Hedonistic lifestyle that you just take all you want eat all you want take all you want No matter who you hurt the the real secret Jesus said is that when you live a life of service and giving you tap into the true power of the universe you find out That there was something I created you for that was bigger than yourself and true peace and true fulfillment come into your life I've been living it for 30 years and I'm telling you man I can't tell you know, some of you know this but I have a I have a company called vital vision I've been teaching leadership for 17 years and and I didn't plan on getting into it. It just kind of happened It's a long story But God has allowed me to sit at the table with teaching Leadership to over 60 companies around the country including some of the largest like DuPont and I've sat at the table with with men Who were multi multi multi multi multi millionaires? Who had to pop?

antidepressant pills like candy Divorced five times their children would not have any relationship with them at all from the world standard They were highly successful and some of the most miserable human beings I've ever met in my life because the world told them this is success and They sold everything out for it and they found out that they were climbing the wrong ladder the whole time I've sat at tables with those people and I've seen that the Bible is absolutely true And then I've met people that just live week to week that that followed the Lord that loved the Lord that put God first in Their life and the most meaningful things that they have in their life sit around their table every night of the week And there's love and there's passion and there's peace and there's joy. We got to be careful We got to be careful when we let the world define our values the call of God on our lives It's less about our careers and more about our character. So the starting question here is not God What do you want me to do? The bigger question is God? Who do you want me to become? Not God. What do you want me to do? Who do you want me to become? Here's what I'm suggesting to you that if we start there it is inevitable that we will begin to make better Decisions and those better decisions will ultimately lead us to the right directions See, here's what I'm convinced of God gave me a few gifts he didn't give me a ton of gifts, but I know God gave me a few gifts and I believe that those gifts were attached to The call of God on my life and God's purpose for my life. So I'm convinced that it's God's will Yes of course that my life was to be spent as a pastor and a preacher and a teacher to help shepherd and lead and reach and Care for others, but as convinced I am of the call of God on my life to be a pastor There is no doubt that the calling on my life is pastor as Secondary his primary call on my life is to be holy is to be set apart It's to live different to live my life in a way that brings glory and honor to God He's far more concerned with my character than he is my vocation Pastoring is what I do and I'm proud of it. I thank God for it, but it's not who I am It's not really who I am and we've all seen this before it is possible to be a good communicator a charismatic leader a good Administrator and have terrible character I have seen people that were successful in the world's eyes who mistreated people were mean to their wife and cold to their kids and took advantage of others

This is why Paul when he was writing about gifts and talents and abilities Listen, I tell people all the time the most profound thing about first Corinthians 13 is Not what it says as much as where it is positioned. It is positioned between Hang on this is profound chapters 12 and 14 But what's going on in 12 and 14? In 12 and 14 Paul is talking about the gifts of the Spirit. He's talking about these amazing supernatural talents and gifts that God gives to people and he's saying man some people have this and some people have this and some people have this and some people have this and it's almost like he takes this break in the middle of it and he catches himself and he says but wait a minute I don't want you to go enamored too much with all of the talents and the abilities and the gifts because there's something that's far more important than your talents abilities and gifts and then he stops and he writes verse chapter 13 if I could speak with all the languages of the earth and of angels Paul said let me just clarify but I didn't love others I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal if I had the gift of prophecy and if I understood all of God's secret plans and possessed all knowledge and if I had such faith that I could move mountains but did not love others I would be nothing if I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body to be burned one look one translation says I could boast about it but if I didn't truly love others Paul said it means nothing and God scales who we truly are as a person weighs more than what we do as a profession I'm running out of time let me say this real quick here's what I'm saying yes yes yes who you're dating matters but you being a true follower of Christ while you're dating them matters even more yes where you live and what job you take or what job you pursue matters but you being a true follower of Christ in every area of your life when you get there even matters more it doesn't matter whether you work in Texas or Seattle or New York if you just be a Christ follower and you represent his values there you are living in the perfect will of God for your life so before we think Lord what do you want me to do tomorrow here's the question you need to ask God who do you want me to become today and am I

becoming that before you ask Lord what do you want me to do tomorrow I'm telling you the real question is Lord who do you want me to become today and am I becoming that person number two I just got a little bit of time actually I'm out of time but I'm just lying to you all right so stick with me God is far more concerned with our motives I'm telling you that he is our specific moves motives matter to God I'll show it to you I can show you a bunch but I'm gonna give you Proverbs 16 people may do what is right in their own eyes and a lot of people do but the Lord examines their motives the Lord examines their motives he's not just looking at the moves that you make ladies and gentlemen God is examining and looking at why we make them you know what I've learned we all have a tendency to see what we want to see depending on where we're standing isn't it amazing we all always think we're right me you we always think we're right but God probes deeper into our hearts in order to see the real why what is driving us this is why I'm going to show you a prayer that if you sincerely pray this prayer and I mean sincerely it's a prayer that David prayed if you pray this prayer it will attract the presence and the power and the favor of God over your life in a way that you can't possibly imagine and here it is David prayed in Psalm 139 Lord would you search my heart and know it would you test me and look at my thoughts Lord I'm serious I want you to I want you to I want you to look at not just the decisions that I'm making but I want you to I'm asking you God would you reveal to me why I'm making them why I am the way that I am point out anything in me that offends you God and lead me along the path of everlasting life but that's raw bro that's raw and that's real and I double-dog dare you to pray that prayer because when you do with that kind of honesty before God attracts his presence and power in your life in a way that God says finally there's always been things that I've been wanting to address that I needed to address but I've never been able to because you were not receptive or ready I've tried to convict but you would just reject but when you pray this prayer you're saying Lord I am open and ready to hear your voice and whatever conviction you bring into my life I receive it I'm not going to reject it

I'm gonna trust that you know me better than I know myself oh listen to that I I'm gonna trust that you created me and that you are God and that you know me better than I know myself and I'm asking you to point out anything in me that offends you I wish I could stand here I would love to and be able to tell you that I'm so holy and as your pastor I'm so pastoral and I'm so spiritual That every time I've prayed it, that I've said, yes, my motives are for you. But I'm embarrassed. I've been embarrassed. Over the years at how when I prayed this prayer in a minute. How many prayers and the motives of my heart were me centered and not Christ centered including building this church. And I'm convinced that one of the reasons that God prolonged our church growing is because he knew I couldn't handle it. That I would probably look around in my immaturity. And think that I had really done something important. And that my peers would celebrate me. And that my peers and colleagues in ministry would think I'm a great leader. And God in his infinite wisdom. Was patient with me. And purged me and convicted me and allowed me to struggle in obscurity with our church small and struggling for years. Until in some remote way, he could work all of that crap out of my heart. So that I can just bask and give God the glory and know. That everything that ever happens at Canvas Church. Will only be to the credit. The power of God building his church. And that his goodness. And grace could have picked anybody. It didn't have to be me. It could have been anybody.

But he gave me the opportunity to stand here and be a part of it. But he gave me the opportunity to stand here and be a part of it. And for that I will forever be grateful. I want to show you something I've learned. Look, man, I'm just preaching as honest as I know how. But I want to show you something. You need to see this. If you're taking screenshots, baby, you need this one. I'm just telling you right now. It is hard if not downright impossible to get to the right place when you're driven by the wrong motives. I'm serious. It's hard if not downright impossible to get to the right place when you're driven by the wrong motives. Let me say it like this. It's almost impossible to arrive at the right where when you start your journey with the wrong why. God's got to get it right here. And if you get it right here, don't worry. You don't have to worry about downstream. Let me say it to you this way. When God finds perfect willingness in you, you will not have to worry about his perfect will. It will find you. It will seek you out. It will track you down. It will find you if you just become who God wants you to become. I've seen people ruin themselves financially and forfeit years of their future because they lived in houses. They couldn't afford that drove vehicles.

They had no business driving all because they wanted to impress other people and be viewed a certain way wrong motives mangled their future in the future of their families. I've seen people sabotage meaningful relationships and kill love because of decisions that were motivated by self-centeredness and greed and selfishness. And when we ask God to challenge our motives, he will and when we ask God to test our heart, he will and when we ask God to expose in us, what's not like him, he will. And it'll be the greatest day of your life. Because it'll be then that you know what you need to do. Repent. Don't don't don't fight with God. Repent, agree with him about what he says and ask God to forgive you and help you and to turn the corner. Here's the ultimate thing that God is calling us to do in Colossians 3, whatever you do, bro. Plumber, secretary, ditch digger, burger flipper, whatever you do, whatever you say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the number one thing that God is called every the perfect will of God for our lives. Is this you do this and don't worry. God will make sure you get to the right place. I'm gonna say it like this and I'm closing if you become the right who God will help you choose the right do if you're driven by the right why God will leave. you always to the right what don't worry so much about doing what as worried about who and why get who and why right and do and what will chase you down and find you now if you're here this morning let me say this if you're here this morning and you don't know jesus as lord and savior of your life i gotta say something to you because every sunday there are people seven people

in first service today came to christ and i know that in every service we have people that come because canvas is such a safe place that there may be people in this room that you have never surrendered all of your life to jesus i want to say something to you concerning this message it is impossible to know the will of the lord in your life until you first know the lord of the will it is impossible for you to know the will of the lord you will never know the will of the lord for your life until you first know the lord of the will it is about relationship first and god wants to lead your life and god has a desire to reveal to you and guide you and he will but not without a relationship that comes first and if you're here and you don't know jesus you have come to the most important place in your life because you are surrounded by people who love you unconditionally and who prayed all week that god would bring this moment to fruition and i want god to do a work in all of us can we pray really quick father i love you