Trapped by the Concept of God's Perfect Will
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
As a young Child of God, these verses scared me. I was nervous about the ideas of sacrificial holiness and acceptability in the eyes of God. The part that really got to me though was that part about proving out what is the acceptable, good, and perfect will of God. As a young carnal kid trying to approach God with my head and not my heart, I understood it to say that there were levels of God’s will. Some paths are good, some are merely acceptable but there is that one path that is perfect. This concept that sprang from my mind set me up for years of heartache and frustration as I tried thing after thing, idea after idea trying to find that one that was perfectly acceptable to God.
As I grew, I started asking the LORD what he meant by this passage. No one can explain the word better than the author, folks. Nobody. Commentaries, Bible colleges, seminars and books have their proper place. But first, go straight to the source. The Holy Ghost will always reveal Jesus to the heart that earnestly seeks Him.
In this passage in Romans 12, the word ‘perfect’ means ‘complete.’ There is a will of God for each of our lives that completes God’s purpose in creating us. Here it is as simply as I can put it. For us to be saved and to be redeemed or bought back from the pit we sold ourselves into, there had to be two sacrifices and two who exchanged natures. Christ became sin and took on our punishment so that we could be redeemed and God expects us to likewise put our old man to death, die to self, take up our cross and follow Him so that His kingdom can grow. We are to take on His nature just as He embraced ours. He did it for our redemption, We do it for His glory. If you really want to know the perfect will of God, It is this: “Christ in you [vibrant, alive, in charge and shining forth] is the hope of all glory.”
Take it from someone who was caught in this trap. Quit thinking that without the perfect job, the perfect wife, the perfect kids, the perfect church, etc. that you have failed God. The one path that God wants you to walk down is the one that leads straight to Jesus. The perfected will of God is for you through His guidance and grace to become more fully like His glorious Son ever moment that you live. That will has never changed. Just have joy in being God’s kid and through the power of the Holy Ghost grow in Jesus’ nature, image, and likeness. That has never disappointed Him.