Good Will Hunting
| A few years ago a compelling but complex motion picture was nominated for nine Academy Awards – winning Oscars for Robin Williams and “hot newcomers” Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. Good Will Hunting portrayed a triumphant story about Will Hunting, the most brilliant mind at America’s top university who was a janitor – not a student. Will Hunting was a headstrong, working-class genius. When he was “discovered”, Will was offered the opportunity of a lifetime, but he didn’t want to leave his friends nor deal with the issues of his past. He finally realized that he had been gifted and given opportunities that many only dreamed of. It would be a shame to waste his giftedness when he could make a contribution to life. |
Each one of us was created with unique, God given abilities, gifts, and opportunities to make contributions to life. God has a plan and purpose for our lives. (Read Jeremiah 19:11-14.) Knowing and doing God’s will is the highest form of worship. (Read Romans 12:1-2.) In “The Lord’s Prayer”, Jesus puts God’s will in the very center. “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10). A tremendous truth is that the will of God and the doing of that will is the most important activity in the whole world! (Read James 4:13-15.) To be truly fulfilled and to make a difference for eternity, pray for, and become involved in God’s will being done “on earth as it is in heaven”.
W. Phillip Keller contends that “the will of God is of such enormous magnitude and majesty that it completely overshadows all the concepts in the Christians life. Doing the Father’s will is the one gigantic, central theme which should dominate the lives of all God’s children.”
Jesus not only taught us to pray for God’s will, it was the focal point by which His own life was lived. What did He come to earth to do – to do the will of God. (Read John 6:38.)
In the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus faced a life and death decision of going to the cross and being crucified for the sins of the world. The struggle was resolved by His prayer, “Not my will but thine be done.” Jesus could pray that because that’s how He lived. Is that how you are living? Perhaps, like Will Hunting, you are afraid or have unresolved issues of your past that are holding you back from doing God’s will. Pray for His will to be done in and through your life. (Read Jeremiah 29:11-15.)
Consider some aspects of God’s will as we use a slight play on words – Good Will Hunting.
First – GOD’S WILL IS GOOD and worth hunting for. God has goodwill toward all His creation. “The Lord . . . is patient . . . not wishing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance” (II Peter 3:9). The will of God, despite man’s deceitful character, perverse personality, and strong-willed waywardness, continues to work for man’s redemption, restoration to the family of God, and for our rebirth and renewal. (Read John 3:3-17.) So great is His love that in accordance with His own will and wishes, He had His Son take upon Him the form of man and to die for us. His goodwill hunts for the lost sheep, the lost coins, and the prodigal sons. (Read Luke 15.) Remember Jeremiah’s revelation concerning God’s Goodwill for you “to prosper you, not for calamity” (Jeremiah 29:11). He desires to make you a good vessel after the divine potter’s will. (Read Jeremiah 18:1-4.)
Second – GOODWILL HUNTING. How can we hunt for HIS goodwill? (Read Isaiah 55.) Search with your whole heart (Isaiah 55:6.) Call on God in prayer and repent of self-will and sin (Isaiah 55:7). Turn to God and receive His mercy. Realize that God declares, “’My thoughts are completely different from yours’, and my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine” (Isaiah 55:8-9). God has revealed His will through His Word. God tells us that He will give us the seed of His Holy Word. If you will plant it in your heart in faith, you will discover and develop God’s will “on earth as it is in heaven”. (Read Isaiah 55:10-13.)
Third – GOD’S WILL comes when you submit to His will. It may be a spiritual crisis or a crossroad in your life when, like Jesus, you pray, “Father, not my will but your will be done.” Praying and submitting to the Father’s will brings glory to God and conforms you to God’s purpose for your life in eternity. (Read Romans 8:26-29.) It is the highest form of worship and conforming to His goodwill. (Read Romans 12:1-2.)
Fourth – last but not least IT MUST BE MORE THAN MERE WORDS. Praying the Lord’s Prayer by rote, ritual, or religious duty will not bring God’s will on “earth as it is in heaven”. But praying for the Father’s will in sincere faith will.
Jesus said something life shattering at the end of The Sermon on the Mount. “Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, but He doeth the will of my Father which is in Heaven” (Matthew 7:21). Are you praying for and doing His Good Will?
by: Cliff Sanders