Best Offer
"And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect." // Romans 12:2
Talking about "God's will" and praying for "God's will to be done" is likely something you've heard others do or have done yourself. Even Jesus, our perfect example, did it when He was teaching his disciples and us how to pray... "Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done..."
Praying for God's will in our lives is a great thing - it shows humility, and it means that we recognize God's plan for the world and for us is the best.
But I will be the first to admit, praying for "God's will" can be, at times, frustrating and vague. Those words can quickly lose meaning and heart and turn into just another phrase we throw around when we don't know what to say.
Romans 12:2 popped up as the Verse of the Day on the Bible App a couple weeks ago, and it really drew me in. The idea of finding God's good and pleasing and perfect will - sign me up! I decided to do a little digging on the word "will" (thank you Beth for showing me how incredible word-studies are)...
Bible Hub is a really cool site that not only has tons of different translations and commentaries, but you can also look up any word in the Bible and see the original Greek or Hebrew word! (No, this is not a paid endorsement - I just really love this site!) I typed in Romans 12 and chose the Strong's NASB version (the Strong's concordance of the Bible is the most comprehensive dictionary, and I just always use the New American Standard translation of the Bible - but you can choose King James or the Holman Christian translation too.)
Anywho, when you click on the word "will," it pulls up the original word: thelema (Strong's 2307) thélēma (from thélō, "to desire, wish") – properly, a desire (wish), often referring to God's "preferred-will," i.e. His "best-offer" to people which can be accepted or rejected.
When I read that last line, my heart stopped... "His 'best-offer' to people which can be accepted or rejected."
God's will is His best offer to us. The best offer from the One who created us and loves us completely and unconditionally and eternally. How incredible.
We often talk about His will and pray for His will as if it's a bad thing; like it's in direct opposition to our happiness. "Well, I want a baby, but maybe it's God's will that I never have one..." Or, "I really want this job, but whatever Your will is, God..."
Lord, help us!
His best offer is what will bring us true joy. His best offer is not only going to be best for us, but best for the world, best for His kingdom and His glory, and best for eternity. Yes, our lives have the power to impact eternity!
But we have the option to accept that best offer or reject it. To approach Him with humility and hands wide open and hearts that long for this world to know Him, or to approach Him with a specific set of blueprints and fists closed tightly around our own plans and minds that think only of temporary happiness.
We can exhaust our voices crying out for His will to be done but never truly experience it. It's a scary thought, but we don't have to live in that fear. Let's change our perspectives, renew our minds.
Conforming to this world means searching for immediate happiness and temporary highs. But we have the option to be transformed by the renewing of our minds and experience abundant and everlasting joy. How sweet is that?! And how sweet is our God that He has crafted a best offer for each and every person who has lived on this earth, who is currently living here, and who will one day live here?! And not only that, but each of those individual best offers are woven together to create a best case scenario for this world and for eternity!
I want that. I want the best. And I know you do too. Let's pray for and talk about and accept God's will - His best offer - with open arms and open hands and open minds and open hearts, knowing that there is no one who knows better what the best is than the One who designed and created everything.
And how will we know when we're experiencing the best? Joy and peace and hope will abound in our hearts, in good times, and especially in bad. That's how we'll know that whatever season we are in, God's will is being done in our lives.
His best offer won't always bring us happiness, but it will always bring joy.
His best offer isn't just working for right now; it's working for always.
Let's trust the One who is so faithful and so worthy of all our trust. Let's take God at His Word when He says, "‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.'"