i do what i want?

http://sd.keepcalm-o-matic.co.uk/i/keep-calm-and-i-do-what-i-want-2.png

Is it wrong to do what we want?

By this I don’t mean acting on impulses such as overeating, overdrinking and reacting in anger.

I think I mean, is it OK to take what we believe are be good things, things that line up with how we want to live our lives and just do it?

I’m never sure if we have to wait for God to give us a very clear, “you are to do this” answer in a loud booming voice or if we can take our talents and our desires and set out on a new course without being sure if it’s “correct”.

Our family is in a period of change and transition right now, which is both exciting and frustrating. We don’t know where our lives are leading us, although we do have ideas of things that we would like to do. We are beginning to see how we would like to bring our kids up and how we can use our talents to serve and give.

Can we just do these things? Can we set out on a path unknown and ask God for his blessing? Or is that completely ridiculous because if it’s not the “right” path then we are pretty much doomed to failure?

I feel like this rambling makes no sense, but I’m trying my best to explain how these thoughts have been running through my head lately.

I think that God’s desires and our desires line up when we’re in tune with his Spirit, but it’s still so hard to know the difference between our ideas and God’s ideas.

Part of living a Christ-like life is sacrificing, however are we really sacrificing if the next course of our life is something that we strongly desire? Perhaps sacrificial living is beyond what we want and what we need but a mindset that we will find joy in any and every situation.

I was watching an interview that Charlie Rose did with Bono over the weekend and one sentence struck me as important. Bono said that “Joy is an act of defiance”.

I’ve never thought of joy that way before, as a way to be defiant against the clutches of evil, but now I am considering the role that joy has in my own life.

Sometimes I think that certain situations would allow me to be more joyful than I currently am. But then I read things like Paul’s letter to the Phillipians and realize that it is key to be able to be happy and content regardless of what is around us. (“I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little.” Philippians 4:11-13).

I’m not sure that necessarily means we need to always live in situations that push us to our limits. If Ecclesiastes has taught me anything, it’s that life is full of seasons. Some are good, some are bad, some are hard and some are easy.

I should stop this rambling before things get any more confusing. But please, if anyone has thoughts on this matter I would love to hear them.