When God's Will Doesn't Go Your Way, Part 2

---

Sometimes we lose sight of the message God wants to give us when we hear a Bible story over and over as children and again as adults. Sometimes God asks us to do something without giving us all the details of the assignment up front. Our prideful hearts get a little puffed up as we “imagine” how God’s plans will turn out.

Then, as God reveals the details to us, we are aghast that He would “dare” go against what our hearts had imagined. We can’t see how His plan could possibly produce our expected outcome. We argue with God and try to convince Him that our way is best.

Pause with me as I reminisce a moment.

How many times have I been like Jonah? How many times have I thought God “messed up” in His planning? Now, in hindsight, posing the question, it looks ludicrous, but in the moment of hearing God speak to my heart, my cognitive thought that God made a “mistake” was very real. I may not have found myself literally on a ship headed in the opposite direction, or in the belly of a fish, but was there really a difference—considering the obstinacy in my heart?

Resume play.

If we choose to not heed His Spirit’s calling, we then find ourselves ensnared as a product of our own choices to not pursue God’s will as He intended. It is easy to sing, “Spirit, lead me where my trust is without borders,” in a worship service. It is difficult to walk on “the great unknown where feet may fail.”¹ When we realize where those deep waters lead us, then—like Jonah—we may choose to run.

What He asks may not be for us to go to Nineveh, but what if His calling is to a place of ministry where it becomes apparent we can lose everything—finances, friendships, familiarity? What if that place of ministry strips us of everything we thought we knew about ministry? What if the lack of familiar ground and surroundings disrobe us of all the pretenses we clothed our identities in?

But . . . what if that place of ministry causes us to trust so much in the Savior that we begin to see life through His eyes, His heart, and His truth? God in His mercy, providence, and amazing grace is patient, provides a way of escape, and gives us another chance.

As a ministry wife, I have learned and am continually learning that trusting His calling, His timing, and His plan is sometimes much harder to accept in my heart than I expected.

We have had “calls” in our life that required sacrifice of comfort. We have had “calls” that have required even greater trust.

I have wept. I have mourned. I have had a pity party or two for what I thought I lost...read more

---

Dorinda Blann and her husband Rusty have been in ministry for over 30 years, currently as lead pastors at Searcy, Arkansas, First Assembly of God. Dorinda also serves the church as the Ministries Coordinator and is passionate about missions, discipleship; she oversees leadership training, and ministry departments. Dorinda is a graduate of Southwestern Assemblies of God University (SAGU),
runs her business, Color Coated Paint Parties, and most recently was asked to serve in the Arkansas District Women's Ministries Department as the Missions Coordinator for LIFE...Dorinda and Rusty have three daughters, one son, a daughter-in-law, son-in-law, and three adorable grandchildren.