I was struck the other night with a thought. What if we all had a willing spirit? What would our lives look like? If everyone was a little more willing to try? More willing to see the good in others? More willing to seek happiness? How would the world be?
You know, as a mother, I often send many silent and heartfelt prayers up to the heavens hoping for a great many things for my children:safety, happiness,love, the list is endless. It occurred to me that without a willing spirit, none of those things would matter. If you didn’t have a spirit willing to love and be loved in return, why would love, happiness, hope, you name it- why would it matter at all? Having a willing spirit to see and experience those things is the only thing that truly allows those things to exist in our lives.
These are the greatest gifts I wish for my babies this Christmas:
A willing spirit to trust in His plan
~ We are faced with a great many challenges in life, not the least of which is trust. Those of us who {ahem…} feel an overwhelming need to control everything that goes on around us, who feel that if we just plan enough and prepare enough we can foresee every obstacle and make it to our goal- this one can be particularly difficult. Our plans aren’t always the same as His. Believe me, if we have a spirit willing to trust His plan, we will see that His is greater than we could have ever imagined, planned, or prepared for.
A willing spirit to have courage to do right~
Hold onto your chairs for this new bulletin…life is hard. The easy road isn’t always the right road. Sometimes we have to be dragged, kicking and screaming down the road to right. If we are open and willing to adopt a spirit of courage, we can stand firmly with what is right, even if it feels as if we are standing alone. In the world today where “as long as it makes you happy, it’s ok” it can often feel as if we are standing alone.
A willing spirit to have faith in others, ourselves, and God
~ We have all had disappointments in life, with ourselves, with others, and {in our minds} even with God. We rely on people that let us down. We don’t achieve the goals we set for ourselves. We pray for something that doesn’t turn out the way we wished. All these things can shake our willingness to have faith. It becomes easy to give up. That willing spirit to have faith can be so easily crushed by disappointments and failures. But we need to pull on our “big girl pants” and find within us that willing spirit to have a little faith.
A willing spirit to do God’s will
~ I’m going to wrap up very near to where we started, trust. It can often be hard to do God’s will, not only because He often asks us to do things that are trying a difficult, but often His will isn’t always as clear as we would like it to be. We are rarely privy to the “logistics” of His plan for us. Do we buy a new house? Move our family? Downsize? Make a career change? All these things are parts of God’s plan for us, yet even with careful deliberation and prayer, the path isn’t always clear. It is often at these times when it is most difficult to turn our worries and burdens over to God. It is these times when it is not only the most difficult, but the most important, to have a willing spirit to do His will and faith that He will make our burdens light. I have found that when I finally {sing it with me!!} “let it go, let it go” and turn it over to Him, things have a way of working out if I do my best to follow His will.
So ultimately in this season of giving, that is the greatest gift I wish to give my children, that of a willing spirit. A spirit willing to see and enjoy all the wonderful gifts that God has so generously given to us and a soul that sees those gifts in the world too.
When I sat down to write these thoughts out, it wasn’t my intention to be overtly religious in tone. Somehow, that is where we’ve ended up, and that’s ok-I make no apologies for that. All I ask is that you have a heart open to the message.
Restore to me the gladness of your salvation;
uphold me with a willing spirit. ~Psalms 51:14
What about you, do you have a willing spirit?
Reflection Questions:
Exercises in Developing a Willing Spirit
What is one thing that I need to have a more willing spirit towards?
What are two concrete things I can do this week to develop a more willing spirit? What would this look like in the reality of day to day life?
Wishing you a merry and blessed Christmas and don’t forget to make every day a Sunday,
~Leanne
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The greatest willing spirt ever on the face of this earth belonged to Jesus. Every day will stive to be more Christ like. If I can make a small daily effort to be open to willingness then were really being open to Christ.
This is a great post! I like how you have application questions at the end. I definitely need to have a more willing spirit, rather that thinking I can control everything. I also need to be more willing to look for the good in things, rather than focus on the bad. Thanks for posting the words I needed to hear. I’m signing up to follow your blog by email – I’m from the Christian Moms Blogger Club.