Discovering God’s will (1)

The story is told of a man who lived on a beautiful farm. When he died, the property, which had been in the family for over 200 years, was sold to one of the neighbours. One day, the new owner was walking in a field when he noticed an odd-looking rock sticking out of the dirt. He took it home, washed it, and took it to a jewellery store. The jeweller confirmed what the owner already suspected. The old stone, which had been in the field for thousands of years, was a large, uncut emerald and proved to be worth several million dollars. This gemstone had been in the field all along, waiting for someone to come along and discover it. Over the years, people had walked past it thousands of times and overlooked it, because it looked like nothing more than a common old garden rock. When we “discover” something, in actuality, we’re finding something that already exists even though we were unaware of it. Here’s the point: while many of us are seeking God’s will for our lives, often what we’re looking for is right under our noses but we keep searching because we don’t recognize it. To recognize a precious stone, you need to be familiar with its characteristics and know what to look for. Likewise, to recognize God’s will, you must live by this scripture: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” That calls for quality time reading your Bible and talking with and listening to the Author.