Will power is a fascinating topic to explore. Some people have a whole lot of it whereas others may not have as much. Some will have their will focused in certain areas of their lives and others are directed in a completely separate area. There are those that believe our lives are directed solely by our will and yet others who believe we have no real will of our own at all! This post likely won’t speak much to people in that final camp but for the rest of us I wanted to take a few minutes to explore the human will. The human will is a force to reckon with and when it is tamed and directed it can produce incredible, wonderful things in this world. When the human will is corrupted or left unchecked few things can be more dangerous. Wrestling with your will is a worthy endeavor and something most of us will navigate our entire lives.
The human will is much like a raging river. There is tremendous force behind it and it can either be wild and destructive or restrained and productive. The same powerful water that produces hydroelectricity to supply millions of people with helpful energy will destroy their lives if the dam breaks. The issue is not if the water is good or bad but how it is steered and managed. Most of us have areas in our lives where our will is not directed in a productive or constrained direction that will help produce good things in our lives and in the lives of others so it must be directed. But, by nature, the human will does not want to be directed by anything or anyone until it is either broken or submitted. One path is helpful, the other is devastating. (Read my post Are You Strong Enough To Use Restraint?)
Forced or Focused?
A broken will is a horrible thing that is often brought about by abuse. Sometimes in people’e efforts to try and get what they want they attempt to break the will of other people, even if they are convinced it is for the good of those they are manipulating. Of course, this is destructive and never ends well. Yes, the overbearing person, parent, boss, or whomever may get the desired practical outcome they wished for, but the person is left in shambles and is often unable to navigate forward. A broken will is not the answer. A submitted will is the life-giving way forward. In his famous 17th century poem Samuel Butler writes;
“He that complies against his will
Is of his own opinion still
Which he may adhere to, yet disown,
For reasons to himself best known.”
One of my favorite verses in the Scriptures on the topic of the human will is in David’s prayer of repentance in Psalm 51. In this Psalm David is recognizing his sin and mourning the devastation of what his own wicked choices have produced in his life and in the lives of those around him. Buried in the familiar Psalm is a phrase I seldom hear much about but one that impacts me deeply and I quote often, “Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.” David sees a willing spirit as something that will sustain him in his repentance. Kevin Warstler writes, “A willing spirit would be the attitude of a heart totally given over to the Lord.” That is exactly what I want and need. How about you? (Read my post Remember You Have More Than One Goal)
Repenting For A Willing Spirit
Fostering a willing spirit comes from first recognizing that we do not have a willing spirit towards the thing we desire. I can want to lose weight but if my will is not aimed in that direction and constrained to that goal I will have a thought that is disconnected from the force of my life. If my true will is to eat what I like and do what I want when I want to, then my will is disconnected from my thought or desire. I cannot say I want to please God yet have my will pointed in the direction of endless self-gratification. It is a fruitless and frustrating endeavor. David understood this and prayed for God to help him have a willing spirit that would SUSTAIN him. I don’t know about you, but my biggest need is to be sustained in a certain direction. I am great at ideas. I can inspire and encourage but to be consistent in a direction that is difficult is incredibly challenging for me. Without a willing spirit I simply won’t make it. And without prayer and asking God for His help, I’ll never have a willing spirit.
What are you desiring that you have simply not been able to lock in on? Be honest with yourself today and ask God to grant you a willing spirit. That often starts with repentance. We must acknowledge our need to go a different direction first, then pray for God to give us a willing spirit to go that direction. Knowing we need to do something or even wanting to do it is often not enough. We need a willing spirit to sustain us. Today, ask the Lord to reveal the true desires of your heart whether you are pleased with what He shows you or not. Then, declare the direction you truly desire to go in and ask Him for His help by repenting of anything that is taking you in the wrong direction and asking Him to grant you a willing spirit that will sustain you. (Read my post What You Focus On Draws You In)
From The Bible
Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. – Psalm 51:12 NIV
And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” – Joshua 24:15 ESV
I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live… – Deuteronomy 30:19 ESV