Being the Hand of God

Often we talk about the will of God without really knowing what we talk about.

Every Christian wants to know and do God's will. We write books about it. We read books about it. We pray earnestly and read the Bible often looking for it.

But what if we become the will of God?

God says in Jeremiah 51:20-23:

"You are my hammer and my weapon of war:
with you I break nations in pieces;
with you I destroy kingdoms;
with you I break into pieces the horse and its rider;
with you I break into pieces the chariot and the charioteer;
with you I break into pieces the man and the woman;
with you I break into pieces the old man and the youth;
with you I break into pieces the young man and the young woman;
with you I break into pieces the shepherd and his flock;
with you I break into pieces the farmer and his team;
with you I break in pieces governors and commanders.

In Jeremiah, God rebukes Israel and Judah for their sin. They have turned their back on him and have followed the idols of their neighbors. As God begs them to return, he pronounces doom upon their enemies if they will only listen. When they listened out for God, and turned themselves toward him and his purposes, he would use them to accomplish his plans.

I think that as believers, our goal in "finding the will of God" is to conform to God (Romans 12:2). If we are listening to him, spending time with him and turning our back on sin, we'll start to become more and more like him.

In the passage above, God says that he will use us as his instruments to break down the strongholds of the enemy.

We are a hammer- sent to build up a temple for Christ in the culture.

We are a weapon of war- chosen to fight against the enemy.

We break apart nations and kingdoms- sifting the wheat from the chaff among our own country

We break apart horse and rider, chariot and charioteer- destroying the weapons of the enemy

We break apart men and women, young and old- separating the old sin from the new grace, breaking apart the stone-encased hearts to speak of the love to be bestowed within.

We break apart the shepherd and his sheep- we see false teachers for what they are and we know how to get rid of them.

We break apart the farmer and his team- we sweep away ordinary people from ordinary lives and show them how God can make them weird for the saving of the world.

We break apart governors and commanders- we take hold of our government for the glory of God.

All of us can do at least one of these things. I believe God will reveal more and more of his will as we become more of his will, ready to break apart the world for his honor.