A very distraught woman went to see her pastor.  "Help me," she pleaded, "I’m very confused,"

"Tell me about it," he said.

"Well, you see, I’m married."

The pastor a bit bewildered responded, "OK, what’s so confusing about that?"

"No, that’s not the problem." she replied. "You see I’m married, but I am living with another man."

"Ah," replied the pastor, "that certainly is grounds for confusion.

"No, no, you don’t understand.  That’s not the problem.  The problem is, I’m married to one man, living with another, but I’m in love with a third."

The pastor looked at her and said, "Honey, you’re not confused, you’re stupid." (I might add, not the best piece of pastoral counseling, but honest.)

Then he asked, "What do you think you should do?"

"I guess I should go back to my husband," was her response.

"And what are you going to do?" inquired the pastor.

"I don’t know, I’m very confused."

While your scenario may be different, reality is that you have found yourself stuck between a rock and a hard place.  Confused, because your head is telling you one thing and your heart is telling you another.  Perplexed because your faith is advocating a certain action and your body is advocating another.

Yes, we have all been stuck between choosing God’s will or our own.

Everyday you and I are faced with rock and hard place decision.  For example:

Faced with the choice of forgiving or getting revenge;

Faced with the choice of doing what a parent says or what a friend says;

Faced with the choice of what to do about a parent’s or spouse’s declining health;

Faced with the choice between treating your neighbor as they treat you or treating them as you want to be treated;

Faced with the choice of doing right and doing wrong.  (Why does doing right always seem so hard and doing wrong so easy?)

Life is a choice.  Every day you make choices about your use of time, your activities, your job, your family, your responsibilities and about your walk with your the Lord.

Knowing the right thing to do and actually doing it are very different.  It’s one thing to be confused over right and wrong.  It is quite another thing to be confused over what to do about it.

Jesus praying, in the garden of Gethsemane, clearly demonstrates for us this struggle.

"My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not what I want but what You want."

If you think for one single minute, that this was an easy decision for Jesus to make, you are mistaken.  Jesus was in great anguish over the divine course that was set, a course which meant His death.

Listen again to how Matthew describes Jesus,

Jesus said,

"I am deeply grieved, even to death." (vs38)

"throwing himself on the ground"
(vs39)

Jesus wasn’t rebelling against His Father. He was agonizing over choosing between God’s will or His will.  Sure He knew what God’s will was.  Yes He was God’s Son, but don’t think for a second that made it any easier.  If you think it should then what’s our excuse.  We know God’s will.  We are God’s children.  Why do we agonize over God’s will and what we want?

Jesus was not exempt from the struggle, that you and I battle with, knowing God’s will and actually doing it.  Clearly Jesus knew the Will of God.  Doing it, going to the cross and dying for your salvation was not an easy task.

Yet ultimately, Jesus said,

How did Jesus do it?

He did it because He knew God’s Will. This is where we need to begin.  We must search out God’s Will through God’s Word, through prayer.  But as I said before, knowing God’s Will is one thing, doing it is quite different.

Jesus said,

A golfer turned to his caddie and asked, "How far to do you think it is to the green?"

The caddie answered, "180 yards."

The golfer said, "What club do you think I should use?"

The caddie responded, "All things considered, the wind, the firmness of the course, your strength, I would say a 4 iron."

With that the golfer asked for his 5 iron, and promptly put his shot into the pond in front of the green.  Sound familiar?  How often do we seek God’s will only to do what we want anyway?

The point is we must heed and honor God’s will.  Paul’s advise to the Christians in Ephesus is good advice for you and I,

"So do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is." (Eph 5:17)

Proverbs 3:5,6 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insights. In all your ways acknowledge God and He will make your paths straight."

There is a conditional promise in this Proverb which you and I need to understand.  IF you trust God, IF you acknowledge God, THEN God will direct.  Disobeying God’s Word results in pain and hardship.  Take a look at the Garden of Eden.  One decision, one decision of self will over God’s will and look what happened.   Life was turned into death. Pleasure into pain.   Abundance into toil. fellowship into conflict.

Jesus prayed,

He prayed it because He knew, He heeded, He honored and He obeyed God’s will.

There is a magnificent story about a sea captain whose name was Eleazar Hall.  He lived in Mass. during the time of the great sailing ships.  His ability to navigate was legendary.  When asked how he did it he replied, "I go up on deck. Listen to the wind and rigging.  I get the drift of the sea, look up at the stars and then set my course.

As times changed and more sophisticated navigational instruments were invented.  The insurance companies responded by requiring captains to be certified and properly trained in the use of these instruments or they would not be insured.  Eleazar was faced with a decision.  His response shocked everyone.  He agreed to take the navigational course required.

Upon completing the course he returned to the sea.  On the day of his return, the whole town turned out to ask him,  "How was it to have to navigate with all the charts and equations and instruments?"

"Oh," he replied, "it was simply wonderful. Whenever I wanted to know my location.  I’d go to my cabin, get my charts and tables, work out the equation and set my course with scientific precision.  Then I’d go up on deck listen to the wind and the rigging, get the drift of the sea, look at the stars and go back and correct the errors that I made in computation."

That is the way we should know God. This needs to be your prayer,

Be quiet to hear the voice of God in your heart.

Consider God’s eternal Word.

Obey His Will and make adjustments in your life.

Learn from Adam and Eve.  Learn from Jesus.  It takes trust in God’s plans, prayer and obedience each step of the way out of a rock and hard place.

amen