Woody's Wandering

God wants us to know His will and to follow that will. He provides us with direction, discretion, and empowerment.  The Bible says in Hebrews 13:
20 Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,
21 make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

We can depend on the Spirit of God working in us so that His will might be expressed in and through us.  There is a "macro" will of God that is stated in God's Word - principles by which we can abide.  And, there are specific assignments, the "micro" will that God wants us to be involved in.  He determines the course of our lives - but, because of free will, we can depart from the path on which He desires for us to walk.  It is so important to abide in Christ so that we can stay in the center of His will.

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In the 30th chapter of the book of Isaiah, we can find the illustration of how we can discern the
direction of the Spirit as God leads us on His desired course:
21 Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, "This is the way, walk in it," Whenever you turn to the right hand Or whenever you turn to the left.

Once upon a time, at a Presbyterian college in Indiana, there were two students.  According to a guest shot on a recent late-night talk show, one of them recalls that the two of them were both "very religious."  That's according to a ChristianHeadlines.com story.

One of them admitted to Jimmy Kimmel that he was at least thinking about becoming a minister:

“It was a Presbyterian College at the time, and I was there on a Presbyterian scholarship, and he was involved with the church activities. … I was actually considering being a minister, and then I just kind of went a different way.”

Actually, it was a significant drift - he said:

“It was good for me at the time that I started to shift off. I studied theology and I started rethinking … I started seeing how man-made the Bible was – the Nicaean Council there in the church and all that. … I started saying, ‘I could put this whole thing on hold for a while’ … so that I can have a 20s and 30s of extreme hedonism.”

This guy went on to become a famous actor, landing a role on the sitcom, Cheers, and later was one of the featured actors in the Hunger Games series of films.  That would be none other than Woody Harrelson.  The other guy?  Well, he went into another form of media - he became a radio talk show host.  Not to mention, a member of Congress, governor, and now serves in the Trump Administration.

Woody said about him: “You know, he’s very religious – very religious, very committed. Seeing how I’m not quite in that ballpark now, I don’t know how we’d get along because I think he’s still quite religious.”  The story relates that:

Harrelson added it was the “kind of fervor that you really don’t want, and I don’t want.”

Interesting how these divergent paths occurred - two students at a religious school, who were both "very religious"...one becomes a famous actor who departed from that earlier fervor, the other becomes Vice-President of the United States, Mike Pence.

Woody says he believes in God now, but according to the influence of a Hindu writer.  Pence believes in a relationship to God through Jesus Christ and is now allowing his faith to influence his public service.

I think there is an interesting line of thinking which involves evaluating whether or not we are walking the course that God has intended for our lives.  There may be a sense that something's not right, and while God can use us wherever we are in any situation, there is something different that He intends for us to be doing with our lives.  We can search diligently for that place to which He wants to bring us.

But, how do we know that course?  Well, I certainly think growing in Christ is a key component.  And, I believe that fellowship with the Holy Spirit can help us determine where He is leading.  Time in Scripture is also an element that He will use to guide our lives.  And, through the body of Christ, God may raise up people who will speak into a person's life.

The separation between these two men came in college, it seems.  There are multiple reasons why people, especially young adults, depart from interest in matters of faith.  Alex McFarland, writing for Fox News, gives 10 reasons, including: militant secularism, lack of spiritual authenticity by adults, the diminishing of the church's cultural influence, and a "pervasive cultural abandonment of morality."  He states:

It is true that our culture has grown visibly antithetical to God and Christian commitment. But in addressing the spiritual attrition rate of young America, it must be admitted that a prayerless, powerless church peddling versions of “Christianity Lite” share in the blame. God only knows the degree of our complicity, and also the time when we’ll be concerned enough to change direction.

We can also be sure to pray for those who are not practicing the Christian teaching of their childhood.

We can ascertain if our life is on track and strive to stay in the center of God's will.  If something's not right, God can lead you back into the place where He desires for you to be.