Journey of Manhood - His Will
“When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.” 1 Corinthians 13:11
I often turn around and realize that I am an adult. I did it again this morning.
As men, we have to cut ourselves some slack to recognize that becoming a man is a process. We “become” a man, we don’t make ourselves a man. Don’t excuse yourself with passivity, you certainly need to be active in becoming a man, but at the same time, becoming a man is the Lord’s will.
Our concept of “manhood” is woven by the fabrics of this world. Stories, music, movies, athletes, our father, our mother, coaches and bosses seem to greatly influence our idea of a man. Sometimes, they give us a definite snapshot of what a man is not, so we take an opposite approach. We also look to women to form our understanding of a man, which is the worst approach possible, since they are the furthest human from being a man.
At some point we doubt our own manhood. We don’t reflect the pictures of a man we have seen growing up and we don’t measure up to the man our woman expects. Enter our flesh, our self-doubt, our second guessing. A lonely place, an exile to isolation, an island of war. The perfect place for the enemy to do his work to wound a soldier of God.
I have painted a very broad stroke in this scenario to get to the point. Whether a man is age 15 or 45 by the time they have enough experience to have revelation of manhood, the world has done enough work to incorrectly define what a man is. A man is God’s.
Our spirit, soul (mind/emotion/will) and body belongs to our creator. Any part of our three-part being that belongs to anything or anyone other than God Himself is childish. A child is cared for by the world, obeys the world, feeds from the world, belongs to the world. A child depends on everyone and everything around him, mostly without question. A child rarely asks God for and about anything. Utterly dependent, and yes, even helpless.
We can go through many years and decades in this mindset, in a total state of passivity, talking like a child, thinking like a child and reasoning like a child. I know I have and still do in many cases. It’s not until we start listening to the Father about every part of our humanity that we begin to have experiences of manhood.
A man cannot have maturity in his emotion and be a man. His spirit, reasoning (mind), will and body are still childish and will certainly drag him down. A man cannot have a maturing spirit without the cooperation of his soul and body.
As men, we must come to the Father with total surrender in spirit. We must have experiences within our spirit, genuinely connecting with God, yes, spiritually. Then, and only then, can we begin to see God work within our soul and body toward manhood. Simply asking God the question about manhood is a great place to start, but you must ask in spirit, don’t ask with your mind or emotion, or seek it with your body, you’ve done that during childhood. Certainly do not trust your own will.
God will begin to show a man his childish ways. For me, my emotions were a clear example of childhood. I was happy when things were great, sad when things were not. I rode the wave of my emotions like a newborn baby. Crazy thing was I wasn’t even aware of my behavior. To me, it was just life, it was “who I was.” It took a lot of experiences over many years to simply become aware of my childish, emotional ways. God is still working in me to uncover more. The process is never complete.
Even though God may begin in one area of your humanity, He continues across the full spectrum of your entire person. My emotions were the first area of revelation, but I also immediately began seeing my childhood in my spirit, my mind, my body and will. None are more important than the other to become a man, though our spirit is most precious, but the one area I have become most surprised about is my will.
Oh my will. My free will. We must admit that God’s plan is quite a masterpiece. Like any earthly father, to have your child by his/her own free will come to you and say “dad, you were right, I love you” is a moment of complete gratitude. To force your child to say the same means very little. Our Father wants the same. He wants us to choose Him, to come to Him by our own free will. Thank You Father that I can choose You. Thank You Father for the time to choose You.
The process of becoming a man is quite painful. So many opinions, goals and concepts must be sacrificed, put to death. But as our own will begins to finally hear the speaking from our spirit by His spirit, we touch the confidence of God. And what a glorious confidence the will of God is my friend.
My experiences lately have been very clear. I wake up and the very first, instant thought is my will is His will. That doesn’t mean I know exactly what I’m doing today, nor does it mean I have anything figured out. It’s just this simple: the will of my life is God’s will. He decided that I woke up this morning. He decided my time is not yet complete. It’s not me against the world, it’s God’s war against the world. I am a soldier. I choose Him.
That, my brothers, is a fantastic experience of manhood. To be in the process of becoming His man, with His will, with His purpose, is without any doubt the proper training of being a man. Through this process, I put the ways of childhood behind me.
All glory to God. For real.