I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.
–Romans 12:1
You may have a desire that corresponds with Scripture and follows common sense. Yet that desire may not be God’s will for your life. That’s because all our desires are subject to God’s sovereign plan.
Consider the example of David. In 1 Kings 8:17–19, Solomon said, “It was in the heart of my father David to build a house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. But the Lord said to my father David, ‘Because it was in your heart to build a house for My name, you did well that it was in your heart. Nevertheless you shall not build the house, but your son who will be born to you, he will build the house for My name.’” David loved God. He was faithful to God except for a few notable lapses. He was a man after God’s own heart. And David had a burning desire to build a temple for the Lord. God said, “David, that’s a great idea. But you’re not the one who’s going to carry it out.” No matter how good our plans are, ultimately God has the final say.
I think about Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane. He prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me” (Matthew 26:39). Jesus was saying, “Spare Me, Father, from the physical and spiritual agony of the crucifixion.” Yet He went on to pray, “Not as I will, but as You will” (v. 39). And in some inexplicable way, the Father’s will became the Son’s will. It’s the same way for us. Our desires are superseded by God’s sovereign plan.
There’s only one place in the New Testament where the apostle Paul told us to discover God’s will for our lives, and that’s in Romans 12:2. But before that, in verse 1, he commanded us to subject our will to God’s will: “I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.” God doesn’t want you to place a dead animal on the altar; He wants a living sacrifice. He wants you to submit your life and your desires to His will. Paul continued, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect” (v. 2).
Does God speak to us through our desires? Absolutely. But Paul was saying, ultimately, the only desires we can trust are those that have been transformed by the power of God and sacrificed on the altar of God.
