WHEN GOD SAYS, “I WILL”
When we say, “I will,” it’s often a
weak or mundane response, like: “I will take a ride.” But when God says, “I
will,” it’s much stronger and should be understood as: “THIS IS MY WILL; THIS
IS WHAT I WANT.” I started in Genesis, looking up the usages of “I will.” But it
wasn’t there when I looked for it in the original texts! Why not? God didn’t
need to say, “I will.” The translators added it. God’s will was in the action
word following the “I will.”
This seems to be consistent
throughout the Bible. God doesn’t need a lead-up; He jumps right in with
immediate engagement. I’ll show you by starting with the first place we find “I
will” in the King James translation of Bible. (You men looking for the perfect
wife will love this one.)
Genesis 2:18: “And the Lord God said, ‘It is not good that
the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for
him.’” When you drop the “I will,” you have a much more direct and powerful
demand: MAKE, as in “make it happen; do it.” The
original Hebrew word is “asah.” By the simple task of looking it up
on your online Strong’s Concordance, you see that it means “to produce, to
procure, to prepare, to put in order, appoint, ordain, bring about, to
celebrate, and maintain!” WOW! What a great promise for any single man who
admits to needing a help “meet for him.” God’s will is to MAKE it happen
absolutely! God says it’s His will to perform, celebrate, and maintain it! It’s
like He’s declaring to His creation: “Make it happen!”
You’ll see a further explanation of the word MAKE on the
same Concordance website. It’s “to create, to work a miracle, to make or
produce it from oneself.” What a great and loving God. Three examples are how a
cow makes milk, a tree makes fruit, and a grain makes flour. The product comes
from the source. The explanation goes on to say that the things made are
acquired by labor. It is prepared and made ready, like food. It is also trained
and combed (not shaved). When we apply this to a human being, God is telling us
that He is the one who produces this person. He prepares them; He labors in
them to give them the best stuff. He trains them and combs them, bringing out
the best, not cutting them off. When God picks a person for you, He does it
right.
The above example is the first place we see God saying, “I
will.” I also looked up Genesis 17:7, where God says to Abraham: “And I
will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee
in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to
thy seed after thee.” Galatians 3:29 says: “If ye be Christ’s, then are ye
Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” So, the many “I wills” God
said to Abraham after Genesis 17:7 apply to us, too. I highly recommend looking
some of them up.
But in this verse, the action word after “I will” in this
verse is “ESTABLISH.” It’s a firm, strong, and sure
declaration, like the MAKE in Genesis 2. In this
verse, God is talking about a personal relationship between Him and us. When we
look up the word “establish,” it means “to prove, to fulfill, to validate, to
raise up, stir up, stand up, make clear, and strengthen.” God’s strong desire
is a personal, organic relationship with us every day.
In next Sunday’s post, I will look at three very powerful
“I will” verses in Exodus 15:26 and Exodus 23:25-26. The verses read:
“I will put none of these diseases upon thee,
which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord that healeth thee”
(Ex. 15:26).
“I will take sickness away from the midst of
thee” (Ex. 23:25).
“The number of thy days I will fulfill”
(Ex. 23:26).
Four steps - 1. We look up the “I will” verses in
the King James Bible. 2. We jump right over the “I will” and go directly to the
action God Himself declares. 3. We agree His action is our blessing. 4. We
believe, and we receive with thanksgiving. And all the glory goes to God.
Love, Carolyn
One of my books or
booklets would be a great Christmas gift for a family member or friend 😊
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