Excitement vs God’s will
- Excitement
- “to have a life full of thrills and stimulation”
- God’s will
- “to seek and obey the will of God”
A friend calls with a last-minute trip. A job offer lands in a city where you know no one. A new hobby lights you up. Then a quieter question comes: is this where I am being led, or just where I want to go? Excitement and God’s will can collide right there, where a strong pull meets a wish to listen first.
Excitement trusts the spark. It treats a rush of interest as a sign worth following. It guards you against a flat, gray routine and against looking back on chances you never took. God’s will asks for something else. It asks you to wait, pray, test the pull, and sometimes turn down a thrill because it does not fit what you believe you are asked to do. It guards the sense that your life answers to something larger than your moods.
On the map these sit on opposite sides, one leaning toward change and the other toward keeping faith steady. But in real life the line can blur. A strong pull can feel like a calling. A calling can feel thrilling. And caution can sometimes be fear dressed up as faith. In the moment, you may not know which voice is which.
Faith can also call you toward risk, and a thrill can be a gift you give thanks for. So the two do not always point in opposite ways. They tend to split over pace. Excitement wants a yes now, while the bright feeling lasts. Seeking God’s will often wants time, quiet and a second look. The real strain is often how long you are willing to wait before you leap, and what you do with the chances that close while you wait.
When something new sets your heart racing, do you want the thrill itself to be the answer, or the start of a question you bring to prayer?
What choosing one over the other tends to mean
Excitement over God’s will
If you put Excitement above God’s will, you tend to follow the spark while it is still bright. You say yes to the trip, the move or the new venture, and work out the meaning later. Your days stay full of fresh things. The cost is that you may act before you have listened, and later wonder whether a choice fit what you believe. Some thrills may also pull you away from the practices or the community that once steadied you.
God’s will over Excitement
If you put God’s will above Excitement, you tend to pause before a big yes. You pray, wait, seek counsel within your faith, and let a thrill pass if it does not seem to fit what you are asked to do. Your choices rest on something steadier than mood. The cost is that some chances close while you wait, and your life may feel quieter, or narrower, than you sometimes want it to be.
Where they collide
A thrilling offer at work
You are offered a fast-paced role with travel and fresh challenges. It would leave little room for worship and the rhythm of rest you keep. Part of you wants to jump right away. Part of you wants to pray on it first, even though the offer will not stay open long.
Friends plan a wild weekend
Your friends plan a weekend packed with late nights and new thrills. Some of it sits uneasily with what your faith asks of you. You can join fully, join for part of it, or stay home. Each choice says something to them, and to you.
A new hobby claims your Sundays
A sport or hobby leaves you buzzing, and the big events fall on your day of worship or rest. You can chase the rush or keep the day set apart. Either way, something you care about gets less of your time.
An example even-over principle
God’s will even over Excitement. When a thrilling chance asks me to decide fast, I will take one full day to pray before I say yes. I accept that some chances will pass while I wait.
One example of the format, not advice. In Even Over you write your own, for the pairs your choices show.