God’s will vs Openness
- God’s will
- “to seek and obey the will of God”
- Openness
- “to be open to new experiences, ideas, and options”
A friend invites you to a retreat run by a different faith. A book makes a case you have never heard, and it shakes something you were taught. A job offer would take you far from your congregation. Part of you wants to say yes and see what happens. Another part wants to stop, ask what God is asking of you, and wait for that answer before you move.
God’s will and Openness may pull against each other because they trust different guides. Openness says new ideas and options are worth meeting on their own terms, even before you know where they lead. Seeking God’s will looks for a direction that is not yours to invent. It asks you to listen, to test what you hear against your faith, and sometimes to turn down a door that looks good. On the map, one sits on the side of keeping things steady and the other on the side of change.
Each guards something you may not want to lose. God’s will gives your life a sense of answering to more than what you want right now. It gives weight to promises, to practices that took years to grow, and to the people who share them. Openness guards your freedom to think for yourself, to learn from people unlike you, and to change your mind. It keeps any belief from turning into a habit you no longer look at.
What makes this pair hard is that they can feel alike from the inside. A pull toward something new can feel like a calling. A wish to stay where it is safe can feel like obedience. You may see openness as part of how you seek God, or you may see clear limits on what is worth exploring. Either way, you have to be honest with yourself about which pull is which.
When a new idea draws you in, do you first ask whether it fits what you believe God wants, or do you explore it first and then bring what you found back to your faith?
What choosing one over the other tends to mean
God’s will over Openness
If you put God’s will above Openness, you let your sense of what God asks set the limits on what you explore. You may still read widely and meet new people, but you weigh each new idea against your faith before you act on it. This can give you a steady center and clear choices. The cost is that some doors stay closed, and you miss what you might have learned by walking through them. Others may read your care as a closed mind.
Openness over God’s will
If you put Openness above God’s will, you follow new ideas and options where they lead, even when you cannot yet see how they fit your faith. You trust that honest exploring is worth the risk of being changed by it. This can keep your thinking alive and your beliefs your own. The cost is that you may drift from practices and a community that once held you, and the sense of being guided can grow faint.
Where they collide
A project that tests your beliefs
Your team asks you to lead work for a cause that sits uneasily with your faith. It is a real chance to learn and stretch. You can take it on with an open mind and see what you discover, or step back because you sense this is not where God wants you to put your effort.
An invitation to another faith’s ceremony
A close friend asks you to attend a ceremony from a tradition you do not share. You are curious, and the friendship matters to you. You also wonder whether joining in fits what you believe God asks. You could take part fully, go and only watch as a guest, or kindly say no.
A class on your day of worship
A weekend class in something you have always wanted to try falls on your day of worship. It only runs once this year. You can miss your usual practice for a few weeks to explore something new, or keep the day as you always have and hope the chance comes again.
An example even-over principle
God’s will even over Openness. When a new opportunity falls on my day of worship, I will keep the day and look for another time to explore. I accept that some chances will pass me by.
One example of the format, not advice. In Even Over you write your own, for the pairs your choices show.