"I desire that my life shall be ordered by Thee"

Sunday evening our church dismissed service so we could attend the last night of Pilgrim camp here in Frankfort.  One of the songs in the pre-service was a medley centered around "I Want to Be Like Jesus".  Since then, this phrase from the hymn "My Wonderful Lord" has been going through my mind over and over. 

 

I desire that my life shall be ordered by Thee!

 

What exactly does this mean?  I think a common misconception by Christians is that as long as we live a sinless life, go to church, dress appropriately, and "follow the rules", it will all be fine.  But, to go along with this phrase, we have the verse in Psalm 37:23 that says, "The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord".  "Ordered" is a word that usually has a negative connotation to it.  Just ask my son David about being "ordered" in the Marine Corp.  As soon as I typed that, a thought came to me - do we feel that way about God?  That He is like a drill sergeant yelling out His instructions to us?  Oh my - I sure hope not! 

 

No, here is what I think instead.  When we live in full surrender to God, it won't matter what He asks of us.  His words, His leadings, His guidance, His direction - these do not come about by "orders" but by a loving Father who sees exactly what we need to do. 

 

Here would be the best example I can give you.  Sometimes wives have a hard time with this whole word of "submission".  I would confess this hasn't always been easy for me.  However, I have learned a valuable lesson.  This will probably sound weird but following my husbands "orders" gives me a sense of relief.  I trust him, trust his leadership, trust his Christ-centered spirit and know that what he asks of me is best for me.  And, it also takes a load of my shoulders - because I trust him, I don't have to fret and stew and worry as much.  To me, that translates to my relationship with my Heavenly Father.  His "orders" are in my best interest.  He knows what is best, what is right, what is needed, what is necessary.  I can trust Him, trust His leadership, trust that He will not lead me astray.  I am not sure if my analogy makes sense to anyone but it does me so.....:)

 

The part of this phrase that really stands out though is this....."I desire".  There are a lot of things I desire - vacation, date nights, time with my kids and grandkids, a new car, a remodeled kitchen, new shoes, new purses, to not work anymore, to go to London - this list could get pretty long.  I desire a lot but, do I really desire that my life be ordered by Jesus?  The meaning of the word desire is to wish or long for, to want or to crave.  Do I long for my life to be ordered by Christ? 

 

For me personally, to dig a little deeper means that I desire EVERY area of my life to be ordered by Him no matter what it is.  What I wear, how I comb my hair (I know, that one is weird but not for me), my home, and a big one for me - what I eat.  I think every area of my life would be much better if I allowed it to be ordered by my Jesus.  How much better off would we all be and our world would be if we allowed every step in our lives to be ordered by Him!! 

My prayer today is that Jesus will help me ask for His leadership and guidance and then to follow as He says.  I pray that my ears will be in tune with His voice in EVERY area of my life.