Willfulness...
Looked at carefully, willfulness is more against something than for something. My willful self refuses to quit as I seek to push through my writing block or finish lecture preparation even when my spirit is dry and my body is telling me to take a break. A spirit of willingness invites me to pause and turn to God, simply opening to God for a moment, letting God bring perspective and clarity about my need to stop writing for the night or throwing out what I’ve started and wait for the gift of a fresh idea. Willfulness, in either circumstance, is my fight against quitting, against attending to my body, against attending to God’s Spirit. The act of willing surrender is a choice of openness, a choice of abandonment of self-determination, a choice of cooperation with God.
~David G. Benner, Desiring God’s Will, p. 24
posted by Tricia Goyer at 9:41 AM
1 Comments:
My take isn't as poignant as that of Mister Benner, but it works for me: Willfulness is the tendency to assert ones own will, even against the wishes of a higher authority, but not necessarily. It can be channeled to accomplish difficult tasks and overcome obstacles. Willingness is a cooperative attitude.
The perfect marriage is willingness to undertake a noble task, then willfulness to complete it. That's what gets God's work done in this world.
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